Your mower will kill the seedlings, if the roots don't bend the blades first. I am going to take pictures of the silver maples tomorrow, seems like you want to see the horrific things.

"your mower will kill the seedlings, if the roots don't bend the blades first...."

I look forward to seeing this.

It happened a few years ago to a neighbor. Doubt they still have the blade. I am going out to take landscape pictures tomorrow to post on the forum, for all you people who think I have gone crazy LOL

Yeah, I like 'em in the right siting. Much more attractive than red maple IMO.

Never seen that yellow fall color. Right about now, the tips of the leaves start getting brown and crunchy. in about a month, all of the leaves will be dead and clinging to the tree.

1st one: right beside of house, butchered in the past

I have 2 more, they have never been pruned but have frequent storm breakage. One looks more like 1/2 of a tree because of the removal of a dying oak.

and yes, the neighbors below, have a row around their property. As soon as they decide what they want to replace them with, I will grow it FREE. I'm thinking crepe myrtle 'natchez'.

I must have one of the seedless ones so it takes away the gutter clogging annoyance. It hasn't made a seed in the 6 years I've owned the house and it's a big tree. They are one of he first plants to bloom in the spring up here often starting late march.

here they bloom right after callery pear.

Their roots suck the soil dry of all usable water. I have 6 of the bastards planted in my side yard, and even interplanting shade-tolerant species like pagoda dogwood between them is futile.

I have a dozen or so lining my 500 foot driveway and while they wouldn't have been my choice of planting, with a bit of coaxing they now receive compliments and are at least 100' from anything squishy.

Some blanket bias can be applied to tight spaces and city lots, but in my wide open space I enjoy them as a small part of a larger picture.

Agreed Brothergarm. In the right place they are pretty useful. There are obvious wrong places for them though.

I planted one at my first house, before I saw it on my guru Howard Garrett's, "DO NOT PLANT!" list. :D

I loved that tree. It grew fast, provided great shade, created no problems. I still live nearby, and the tree is going strong (26 yrs later).

A house nearby -- I can see their acreage from my patio-- has a 20+ yr old Silver Maple that completely died on one side 4 yrs ago. We noticed the side turning brown and losing leaves that summer; I thought it was a goner for sure. But no, they had the dead half cut off a year later, and here it is today (I zoomed way in past our evergreen screen). I'm pretty impressed by how it grew back. It does have amazing fall color we enjoy every year....

MizGG, after reading, I think I like your silver maple too. :)

Saw a large pair in front of a house savagely butchered by chainsaws many yrs ago. Yet today, both have grown back surprisingly well.

They are cool trees, very fast growing and hardy. Provide shade, high rate of respiration for cleaning the air, and tolerant of many diseases and bugs. However like you said, their soft wood tends to shatter and come crashing down on powerlines and houses/cars. Carpenter ants are a big problem with them, as well as them simply rotting and getting holes in them. Their O.K. Good trees to just plant in open spaces, very hardy.

If most of the people had experience in handling 60+ year old silver maples, you wouldn't have much positive to say about them. I only leave them for shade, I the spring flowers do provide some early interest. However, I do like freeman maple and some of it's cultivars.

Logan, I might have known one or two 60 year old silver maples personally.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1640818/removed-the-rotting-silver-maple-in-front-pics

Even a couple I removed when I had more time and energy than money.

When planning out yards your plantings you have to take every dimension into consideration. Don't forget about time.

The time it takes to grow.The reality of 50 years.

It's a matter of right plant, right place. I grew up with one in our relatively small front yard, not a situation I would recommend, since my folks eventually had to have it removed when it became dangerous. I now live with numerous silver maples that are growing wild along the river bank. Graceful, acceptable fall color, and when the combination of the river working on the roots along with weather working on the tops brings one down, they make good firewood for spring and fall when a large amount of heat isn't needed.

I guess the fall color depends on where you are. The leaves are browning and falling here. Dawn redwood was a good replacement for that horrific thing ;)

Nicely colored silver maple that I remember near the Virginia Tech duck pond area in Blackburg, VA:

http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/asaccharinum.htm

They don't turn color like that here. I really wish mine would do that!

You definitely need the space. I had one in my last yard and fortunately it was all the way in back due to size, but it was a beauty.

do they not like heat? Some of Logan's trees look kinda mangy (no offense meant).

i figured I'd post since I'm on the front porch with my coffee and the neighbors silver maple fills the view. It's great to watch in a storm and although I keep waiting for a branch or two to snap it hasn't happened yet. I would guess it's about 40 and to think I could plant one today and maybe get to see that size before I die is something you can't get from an oak... Although I suggest planting one of those as well if you can fit it in.

At least someone agrees with me. They look terrible. I am thinking about planting live oak in the middle of the 2 in the last picture, then cut the maples down when it gets going.

I like SM. The two negatives around here are:

1) the breakiness - documented heavily above - I would not plant near anything I cared about, which means it is more of a field/park tree :)

2) it is WAY over planted. When DED killed all the elms, the cities WAY overplanted SM and a few other maples and ash. Trees are not as special if they are everywhere.

People occasionally try to grow them down here, but they always look stunted, I guess from the heat. Seems like they live for maybe 10-15 years, then go into decline.

No logan, alot of people dont like them because they grow like weeds and then fall on your house. We were just trying to stay positive and think of some good things about them, and not say anything hurtful towards the originator of the thread who ovbiously likes them. I love siberian elms, but most people consider them a invasive junk tree. To each their own!

I think the OP of the thread meant it for me. I am the one giving silver maple "a run of bad press" on the forum. No harm meant to anyone, but I really, really, hate silver maples. If they are out in a field, in the woods, or on a roadside they don't really bother me.

“And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer.” - Hans Gruber