Some concern raised on adaptation of the red maple tree to the tropical weather of Vietnam, especially the potential traffic obstacles they can generate when being planted in road dividers.
Forestry expert Nguyen Quang Lam said the varieties of maple trees should be chosen carefully and planted in nurseries in advance to test their resistance to the tropical climate.

Red maple trees planted in Tran Duy Hung Road, Hanoi. Photo: Tuoitre

At while, Professor Le Dinh Kha, former director of the Institute of Forest Tree Improvement and Biotechnology (Vietnam Academy of Forest Sciences) suggested the maple trees should be monitored carefully since they were cold-weather trees.
According to observers, the city authority was rush in making this decision and a pilot period is advised before widely planting red maple
In terms of this, Nguyen Duc Manh, Vice Director of Hanoi Green Tree Company explained, the unit is piloting in some road and take time to monitor before popularizing the trees in Hanoi streets. “We are planting some maple trees in Tran Duy Hung road for piloting so at the moment, there’s not much to conclude, ” Manh said, quoted by Tien Phong online newswire.
Speaking at a conference last Saturday, Hanoi’s Mayor Nguyen Duc Chung said, with the development of the tree care industry, some temperate trees, including red maple, could be planted in Vietnam.
“One year from now, we will be able to tropicalise red maple trees,” Chung said. “Their red colour will be preserved as being planted in the European climate zone”, he added.
However, Vietnam’s climate is favourable for growing different varieties of flowers and trees, Chung said, stressing the city was collaborating with some enterprises to develop seed and flower nurseries to meet the city’s demands as well as for exports.
More than 500,000 trees were planted in Hanoi by the end of 2017 as part of the city’s program of growing one million trees by 2020 to improve the air quality and urban landscape. The city also expects to have an average green space of 8sq.m per capita by 2030.