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You may be looking to identify maple trees to use for home improvement projects. In that case, you can tell hard maples by looking at their leaves. Leaves will have a U-shaped dip, or sinus, between the points, or lobes, of the leaves. Leaves of soft maples tend to have V-shaped sinuses.

If you already have the cut wood in front of you, look for a light, uniform color to identify hard maple wood and check for variations of red, gray, or brown streaks and an overall darker color in soft maple wood.

It’s not as common for Dutch elm disease to affect other types of trees, especially if the surrounding trees aren’t elms. However, it is possible for DED to spread to other trees, particularly in northern states, like Minnesota. In fact, it’s a good idea to use geography to identify wood and determine which types of trees are in your yard. 

Unfortunately, the complex and shallow root system of elm trees makes surrounding elm trees particularly vulnerable to DED. Early discovery is key!

Yes, carefully prune back dead branches—don’t wait for pruning season. This helps keep your maple tree healthy and also helps prevent large branches from falling unexpectedly. Don’t seal the cut branch—trees can naturally take care of these wounds—but be sure to remove any source of fungus or pest infestation to help save the tree.

It may not be worth it to rake every leaf in your yard, but it’s necessary to remove the majority of leaves to prevent them from smothering grass growth on your lawn. However, raking leaves isn’t your only option for leaf removal. You can remove leaves easily with a leaf blower or compost or mulch them with your lawn mower to repurpose them to help grow your garden or yard.