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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.

Aim to have your trees inspected and pruned in early spring. At this point in the year, tree service professionals can note where there is old growth from winter and cut that back to encourage new growth for the rest of the year. Pruning at the wrong time of the year could make your trees prone to diseases.

The best way to protect tree roots is to avoid the roots entirely by excavating outside the root radius of the tree. For nearby projects, it’s a good idea to construct a temporary retaining wall. But that’s not always possible, depending on the project and the root system. In these cases, consider using alternative equipment like an auger to tunnel under the ground.

Remember, tree roots can damage nearby cement foundations as they grow. If a tree is close enough to interfere with large excavations, it may be better to remove the tree than risk future problems.

If a tree stump is removed properly, the chances of a tree growing back are low. However, if a tree has a robust root system, roots can sometimes sprout and someday grow into a tree. The chance of regrowth will depend on several factors such as the type of tree, soil quality, and strength of the root system. In general, it is not recommended to plant a tree where a stump was removed.