I'm with Chep on the Norway Maple. They're only slightly invasive here in Potsdam, but the Village, and others have planted them all around town and I wonder WHY?? They split in super cold weather, they break off in big summer storms, and they don't turn to nice colors in the fall. Saddest of all, Sugar Maples grow very nicely all around town, where some clever folks saw the value and planted them 100 years ago. If only folks had been so clever 50 years ago...
Sugar maple leaves also decompose readily, while Norway maple leaves are like leather. They're persistent and form mats on lawns.
As for why sugar maples were planted the way they were, remember the history? Ben Franklin? Concerns about British sugar blockades? Our own domestic production and supplies? And all that?
An interesting podcast about Norway Maples. http://www.cbc.ca/breakaway/2013/01/...norway-maples/
Homeschooling mama to 8
2010-30 taps, steam pans on a fisher grandma bear woodstove outdoors. Bottled 18.5L
2012- 70 taps - 20L
2013 - 70 taps, 3 steam pans on concrete block arch. 50L
2015- 70 taps, 50.5L, 3.3lbs accidental sugar
2021 - 120 taps, new-to-me 2x5 flat pan with a cast iron arch atop a brick firebox.
We have forty Norways on tubes this year. They run as good as anything else and the sap has been a consistent 2%. Tap away.
2011-18 taps, 3 campfires in the driveway. Pots,pans and an old kitchen sink. 5 gallons syrup. Good year. Funny looks from neighbors.
2012 more taps. Oil tank evap. w/sink and 2x4 flat pan.
2013 running our first tubes 40-60 taps.
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