Acer platanoides Crimson Sentry - Maple

Acer platanoides 'Crimson Sentry' is a mutation of 'Crimson King' that stands out for its narrow, columnar habit and slow growth, making it more suitable for planting in small spaces. It forms a small tree with a conical crown and upright, dense branching, giving it a proud appearance. Its upright silhouette is covered with large palmate leaves, intensely coloured from wine red to purple until they turn coppery red in autumn. It is a hardy and undemanding species that only fears excessively hot situations.

Native to the Caucasus, widely spread in Europe from Scandinavia to Spain and eastward to Russia, Acer platanoides is a large deciduous tree with rapid growth often associated with oak, lime, and elm in high-altitude forests. It appreciates a cool atmosphere and fertile, deep, moist to wet, and calcareous soils. It can live up to 200 years. All maples belong to the Sapindaceae (Aceraceae) family.

The 'Crimson Sentry' Norway Maple is a mutation of Acer platanoides 'Crimson King', obtained in 1974 by McGill & Son in Fairview, Oregon, USA. Often grafted onto the typical Acer platanoides, the single-trunk tree forms a dense columnar crown in its early years. At maturity, this maple will reach about 10 m (32.8 ft) in height and 4 m (13.1 ft) in width. When the buds burst, the young leaves are wine red before turning purple. In autumn, they take on spectacular coppery red hues. The deciduous leaves are opposite and palmate. They are 10 cm to 20 cm (3.9 in to 7.9 in) long and have 5 very pointed, toothed lobes, similar to plane tree leaves. Carried by long petioles, they are glabrous and have a glossy texture. The inconspicuous flowering occurs in March, before the buds burst, on subjects aged 15 to 20 years. Tiny yellow flowers tinged with red gather in the form of upright corymbs. In June, they give way to winged fruits called samaras, 3 cm to 5 cm (1.2 in to 2 in) long. The bark covering the trunk is dark grey, almost smooth, with numerous shallow longitudinal cracks. The bark covering the branches is brown.

Acer platanoides 'Crimson Sentry' is an undemanding, easy-to-cultivate tree. It is magnificent when isolated in the middle of a small garden or near a terrace, for example. It can also be used as an alignment tree to border large alleys. Perennial ground cover plants such as heuchera, tiarella, stachys, or bergenias can be planted at its base to enhance its structural habit.

Tips: Prune every 3 to 5 years to balance the branching and maintain a harmonious habit.