VietNamNet Bridge – Hundreds of maple trees have been planted on Nguyen Chi Thanh, Lang Ha and Tran Duy Hung streets in Hanoi in the past weeks to increase the capital’s green space.

Newly planted red maple trees on a road divider on Nguyen Chi Thanh Street in Hanoi. — Photo courtesy: Ha Noi Urban Green Tree Company Ltd

Speaking at a conference in the city last Saturday on the need to plant more trees, chairman of the Ha Noi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung said with the development of the tree care industry, some temperate trees, including red maple, could be planted in Vietnam, reported Tien Phong (Vanguard) online newspaper.

“A year from now, we will be able to tropicalise red maple trees,” he said. “Their red colour will be preserved as when planted in the European climate zones,” he said.

Some experts, however, are concerned about the adaptation of the red maple tree to the tropical weather of Vietnam.

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.

“[We] tried planting maple trees of the Russian variety in Vietnam, but they did not survive,” he told Tien Phong.

Professor Le Dinh Kha, former director of the Institute of Forest Tree Improvement and Biotechnology under the Viet Nam Academy of Forest Sciences, said the maple trees should be monitored carefully during summer because they were cold-weather plants.

Nonetheless, Vietnam’s climate is favourable for growing different varieties of flowers and trees, Chung said, adding the city was collaborating with some enterprises to develop plant nurseries to meet the demands of the city as well as for exports.

About 500,000 trees were planted in Hanoi by the end of 2017 as part of the city’s efforts to have one million trees by 2020 to improve the air quality and urban landscape.

The city expects to have an average green area of 8sq.m per capita by 2030.

Chung said people in the city loved growing plants and flowers on their rooftops and in balconies and hallways.

Source: VNS