Sugar maple: when and how to prune

Sugar maple: when to prune it?

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In November–December, when the tree is fully dormant. In late winter and spring it bleeds heavily from pruning cuts.

What else to prune in those months? November · December

Sugar maple: how to prune it?

1. Train young trees to a single central leader: cut out competing tops.
2. Remove dead, damaged and crossing branches.
3. If you want to walk under the tree, remove the lowest branches gradually, over a few years.
4. Saw off large branches in stages and leave the swelling at the base of the branch, the branch collar.

How much to cut, and how often?

• One pruning period a year: November–December.
• Never remove more than about a quarter of the crown at once. Better a little every year.

What does it mean for wildlife?

• The pruning months fall outside the nesting season (15 March–15 August), so you won’t disturb nesting birds.
• Sugar maple flowers in April, when it attracts bees.
• Prunings can go on a dead hedge or brash pile in a corner of the garden: shelter for hedgehogs, wrens and insects.

Common mistakes

• Leaving a stub or sawing flush with the trunk: cut just outside the branch collar.

Nearby: related pruning guides

• Field maple
• Japanese maple
• Paperbark maple
• Père David’s maple
• Sycamore
• Amur maple

Plant profile: Sugar maple · Pruning calendar and basic rules