Red Maple
- Hardiness
- 3-9
- Mature size
- 40-70 ft
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Pollination
- Very early red blooms feed the first bees of March
- Bloom season
- March (red haze before leaves)
- Harvest season
- Can be tapped for syrup (lower sugar than sugar maple)
The illustrated growing guide
Maple
Family Sapindaceae
Maple here covers 3 types: Red Maple, Sugar Maple and Japanese Maple. Hardiness alone runs USDA 3–9 across them, so which type you have decides where it survives. Mature size, growth rate and bloom season are given below across all 3 types rather than as one plant's figures. Pollination and harvest season have no single answer here — which of the 3 types you have decides it.
Tree
Moderate water
Moderate waterI
Overview
Will maple suit your garden, and what goes wrong.
Zone fit depends on which maple you have
Hardiness varies across the types of this plant — check the care groups below and the cultivar catalogue to match one to your climate.
Maple at a glance
HardinessUSDA 3–9 across typesEach type has its own narrower range — Red Maple 3–9; Sugar Maple 3–8; Japanese Maple 5–9. Match the type to your zone before you buy.
Mature size8–80 ft across typesSpans the 3 types this guide covers — each type's own figure is narrower.
PollinationNo single pollination rule covers all 3 types — compare them below.
Bloom seasonMarch–May across types
Harvest seasonNo single harvest window covers all 3 types — compare them below.
Growth rateSlow to fast by type
Common maple problems
No pest or disease records on file for maple — which means the library has none, not that the plant has none.
Which one do you have?
The 3 types this guide covers
Where these differ, the key facts above give the span across all of them. Each type’s own figures, as the catalogue records them:
Sugar Maple
- Hardiness
- 3-8
- Mature size
- 60-80 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow-Moderate
- Pollination
- Early bee forage
- Bloom season
- April
- Harvest season
- SAP: tap at 40°F days/20°F nights, late winter — 40 gallons sap = 1 gallon syrup
Japanese Maple
- Hardiness
- 5-9
- Mature size
- Dwarf 4 ft to 25 ft by cultivar
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Pollination
- Insignificant
- Bloom season
- Reddish spring samaras
II
Growing
Light, water, soil, propagation and the season’s jobs.
How to grow maple: light, water & soil
Maple merges several types whose light, water and soil needs differ — the care groups and the growing playbook carry what applies to each.
How to plant & propagate maple
PropagateSeed (stratify), cuttings, or layering
III
The year
What maple asks for, month by month.
The maple year, month by month
No fixed season calendar for maple — its care follows conditions, not the calendar.
IV
Ecology & uses
What it does for the garden, and what it is grown for.
Maple in the garden system
- Keystone: Keystone — hosts 290+ caterpillar species
DeerBrowsed — protect young plants
What maple is grown for
! Some parts toxic — see notesTOXIC TO HORSES — wilted or dried leaves and bark (fresh leaves are not); about 1.5 lb is toxic and 3 lb can be lethal, and dried leaves stay toxic for around 30 days. Not a pasture tree. Llamas and alpacas are also susceptible; ruminants are not. · Caution around horses. Extension services implicate only RED maple, but in-vitro work found sugar maple leaf extract also oxidises equine red cells (Am J Vet Res 2002), and silver maple leaf toxicosis is clinically documented. Sources disagree — do not let horses eat wilted leaves of any maple. · No documented toxicity — but no trusted source affirmatively clears it either, so this is 'not known to be toxic', not 'known to be safe'. As with any maple, keep wilted leaves away from horses.
Edibility, identification, and traditional-use notes here are general reference — not medical or veterinary advice, and not a claim that any plant treats or prevents anything. Medicinal ratings record how strongly a plant features in herbal tradition, nothing more. Never eat or dose a plant you have not positively identified. More on how to use this library.
V
Cultivars
Named varieties of maple, ruled as a catalogue.
Best maple varieties & cultivars
No named cultivars on file for maple yet — the species itself is what nurseries sell.
VI
Sources & plant ID
Where the care distinctions come from, and how the plant is filed.
Research basis
Sources behind this profile
No extension citations are attached to mapleyet. The care figures below come from the library's own catalogue rather than a traced primary source.
Plant ID
FamilySapindaceae
TypeTree · Perennial
Invasive riskLow
VII
Where to buy
Third-party nurseries — not Story Thyme Farms.
Third-party nurseries, not Story Thyme Farms. Prices are theirs.
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
VIII
Questions
Maple questions, answered straight.
Is maple safe for kids and pets?
With care. TOXIC TO HORSES — wilted or dried leaves and bark (fresh leaves are not); about 1.5 lb is toxic and 3 lb can be lethal, and dried leaves stay toxic for around 30 days. Not a pasture tree. Llamas and alpacas are also susceptible; ruminants are not. · Caution around horses. Extension services implicate only RED maple, but in-vitro work found sugar maple leaf extract also oxidises equine red cells (Am J Vet Res 2002), and silver maple leaf toxicosis is clinically documented. Sources disagree — do not let horses eat wilted leaves of any maple. · No documented toxicity — but no trusted source affirmatively clears it either, so this is 'not known to be toxic', not 'known to be safe'. As with any maple, keep wilted leaves away from horses. Site it accordingly if children or pets roam the garden. This is general reference, not medical or veterinary advice — call a vet or poison control if something has actually been eaten.
How do you propagate maple?
Seed (stratify), cuttings, or layering.
IX
Elsewhere
Where maple sits in the library.
Apple
Peach
Plum
Pluot