Hi,

I can help you with Trident maple seeds. Soak them in hot water and leave them in the water for 24 hours. You need a flat plastic container like sandwich type thing. You moist the paper towel (not sopping wet, just barely). Place the moist papert towel in the plastic container. Place the seeds on the paper towel and cover the container with lid and leave it in your fridge. It may take 2 months but check every week to make sure. If you see a seed with a small root, plant it shallow in a mix of 50 perlite and 50 peat moss AND leave it inside by the window till they have come up. Place them outside where they will get morning sun but bring them inside at night when its cold.

Shantung maple is pretty easy as it takes only 1-3 weeks for the seeds to germinate. With Trident maple, I tend to forget completely because they take a long time to germinate but the paper towel method is pretty effective.

1-3' over winter from seed?? You are expecting too much if you want these to be of plantable size in the spring. They will barely have sprouted by then. While it's a great experiment and a wonderful and educational undertaking if you have the time, growing trees from seed is not going to produce anything significant for the landscape for a good many years. If you are concerned about the fact that they clearcut when the home was constructed, look for a tree of an appropriate size and age to plant now. It may (and should) be an investment dollar-wise, but it will add considerably to your property values.

lyndia, go the seed method if you like. Its pretty enjoyable to be able to tell people and have your neighbors know you started your trees from seed.

Which method to use? If you have enough seed split the difference and try to let some grow outside in their natural environment. If you only have 5 samaras starting them in the fridge will probably be the way to go. That way you're sure to have something to plant.

Need an appropriate size tree/Not going to produce anything significant if you start from seed? I disagree. I've planted a number of 1 year mailorder seedlings since 03. The faster growing of which are now twice my height. If I ordered seed instead of my 1 foot tall $10 mailorder Metasequoia it would be a year behind its 15 foot height now. Same for the 10 foot tall Acer Rubrum I have now.

For the couple hundred I've spent I could have gotten 1, that's 1, 8 foot patented, grown in some weird Miracle grow synthetic dirt, dug in in spring and watered in burlap all summer, "top grade" local nursery root-bound specimen.
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Sorry for the rant.
To be fair, larger transplants have their place. They're less likely to be damaged by the mower, require less protection (like goofy little fences) from yard vermin, and local companies MAY be easier to collect on warranties from.