Either a red maple or a hybrid red-silver maple, and I'm inclined to believe its the latter. I have a number of the latter that sprout from the maple seeds off my and the neighbors Silver maples, crossing with a very large red maple behind us in a swampy area. They are very nice trees, combining the fast growth habit of the silver with the pigmentation and leaf shape of the red for the most part -- most of the ones I've kept have great fall color, predominantly red with highlights of orange and yellow.

It would probably make a very nice shade tree whether pure red or the hybrid.

That would be so awesome! I hope it is!!!

in fall.. after the leaves fall off.. move it 30 feet from the house ....

or whenever is proper for your zone..

i would prefer you buy a named tree ... rather than rely on a seedling.. so you will know its future performance...

but i also understand the fun of doing it yourself .... your choice ...

all that said.. i grow hosta.. and maple is the worst tree to garden under ... though obviously .. you have a few decades to run into problems with roots ... but if you are young enough ... and you think you will be gardening for the next few decades.. a maple.. even a free one.. might not be the best choice..

have fun and good luck

ken

My guess would pure red maple though as Silver maples aren't all that common in the coastal plain of GA. It could be, but red maples are everywhere. If it is a red maple, they are easier to garden under than a Sugar maple or Norway maple.

That's awesome, I think I have a spot for it in my back yard where I don't have to garden, and would be good shade for my doggy's. Just wondering, about how much growth do they put on a year? And I looking at 10 years till its 10' tall?

Ken, I would love to buy a tree, but my husband is so tight, 20 buck for a tree is like asking him for 20,000 for a new car, Free works in my favor, ahahahaha!

3 to 5 feet per year.. after about 3 years ... they are weeds ... as is indicated by the seedling you have ...

have fun with it.. the price is right.. even for hubby ...

ken

That is a pretty little tree. Red maples are awesome! Pretty flowers, samaras, and fall color. If you want more trees real cheap, think about growing some more from seed. Requires patience, but very fun and you can select the nicest parent trees and seedlings!

I have about 5 in pots, they are alot smaller then the one I have growing in the pic above. I was growing them just for fun. ;)

Is it a bad idea to fertilize it? When should I do that? Years from now? When I go to dig it up, how far around should I dig, and about how deep to not kill it when I move it to my back yard?

No, you should fertilize them like any other plant, but stop in about 3 weeks, so they aren't too green going into the fall. Your fall is later by far than mine, so if you fertilize them now a couple of times with some Rapid Grow or similar, they'll still have plenty of time to harden off.

When you dig it, you should try to dig about the same size radius hole as it is tall - from the photo, it looks like its about 8 to 10 inches tall, so dig a hole roughly twice that wide and about 8 to 10 inches deep, and you should be good. However, maples are tough trees, if you need to make the hole smaller because of the perennials around it, it still should be fine. In your region, it will probably be dormant enough to transplant in late October/early November. Just keep it well watered going into the winter -- I doubt your ground ever freezes, so that shouldn't be hard to do.

Good luck, it will be a nice tree.