Norway Maples (Acer platanoides) are native to Europe but now constitute a major part of the urban forest in Eastern Massachusetts. They are fast growing and can reach 100 feet or more in height. They have earned a bad reputation and are now listed as invasive and are prohibited for sale. They were planted in the landscape in the 1950s but no one knew what a problem they would become.
Norway Maples are undesirable because they:
Of course, they are large trees and do provide benefits such as shade, wildlife habitat and air filtering and therefore preservation should be considered when possible. Because these maples develop more issues as they become older and larger, they need more intensive management than other species do. The best approach is to have your tree inspected by a qualified arborist and then develop a pruning plan and installation of cabling and bracing specific to your tree’s needs.
All trees clean and filter the air, provide shade and cooling, buffer noise and wind, add to neighborhood character and beauty, and provide homes and hiding for suburban wildlife that would otherwise be displaced or non-existent. Big trees with their much larger biomass can produce substantially more of these benefits than smaller trees.
Unfortunately the very thing that makes them great also makes us afraid; their size. Living under a great big tree brings many concerns for safety and property damage. Before calling for a removal or aggressive pruning such as topping, tree preservation should be considered. Some people think that topping a tree manages its size, but topping a tree causes decay and rot over the long term and the tree will resprout many fast growing suckers that will have to be continually recut, thinned or restored. For more info, see Why Topping Hurts Trees. Trees that are too big for your comfort level can be correctly reduced in size by making selective cuts but, similar to topping, it is costly and labor intensive to manage trees to be smaller than they are supposed to be. The best approach is to cultivate a strong and healthy tree that you can trust with the help from a certified arborist. If you just can’t accept the risk that comes with living under or near big trees, removal is your only option. Risk is greatly subjective, but an arborist can assess what risk level you are living with through a hazard assessment and can develop a maintenance plan for your tree(s).
