I noticed Silver maples were relatively undamaged from Hurricane Isabel in this area in 2003(?).

I have an 8' sapling growing in saturated, poorly drained soil streamside that few other trees will tolerate. A tree that is properly pruned in early age to minimize "bad" forks will fare much better later.

When we moved into our house in 1983 (I was 8 years old), there was a silver maple planted. Over the past 25 years it has gotten to a huge stature. It was big anyways. My brother and I would climb it, pull the trampoline under it and jump out of it. We built very make shift tree houses in it and all around loved it.

It is still there at my dads house. I recently asked my step mom about any trouble she's had with it in relation to falling branches etc. The only ones that do are small and they love the tree. They have built a huge wrap around deck around it. Really lovely actually.

So, yes. I also love silver maples. It was something that I grew up with and have great memories of. The leaves are beautiful whether in sping, summer, or fall. Here in Utah we don't seem to have all of the big problems with them that others do. We have no ice storms, wind storms are low velocity and most of our snow is that famous Utah powder that isn't too heavy.

Needless to say, I have at least three of them planted and then several other hybrids as well.

Strange. For some reason, silver maples are susceptible to breakage from severe thunderstorms down here in Texas.

I don't see them at all in my area, except a few planted in peoples yards.

I just saw a huge old silver maple Sunday at a friend's house with the nicest bark and growth habit I'd ever seen. It almost shocked me when I looked at the leaves and noticed it was a silver maple.

I think they have their place, but like any (at one time) overused tree were planted in wrong places, like city residential areas where their roots and branch drops couldn't help but interlope into sidewalks and roofs. One has to consider also that the grand old trees in urban situations are just that, old...exposed to less than desirable environmental situations......pruned poorly for many decades including being topped. They also have a propensity for reproducing to inherit the earth. But I also have many happy memories of being shaded by them as a child.

We just had hurricane force winds here in the Ohio Valley, and I have two younger ones on my immediate property. Both came through it unscathed although we have five other trees down, and dozens of limbs down on other trees. Lost a three decade old bird cherry, several sassafras, an ornamental hydrangea, all completely torn from the earth and uprooted. The limb situation was from Chinese catalpa, robinia, white pine, you name it, the limbs flew. LOL.

So, although I don't think I'd ever purchase one to buy, given they are young and healthy and you can space them away from obstacles and let them rip, they're a fine tree.

For awhile Acer saccharinum was listed as an RHS Award of Garden Merit plant. That's their highest accolade, an endorsement indicating general suitability. Based on a search of the RHS Plant Finder online it appears the AGM for silver maple has been rescinded recently.

Silver Maple can be a beautiful tree ... one of the most graceful of the Maples.

If you can avoid the potential drawbacks of their roots clogging your water lines, they can be wonderful trees.

I have seen natural stands of silver maple. They look great, they are really tall and are able to survive in standing water, it's quite rare to find that type of stand in Quebec. I don't think it's a great tree to plant near a house, but in a forest it's fun to see. Because it's a fast grower and easy to trim.

I started one from a seed in 1960 when I was 5. It has turned into a very nice shade tree now.
I read an article in the Small Farm Journal that a university in Illinois was doing a study and some strains of the silver maple had as much sugar in their sap as sugar maples and could be tapped. That was a few years ago. Any new news on this subject? - Jim

There is a huge area, from the southern plains states all the way down into the southern and southeastern parts of the US, where soft wood Silver Maples trees grow so weakly and fast. That is a lot of territory, and where an overall large number of people reside.

Imagine in Northeastern Oklahoma:where there grows a five trunked, nearly 40 feet tall Silver Maple tree, with branches starting 12 feet up the trunk, and with an overall canopy spread about 40 feet wide. Then consider all five of those trunks covered with vines, which grow up the trunks and even across many of the tree's larger lateral branches.

The tree is growing in the yard of a neighbor to my property. This Silver Maple tree has been the source of many a major headache, when it has directly damaged my property situated adjacent and just North of where this Maple grows. It seems that for years there have been no major trees in this tree's neighboring propety, which at that time was not mine. Thus the Silver Maple has had no competition and has found great freedom to invade both with its massive root complex and with its overhanging canopy, and freqently breaking branches.

Ever since we acquired this property, the neighboring, invasive Silver Maple tree's roots have killed quite a bit of new landscaping I have tried to implement.

Then, what has not been killed by the Maple's roots, often times is severly damaged still; when during spring storms, the Maple's branches so frequently fall onto and break my young landscaping items.

Since the neighbor's maple tree was so tall, last year it cost me a lots to have a tree triming crew, who used a bucket to get high enough to cut many of the northern growing branches. They actually cut all those branches back to our property line. Not long afterwards, I was reminded of how glad I should be for my willingness to spend that kind of money on this weedy tree. That is; because in the following winter, a freezing rain event occured over 3 days and caused so much extra weight on the tree's branches that nearly all the rest of them came down. Afterwards, only the tree's 5 trunks remained standing.

Unfortuately, even with all the money I spent to decrease falling limb damage potential for my property. There still was one of the tree's branches, which had become coated with over 1/4 inch layer of ice, and after breaking, fell onto a section of our fence. Even, only that one branch caused us significant expense as it fell onto and damaged the fence, along with breaking off two young Foster holly trees I had newly planted in September of the previous year.

Imagine; just one relatively minor branch causing almost $1,000 worth of damage to our property. What would it have cost us if more branches had been able to fall? Roof, windows, house siding, and landscaping; none of these would have been spared from the damage that those heavy, ice coated, falling, branches would have caused.

This fall I plan to plant 3 'Fonz Frontaine' hornbeam trees along our property line next to this horrible Silver maple. Because of the invasive maple tree's roots, that means I will also have to go to all the work and expense of installing a root barrier along the property line. That expense and work will be needed, just so my hornbeam trees' roots can have enough time to establish before the Silver Maple tree's roots manage to invade my property again.

Needless to say, this neighbor's Silver maple tree is the worst, cronically costly tree, I have ever encountered.

I thought it was interesting that Silver Maple was recommended in an Arnoldia article as a replacement tree for the American Elm (one of 12 trees). While they wouldn't go so far as to say it's suitable as a street tree because of the shallow roots, they said it made a good replacement for Elms in open, sweeping spaces. I wouldn't plant one in the landscape, but I've seen some rather striking old specimens. I suspect a northern grown Silver Maple is considerable different than those grown in the south. BTW, I grew up in a small town dominated by Elms and Silver Maples. When I was around ten a friend and I were racing through town on our bikes when he hit a section of raised pavement that was no doubt caused by a Silver Maple. He lost control and broke his collar bone. You can bet we were a bit more careful after that, and the roots on these trees served as speed bumps. :)

Perhaps they like the slightly drier climes of the plains and midwest. Larger specimens are really nice here, but natural stands are pretty rare.

I purchased a house built in 1996 this past year and it had (2) Silver Maples. I cut the one down in the front of the house as I wanted something smaller and more ornamental. Its a shame because it actually had a strong central leader. Guy does side jobs and cut this 35ft tree down for $100.

I left the one up in the backyard. It has about 4 main branches about 5 ft up (bad crotch angles) but it was a beautiful shape. This spring it produced minimal seedlings and had a red and yellow fall color. Seedlings are annoying for about 2 weeks, mowing 2x takes care of them. Sometimes there are stranglers in my mulch beds, but they are easy enough to pull.

I would agree in the right location, these are fantastic trees. Very hardy, fast growing, long lived and grows in poor soil conditions.

These trees got such a bad rap because people went nuts for these characteristics and overplanted...including small landscapes.

In the Milwaukee suburbs I see oaks, willows and maples have equal splitting issues. In fact it sounds counter-intuitive but I see more Oaks that have big broken branches than any other tree....well maybe not as much as willow.

Great tree in a suitable spot, like a pasture or other location where it won't become a nuisance or danger. Around here the fall color is often interesting, and the tree quickly makes a large specimen.

The largest silver maple in the city I live in is in my backyard. I don't recall the circumference at the moment, but let's just say it's as big around as a pickup truck cab. Real big. Ninety feet tall. Many leads are as big as some full-grown trees. This tree shades four different yards.

We've lived here since'81, and over that time, some large limbs have failed. No major structural damage yet. Where limbs came off, there are some pretty sketchy looking wounds now. SM does not wall off wounds very well and the result is decayed pockets at each former branch location. Since decay moves most readily in the vertical plane, I surmise that there are considerable hollow or punky areas now.

Because huge portions of this tree do overhang our house, I'm thinking about taking it down. But even though I am a horticulturist who turns into an arborist each winter, this job is beyond my talents at this point. Actually, if I had long-term access to a bucket truck, I could get it down, but lacking that, it's just way too much. Estimates for removal ranged upwards to one of $7500. Yeah, it's a beast and plenty of targets in the way below it.

Still, I'm not a SM hater. For all the reasons already stated, I think they are of value. But I wouldn't plant one as near to a house or other high value target as this one was.

+oM

In my area you will see huge majestic specimens and sometimes you may see some scrawny looking examples. I do really like the trees though. I most especially like their shaggy bark.

Pros... The samaras or "helicopters" by the 1000s are fun to play with.
The leaves are classic maple.
Grow fast and sometimes impressively tall.
4 seasons of year cleanup keep you busy outside.

Cons... Bark can be downright ugly sometimes IMO. Often weedy shape.
4 seasons of year cleanup keep you busy outside.
Few things grow under them well including the lawn.
Lousy fall color, why not get a Sugar Maple instead?

Ivy DOES grow well under them and will hide the lower bark and pathetic lawn.

Silver Maple did not break/fall any more than other trees when we had a freak hurricane remnant blow through in September.

Virtually any tree can have admiral qualities if it is grown in an unimpeaded space. What happens so often is folks who have planted urban forests and then do unsightly pruning.

"why not get a Sugar Maple instead"

Simple, TIME. Most people want a tree now, not 50 years from now.

wisconsitom, round St. Louis you can rent boom lifts at many places for $500 or so. The non-motorized 50ft reach trailer based ones for less. The trailer one I've rented a couple times is 5000lbs so you need a full size pick up to haul it.
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Silver maples have their place. I think they're neat looking trees with unusual bark but that's all opinion. Up and down my street they're the first of the large trees that require removal. Maybe it's a St. Louis thing, who knows.

I like Silver maples too. I've got 3 mature trees in this yard and 3 at my previous house. They tend to have a rangey habit, although I've seen some with beautiful form and some that have nice yellow fall color. They seem to attract lots of birds, including Baltimore Orioles, and many critters eat the seeds.

The largest Silver maple here is not sited well, approx 20 feet from the south-west corner of the house and maybe 30 feet from the septic system. Personally I would never plant a Silver maple this close to a house, septic system, garden, etc. This tree dumps a zillion samaras into the gutter, every so often blocks the main drain to the septic system with its roots, has huge gnarly surface root that I have to watch out for with the mower, and has abundant feeder roots that want to grow into my perennaisl and suck all the moisture out of the nearby garden!

The tree is 50+ years old, easily 50 feet tall and provides important shade for the house, so I won't cut it down. I had one large trunk removed several years ago, because it was overhanging the roof and electric/cable wires. Otherwise, it appears quite healthy and solid and doesn't seem to lose any more branches than the huge Pin oak on the southeast corner.

I spent part of my childhood in a rural area of western Pennsylvania. In a nearby woods was an enormous silver maple I used to climb. I loved that tree. Now that woods has been cut down and it is filled with houses on large lots. I'd like to think that the tree is still there -- it was set back from the road a bit -- but when I looked, I couldn't remember exactly where it had been. All the landmarks had been altered.

I don't think that it, or most really large trees, would work in the tiny lots used in most modern housing developments. It needs a clear space around it. If your lot was small, your neighbors would be justified in being upset at the roots. On the other hand, if you have an acre or more, it might do very well.

Rosefolly