Kill your tree(s). Yes, please do; kill your trees. Specifically, kill your Norway maples. All of them (and yes, that purple ("red") maple in your yard is in fact a Norway maple). Maybe not all at once, but start now and take ‘em down and replace them with native canopy trees like white oak, sugar or red maple, trembling or big tooth aspen, or maybe fast growing birch. Why? Read on.
They’re big, you say, these Norway maples. They provide deep shade, great when it’s hot. All true. It’s also true that Norways (aka Acer platanoides) are highly invasive and classified as such by most Northeastern states. No, it’s not illegal to have one on your property that’s been there forever, but the “sale, movement, and /or distribution” of A. platanoides is illegal in Vermont. In their native range (eastern and southern Europe and west Asia, up into Scandinavia) they are infrequent and limited in abundance. Here, they crowd out native trees, create dead zones underneath with extensive shallow roots and deep shade, and as with all invasives, support very few (if any) native insects that feed on foliage, thus creating lepidopteran ‘food deserts,’ which of course means reduced bird populations. Kind of a holy grail of ecosystem and biodiversity destruction.
Yes, it’s just a tree, albeit a short lived tree with weak wood that can cause damage through windfall and cleanup (one plus - the wood burns passably well, so cut it up and season it when you cut it down). But humans brought it into a system it shouldn’t be in, and we have to clean up the mess we created. It’s not the tree’s fault, it’s ours. Plus, honestly, (sorry Norway) the fall foliage is unremarkable. Okay, boring. Again, not the tree’s fault. The red and sugar maples you plant to replace it with will take care of that with blazing reds and stunning oranges.
Seriously, Norway maples are a serious threat to the health, integrity, and well being of Vermont’s forests, woodlands, and landscapes. They drop thousands and thousands of seeds, invade and degrade previously complex ecosystems, and - again - contribute significantly to crashing insect and bird populations. They’re not ‘bad’ - they’re just trees - but they’re extremely destructive to Vermont’s rich native landscape. So, yes, kill your (Noway maple) trees, all of them. In fact, work with your town or city to replace any municipal Norways with natives. We made this mess, we have to clean it up.
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