Did you try the tree forum? It is frequented by folks who know something about tree removal as well as tree types and they may have some alternatives or ideas.

That said, I also have a silver maple, though not removing mine at present. I would think, you can do whatever you want, but you have to decide what you want to end up with. A major difficulty in growing stuff under a silver maple is the competition from the LIVING tree, which sucks up water and sends more roots/rootlets wherever you water or fertilize. Second, the act of digging, planting, adding soil etc over the living tree roots can hurt the tree so is always a balance when gardening under a tree. Third the live tree makes lots of baby trees. I suspect all of that would be less of a problem with a dead tree! But, you would still have big humpy roots. So of course you can cut down the tree and leave stuff behind in the ground. You just have to decide how you think you will like it--and of course you could do something later. Since you can often get groundcovers to grow under a maple, you could probably get good coverage over the area once the tree is dead. However, you would have different sun/shade issues so would have to take that into account. You could also grind out holes/areas for shrubs amongst the groundcover, but would have to consider what it all would look like with stump, roots.

Someone else may have tried this and had good or bad results

Thanks, Frankie. Yes, I did post in the tree forum as well. I'm getting some good input over there. I'm hoping this forum may be able to weigh in on the more creative side of the dilemma, as you have. Thank you for your thoughts. You're right-- the area that was partial-full shade will be full sun once the tree is down. That will have to be taken into account. I may end up consulting a landscaper. We have to redo our front yard anyway, so I may get an opinion on the backyard and the silver maple dilemma when they're here.

Here is a link that might be useful: Posting in Tree Forum

i have posted frequently on this topic. we have a large silv maple-2 1/2-3 foot diam. under it,within 1-6 feet of the trunk, we have very established and seemingly happy(5 yrs plus): jap maples, aeschulus parviflora, cornus kousa, weigela,deutzia,etc.
we do have soaker hoses under same tree.
i think a carved bench or sculpture would be great from the trunk.

arbo_retum, have you had to grind out the root zone of your silver maple in the areas you have planted the other plants and shrubs? If so, how much of an area do you grind out for each plant?

Do you have a link to any recent discussions of your silver maple and your success with other plantings nearby?

my posting above answers what we have successfully planted underneath a LIVE silv maple. the other HUGE GIGANTIC one that was taken down did not have its stump ground out or its roots pulled up. we grow similar plants under that one as well as many perennials, groundcover euonymus, azaleas,holly, viburnums etc. email me at my member pg if i can help further.

Thanks!