There's no doubt the Norway Maple is a beautiful shade tree.  It produces yellow flowers in the spring, provides dense shade in the summer, and turns yellow in the fall.  It is difficult to grow grass or shrubs around this tree, not only because of its dense shade, but also because of its thick, shallow root system.  Some people suggest a hard pruning to allow more light to reach the ground, but that defeats the whole purpose of growing a shade tree in the first place!

Many sources claim that pachysandra is the best groundcover to grow under Norway Maples.  However, I have found that not to be the case.  I tried to grow pachysandra under mine for several years. They just didn't grow, and would eventually die.  In the fall of 2000, I tried planting some periwinkle cuttings under my maple.  All my gardening books and catalogues said that periwinkle needs a deep soil, and won't grow under maples.  Well guess what?  The experts were wrong as usual!  The periwinkle took very nicely.  I planted some more the next year, and they were fully established by the end of 2003.

The Norway Maple is one of the last trees to drop its leaves in the fall, and boy, does it drop a lot of them!  A mature tree also will produce tons of seeds that will litter your lawn from spring to fall.