--- title: Freeman Maple (Autumn Blaze) in Reno and Carson City url: https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/freeman-maple/ business: Battle Born Tree Service address: 6301 US Highway 50 East, Carson City, NV 89701 phone: 775.232.8243 hours: Office Monday-Friday 8:30 am-5:00 pm; phones answered seven days a week; 24-hour emergency service credentials: ISA Certified Arborist WE-11728A on staff; Nevada Business License # 20131580674; fully insured type: Tree service (removal, crane work, pruning, stump grinding, defensible space, snow removal, firewood) --- - [Home](https://battleborntreeservice.com/) - [Tree guide](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/) - Freeman maple ('Autumn Blaze' and relatives) # Freeman maple (Autumn Blaze) Freeman maple is a fast-growing hybrid of red maple and silver maple, sold under names like 'Autumn Blaze', and it is a popular street and yard tree in Northern Nevada. It brings silver maple's weak wood and a tendency to yellow in alkaline soil, so a large one near a roof or driveway deserves an arborist's look. - **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](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/iron-chlorosis/) 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](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/storm-and-snow-load-breakage/). Leaf scorch in a hot dry July can look alarming, and so can [drought dieback](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/drought-stress-and-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](https://battleborntreeservice.com/guides/why-tree-topping-is-not-pruning/). A sound tree with a tight fork can sometimes be kept with [cabling and bracing](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-services/cabling-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](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-services/crane-assisted-tree-removal/) job, and [stump grinding](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-services/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. ### Sources - [Utah State University Extension: Tree Browser, Freeman Maple (Acer x freemanii)](https://extension.usu.edu/treebrowser/catalog/maple-freeman) (read October 17, 2026) - [Colorado State University PlantTalk: Iron Chlorosis](https://planttalk.colostate.edu/topics/weeds-cultural-problems/2115-iron-chlorosis/) (read October 17, 2026) - [USDA Agricultural Research Service: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (PRISM, Oregon State University)](https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/) (read October 17, 2026) - [NOAA NCEI: U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/land-based-station/us-climate-normals) (read October 17, 2026) ### Talk to the office [775.232.8243](tel:775.232.8243) | Monday to Friday | 8:30 am - 5:00 pm | |---|---| | Saturday and Sunday | Office closed, phones answered | Phones answered seven days a week. 24-hour emergency service. [Free estimate](#quote) ### Keep reading - [Silver maple](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/silver-maple/) - [Norway maple](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/norway-maple/) - [Iron chlorosis](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/iron-chlorosis/) - [Cabling and bracing: when it saves a tree](https://battleborntreeservice.com/guides/tree-cabling-bracing-explained/) - [Tree trimming and pruning](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-services/tree-trimming-pruning/) - [Best time to prune trees in Northern Nevada](https://battleborntreeservice.com/guides/best-time-to-prune-trees-northern-nevada/) ### When to prune - [When should maples be pruned in Northern Nevada?](https://battleborntreeservice.com/faq/pruning-and-trimming/when-to-prune-maples/) ### Terms on this page [Alkaline soil](https://battleborntreeservice.com/glossary/alkaline-soil/) [Arborist](https://battleborntreeservice.com/glossary/arborist/) [Leaf scorch](https://battleborntreeservice.com/glossary/leaf-scorch/) [The full glossary](https://battleborntreeservice.com/glossary/) ## Questions people ask Still have a question? Call [775.232.8243](tel:775.232.8243). Phones are answered seven days a week. ### Is Autumn Blaze maple the same as Freeman maple? Autumn Blaze is one named selection of the Freeman maple hybrid. Utah State University's list also includes 'Celebration', 'Sienna Glen' and others, and they share the parents. ### Why are my maple's leaves yellow with green veins? That pattern is called iron chlorosis, and it is common on maples in alkaline soil. It is a sign of stress, so an arborist checks the roots and soil conditions along with the crown. We identify it; we do not apply products. ### Is a Freeman maple a good tree to plant here? We do not plant trees, so we will not recommend one. Utah State University lists concerns about heat, drought, high soil pH and weak wood for this hybrid in a similar climate. ### Will my maple split in a storm? Any large maple with a tight fork and long limbs can. Only an arborist who has looked at the tree can say how likely it is, and we never tell a reader a tree is safe from a description.