Freeman maple (Autumn Blaze)

Botanical name

Acer x freemanii (red maple x silver maple)

Type

Deciduous shade tree, fast growing, oval to pyramidal crown

Size

40 to 60 feet tall (Utah State University Extension)

Hardiness

Zones 3 to 8 on paper; zones 6b to 7b by ZIP code in our service area

Where it is found

Planted lots on the valley floors, roughly 4,000 to 5,100 feet

Known weak points

Soft wood, iron chlorosis in high-pH soil, heat and drought stress

If a maple in your front yard turns bright orange-red in October and is less than thirty years old, it may be a Freeman maple. Utah State University's tree guide lists 'Autumn Blaze' among nine named selections of the hybrid, and nurseries sell all of them as 'maple' without saying which. This page covers how to tell it apart, where it does well in our elevation bands, what goes wrong, and when pruning, cabling or removal is the right call.

How do you identify a Freeman maple?

Look at the leaf. It is opposite on the twig, toothed, with three to five lobes separated by deep notches, and silvery on the underside. That silvery underside is the silver maple half of the family, and the toothed edge and red fall color come from the red maple half.

In fall the tree is the brightest thing on the street. Orange to red leaves are the selling point of the cultivars. The bark is smooth and gray on young trees and becomes slightly furrowed with age. The fruit is the paired winged seed, yellow-brown in April and May.

• Opposite leaves with 3 to 5 deep-sinused lobes
• Silvery leaf undersides
• Orange-red fall color
• Smooth gray bark that furrows slightly with age

Where does it grow in Reno, Carson City and the Carson Valley?

Freeman maple is a valley-floor shade tree here. The USDA hardiness map puts ZIP 89501 in Reno at 7b, ZIP 89701 in Carson City at 7a and ZIP 89423 in Minden at 6b, and the hybrid is rated hardy well below any of those. Reno sits near 4,505 feet and Carson City near 4,680 feet, with precipitation of only about 7 to 9 inches a year at the nearest NOAA stations, so almost every Freeman maple here lives on sprinklers or drip.

Higher up, at Incline Village (6,437 feet, zone 6b), the cold is not the limit; short summers, wind and very different soil are. This page does not cover the Tahoe basin because the lot trees there are mostly conifers.

What goes wrong with it here?

Utah State University, which grows in the same alkaline Intermountain soils, rates the hybrid low for alkalinity tolerance and worries about long-term success in the region, noting possible trouble with heat, drought and high soil pH. High pH is the classic cause of the yellowing leaves with green veins that Colorado State describes for silver and red maple; our iron chlorosis page shows what to look for.

The wood is the second issue. USU calls the hybrid likely somewhat weak-wooded, with silver maple's habits. Long limbs on narrow unions are what a wet spring snow or a Washoe Zephyr gust takes first, which is covered in storm and snow-load breakage. Leaf scorch in a hot dry July can look alarming, and so can drought dieback; an arborist sorts out which one you have.

It is also rated not good under power lines. If a limb is near a wire, stay clear and call NV Energy before anyone climbs.

Pruning, cabling or removal: which is the right call?

Dead wood and hanging limbs can come off any time of year. Other pruning is best in late winter while the tree is dormant. Good pruning on a maple shortens the longest limbs and removes crossing branches and deadwood. It does not top the tree; see why topping is not pruning.

A sound tree with a tight fork can sometimes be kept with cabling and bracing once an arborist has checked the trunk. Removal is the usual answer when there is decay in the trunk or base, a split at the main union over a house, or a crown that is mostly dead after repeated chlorosis and dieback. Large maples in tight yards are often a crane-assisted removal job, and stump grinding finishes it.

What does Battle Born Tree Service do about a Freeman maple?

Start with a free estimate. A certified arborist assesses the tree before any work begins, and the estimate says whether the answer is pruning, cabling or removal. Two of our crew are ISA Certified Arborists, and credential WE-11728A belongs to one of them. For firewood, call the office for availability and pricing.