Tree People... Should I get a Norway Maple or a Tulip Tree?

[Michelle My Bell]

I went to a tree nursery near my home looking for a shade tree for my backyard yesterday. I told the man I wanted something non-invasive and good for shade. He showed me a Norway Maple and seemed like that was what I should get. Years ago, I learned about Tulip Trees and loved their cat like leaves and size. They had one of both but he talked me into the Maple. I paid for it (picking it up later), but now I am regretting my decision based on some stuff I read online about Norway Maples. Do you think I should switch to the Tulip Tree? Any pros or cons for either?

[Kathryn]

We had the tulip tree in our yard cut down, so I vote maple. Tulip trees are very large and have shallow roots, so it's difficult for anything to grow nearby. We also hated the mess it dropped on our deck from it's flowers and weak branches every year.

[Alessandra]

Neither.

 

Norway Maples are great trees in the right spot. There are number of cultivars, one of the most common with red- purple leaves. They are pretty in the fall, usually a lovely soft yellow. Norway Maples are some of the fastest growing shade trees around -- that sounds good, but it means you will have a large tree that covers a lot of your yard in particularly dense shade that almost nothing will grow under. They also have rather shallow, greedy roots. Wonderful street trees, but not so good for a typical back yard, IMO.

 

Tulip trees are one of my favorite trees, tall, elegant, lovely yellow autumn color. The unusual shape of the leaves is appealing, as are the greenish flowers (which you will mainly notice after they have fallen to the ground). Tulip trees thrive in heavy, rather rich woodland soil. I grew up in an area that had some of the tallest tulip trees in our state, including one record holder. But they are fast growing and perhaps not suited to a small yard.

 

There are so many great tree choices. I am sure you can do better than either of these. Nothing against the trees themselves, but if you are planting in a typical back yard situation, it would be wise to look further. What zone/ climate are you in, what kind of soil do you have, and what size tree are you looking for in x years?

[Michelle My Bell]

I am in NW Ohio, which I think is zone 5. My yard is rather smallish and I plan to be here only about 4 more years before I move on so I want something to provide shade asap. Right now my backyard is drenched in sunlight which I can't stand. I am very much a shade person. Generally, my soil is sandy in most of my yard, but the area I am going to plant the tree tends to be much richer. The grass grows very well without watering there. 

[fairfarmhand]

Do you have septic lines?

 

Maple roots are very bad to clog them.

 

Just something to think about.

[Alessandra]

I am in NW Ohio, which I think is zone 5. My yard is rather smallish and I plan to be here only about 4 more years before I move on so I want something to provide shade asap. Right now my backyard is drenched in sunlight which I can't stand. I am very much a shade person. Generally, my soil is sandy in most of my yard, but the area I am going to plant the tree tends to be much richer. The grass grows very well without watering there.

It sounds as though your climate and soil suit the trees. Four more years? That is quick for growing a shade tree -- makes the Norway a Maple look better. But I would feel sorry for the people who move into your house when you leave, lol. Some Red Maples would be very pretty in the moister part of the yard, and there is an amazing number of cultivars to choose from. But they will not grow as large in four years as the Norway.

 

I would choose Norway over Tulip in your situation, because it is overall a sturdier tree, less prone to breakage.

[KungFuPanda]

Tulip poplars are THE best climbing tree. I was once an expert :-)

 

If you want a tree with a cause, you can get a chestnut hybrid and try to bring back the chestnut tree. Then you'd have nuts . . . to roast over an open fire!

[Laura Corin]

I'm thinking about a crabapple for my garden.  They seem to be hardy in zone 5, but I don't know if they are what you are looking for - they have three season interest (flowers, fruit and autumn colour).

 

L

[Pam in CT]

I had tulip trees when I lived in New Jersey (zone 7).  Shudder.  Never again.  The tulip-like blossoms, which are their only redeeming quality imo, are really only visible from a great distance -- the blossoms are above a cluster of leaves on the top of the canopy, so if you're sitting / standing under the tree, you can't see them.  Their many negative qualities include: the canopy is so thick that the branches underneath are constantly dying, which means a) they're unsightly; b) if the tree is young you're constantly out there pruning back the dead wood; c) if the tree is too tall to do that, the dead sticks are constantly, constantly, raining down upon your lawn; and d) once the trees are fully mature, they're constantly, constantly raining down GREAT BIG HEAVY BOUGHS THAT THREATEN THE LIVES OF SMALL CHILDREN.  It also self seeds so relentlessly that you will be constantly pulling up seedlings out of your grass so they don't break the lawnmower. There are other faults as well, but you probably already get my drift...  Truly it is a worthless tree.  (I'm not usually so passionate in my opinions, by the way... it is pretty rare that anything evokes this kind of vitriol...)

 

Norway maples are fine.  Boring but fine.  They're quite common here in CT and look lovely in the fall, though they pretty much just sit there the rest of the time.   (They also self seed pretty relentlessly; that is really their only flaw.)  They do grow quickly.

 

For a small yard, Laura's suggestion of thinking of multiple-season interest is the way to go, imo.  Crabapples are great, and do well here in CT/zone 6, but they are pretty slow-growing.  For zone 5, you might look at Cercis ("redbud) -- gorgeous, gorgeous dark pink blossoms which are especially striking because the branches bloom before any leaves come out -- it ends up looking very Japanese-y; and then when the leaves do come, they are quite large leaves that make a nice shade; and it's a glorious red in the fall.  It grows reasonably quickly in full sun (does fine but grows more slowly in shade).  I also am very fond of Amelanchier ("shadbush"), which has frothy white blossoms in spring, turns increasingly red over the course of the summer, and retains red berries which attract birds throughout the winter.

 

Good luck!

[Alessandra]

I agree with the posters who suggested small flowering trees with multi-season interest. Japanese or Kousa dogwood, for example, has flowers in late May or June, lovely habit and foliage, strawberry like fruit in the fall and attractive peeling bark in the winter.

 

But these more desirable trees that grow more slowly than, say, Norway Maples, will be significantly more expensive for a similar size. And unless you got a really big specimen, you might not be sitting in its shade in four years.

 

It is a very tough decision -- go with a quality plant that will mature over time vs a quick fix.

[JFSinIL]

In our neighborhood, 50 or more years ago tons of maple trees (silver maple I think) were planted, as they were fast-growing. However, they are not native, and our harsh winters are not good for them - we have had many trees drop heavy limbs, topple, or need to be removed.  Local tree-guy recommended only replacing trees with ones native to the area/biome to avoid future problems.

 

I am in Zone 5, btw.

[Kalmia]

Here is one list of tree species native to Ohio. Norway Maples are an undesirable, non-native, invasive species. If you like the look of a maple go with a red maple or a silver maple or sugar maple, none of which are invasive. Otherwise ask someone which tree on the native list is fast growing with a wide crown for shade.

 

http://ohioline.osu.edu/w-fact/0013.html