Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Other Names:  Soft Maple, White Maple

Description:

An interesting cultivar, featuring soft yellow variegation on the dark green shiny foliage, creating a striking look; a good choice for tough sites

Ornamental Features

Tigertail Silver Maple has attractive buttery yellow-variegated dark green foliage on a tree with a round habit of growth. The lobed leaves are highly ornamental and turn buttery yellow in fall. It features showy clusters of red flowers along the branches in early spring before the leaves. The furrowed silver bark and brick red branches add an interesting dimension to the landscape.

Landscape Attributes

Tigertail Silver Maple is a deciduous tree with a more or less rounded form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This tree will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should only be pruned in summer after the leaves have fully developed, as it may 'bleed' sap if pruned in late winter or early spring. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Tigertail Silver Maple is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Shade

Planting & Growing

Tigertail Silver Maple will grow to be about 40 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 30 feet. It has a high canopy of foliage that sits well above the ground, and should not be planted underneath power lines. As it matures, the lower branches of this tree can be strategically removed to create a high enough canopy to support unobstructed human traffic underneath. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 80 years or more.

This tree should only be grown in full sunlight. It is an amazingly adaptable plant, tolerating both dry conditions and even some standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This is a selection of a native North American species.