1.
Selection and Propagation of Bigtooth
Maple for Low-Water Landscaping
Larry A. Rupp
Utah State University Extension

2.
Water Conservation in Utah
 Center for Water Efficient Landscaping
 Research on irrigation techniques, low-water use landscaping, and
plant water needs.
 Outreach education through USU Extension to Blue and Green
industries, and the public in water-efficient landscaping.
 Extensive collaboration with water agencies and others.
 Masters of Professional Studies in Horticulture

3.
Ideal water conserving plants?
 Attractive color

4.
Ideal water conserving plants?
 Attractive color
 Marketable form

5.
Ideal water conserving plants?
 Attractive color
 Marketable form
 Adapted to nursery production

6.
Ideal water conserving plants?
 Attractive color
 Marketable form
 Adapted to nursery production
 Tolerances
 Soil
 Pests
 Cold
 Drought

7.
Natural History
of Bigtooth Maple
Shrub-form Tree-form

8.
Dry

9.
Wet

10.
Taxonomically
related to sugar
maple (complete
with maple
syrup).

11.
Six weeks from first color
to last color
September 10
September 29
October 23

12.
Genetic diversity creates the
potential for selection of superior
clones.

13.
Bigtooth maple has potential
as a water conserving,
small landscape tree.

14.
‘Native’ is not a
panacea and does not
mean pest free

15.
Commercial Release
USU-ACGR-1001

16.
The Plan
1. Select superior wild maples for potential introduction
to the landscape industry
2. Propagate the maples
1. Effectiveness
2. Efficiency
3. Evaluate maples in a landscape environment
4. Release selections for nursery production
5. Introduce to the landscape industry

17.
How do you pick the best maples?

18.
Plant Collectors & Growers
• Jerry Morris
• Phil Barker
• Tom Laub
• Ron Zollinger
• Chad Reid

19.
Satellite
images from
Google Earth™
(USU-ACGR-
1009)

20.
Aerial digital
color
photography

21.
Digital Camera (time of picture)
GPS (tracking time)
GeoSetter Software (synchronizes )

22.
Map function shows track and picture
location on track.

23.
Track and pictures can be exported to Google Earth™

24.
Close-up Google
Earth™ image of the
vicinity where
photograph was taken.

25.
Comparison of Google Earth™
image and original photograph.

26.
Location of tree with latitude and
longitude as found on Google
Earth™ image.

27.
Finding the tree on the ground

28.
•Handheld GPS mapping navigator
•Photographic and Google Earth™ images of search area

29.
What couldn’t we have done 20 years ago?
• Digital camera
• Multiple pictures
• Instant review
• Extensive data on image file
• (Now geotagged photographs)
• GPS
• Google Earth™
• Find coordinates
• GeoSetter Software
• Combine GPS track and pictures

30.
Current Collection
• Columnar, oval, and round forms
• Single-trunk tree forms
• Various sources (Wellsville and Bear River Ranges,
Parowan Canyon, Price Canyon, Fillmore)
• Currently some 40 selections

31.
Bigtooth maple
propagation

32.
Seed Propagation

33.
Seed Propagation
 Seeds must be fully ripened (late October)
 Keep collected seed cool and dry
 Stratify seed in a plastic bag with moist vermiculite
at 36°F until seed starts to germinate
 Transplant germinated seed as radicle emerges
 Grow in shaded environment

34.
Vegetative Propagation of Bigtooth Maple
Part 1. Establishing wild clones in the
nursery

35.
Part 1. Establishing wild clones in the
nursery
• Collect budwood from wild trees
• Remove leaf blades and store cool and moist
• Chip bud on to vigorously growing rootstocks
(either A. grandidentatum or A. saccharum)

36.
Successful (left) and failed bud-take (right). The bud shield
successfully took in the graft on the right, but the bud itself failed.

37.
Optimum Budding Period
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Effect of Budding date on Budding Success for 2006, 2007, & 2009
11-Jun 25-Jun 9-Jul 23-Jul 6-Aug 20-Aug 3-Sep
Percentage of successful buds
Date
2006
2007
2009

38.
Vegetative Propagation of Bigtooth Maple
Part 2. Commercial propagation for
Utah growers

39.
Vegetative Propagation of Bigtooth Maple
Commercial propagation by budding
(J. Frank Schmidt Nursery)

40.
Cutting Propagation

41.
Etiolation of softwood cuttings

42.
Pruning cut
Shoot stub to
support bag
Buds of shoots
to be etiolated
Harvest cut
Velour bag
Diagram of technique using velour bag to
etiolate new shoots.

43.
Normal light-grown shoots Etiolated shoots

44.
Cutting propagation with rooting hormone, mist bench, bottom
heat and reverse osmosis water
Mist bench

45.
Etiolated Cuttings Non-etiolated Cuttings

46.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Effect of Etiolation on Percentage of
USU-ACGR-
1001
USU-ACGR-
1002
Rooted Cuttings
USU-ACGR-
1003
USU-ACGR-
1004
USU-ACGR-
1005
USU-ACGR-
1009
Percentage of rooted cuttings
Tree selection
Effect of Etiolation on Average
Number of Roots per Cutting
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
USU-ACGR-
1001
USU-ACGR-
1002
USU-ACGR-
1003
USU-ACGR-
1004
USU-ACGR-
1005
USU-ACGR-
1009
Average number of roots per cutting
Tree selection

47.
Natural
layering
propagation

48.
Mound
Layering

49.
Vegetative Propagation of Bigtooth Maple
Commercial propagation
by layering

50.
Development of a mound-layer bed using own-rooted maple cuttings.

51.
The effect of auxin and girdling
treatments on rooting of bigtooth
Percent Rooting
c
maple layers (2011)
b
b
a
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
100
80
60
40
20
0
Control Auxin Girdle Auxin & Girdle
Modeled Probability of Rooting
Rooting Success (percent)
Treatments

52.
Effect of auxin and girdling on number
of roots per shoot with bigtooth maple
c
layers (2011)
bc b
a
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Control Auxin Girdle Auxin & Girdle
Estimated Roots per Shoot by
Model
Mean Roots per Shoot
Treatments
Actual…
Modeled…

53.
100
80
60
40
20
0
The effect of auxin and girdling
treatments on rooting of bigtooth
maple layers (2013)
Control Auxin Girdle Auxin & Girdle
Rooting Success (percent)
Treatments

54.
Landscape Evaluation

55.
J.Frank Schmidt Nursery
USU-ACGR-1004

56.
Summary
 Superior bigtooth maple selections have been
identified
 Propagation can be done by budding, cuttings, and
layering
 Continued research is needed to improve efficiency
of cutting and layering propagation
 Of the Utah maples, USU-ACGR-1005 appears to be
the best selection

57.
Acknowledgments
Melody Reed
Bill Varga
Graham Hunter
Christopher Neale
Phil Rasmussen
Richard Anderson
Hang Duong
Xiuyuan Li
Lina Wang
Garrett Davis
J. Frank Schmidt Family Foundation
USU Extension Applied Research Grants
Utah Botanical Center
USDA – Utah Dept of Ag and Food
Specialty Crop Block Grants

58.
Year 1. Select and
locate tree in autumn
Year 2. Summer bud
selection onto rootstock
Year 3. If bud takes,
then grow on
Year 4. Root softwood
cuttings and overwinter
Year 5. Plant rooted
cuttings to layering bed
Year 6. Grow to size for
layering
Year 7. Root layers and
overwintering
Year 8. Distribution
rooted layers to growers
Bud failure? If so, repeat
Cutting failure? If so, repeat
Layer failure? If so, repeat
Simultaneous long
term landscape
evaluation