I have no idea why this question is getting switched over to the wrong forums. Two different times it's gone to the wrong board after posting it in the "MAPLES" forum. Board weirdness for sure! My question is also being shown over at the The Kitchen Table Forum. Sheesh... The first time I tried posting this it went over to The Home Decoration Forum but I deleted that one.

Thank you so much for all the information! :)

I have a "Red Sunset Maple" and I looked at an "October Glory". Both are red maples, but known for a specific leaf color in fall. The Red Sunset changes to a complete flame red color from top to bottom and the October Glory is a mix of red, green and yellow orange. You cannot grow them from seeds from red maples, they have to be grafted from the parent tree. Red maples are named because of their seed color, but the leaf color varies.Yes, I would buy the grafts. I did to get the Red Sunset.

This has been very helpful! I didn't know any of that.

I have this friend that is always going on and on about how horrible Silver Maples are and how they will run their roots out for hundreds of feet and tear up your house foundation. But yet he has two red maples planted and he loves them. I know this man is not an expert on the subject but one of those people that knows everything about everything. I tend to take what he says with a grain of salt. But he had me believing that Silver Maples were to be avoided at all costs. Is there any truth of this idea, I mean that silver maples send off roots that extend for a hundred feet from the tree but yet Red's are OK? It sounds more like any Maple has aggressive roots.

I had wanted to plant an Oak in this spot but all I can find anywhere are maples and just a couple old straggly Oaks that are left overs that no one wanted...apparently. It seems as if, in NE Ohio, Maples are what everyone wants and is what the stores are stocking. I'd been going to the store since before Arbor Day searching for an oak but never found one. The nursery has a couple in huge pots for $200 but the tree doesn't seem like it's worth that price, very straggly. Plus, there's no way I could handle a giant pot like that.

There are a lot of misconceptions about tree roots :-) All trees will produce widely spreading root systems - with most mature trees the root system will spread out 2-3 times the height of the tree. Sometimes quite a bit further if soil and water conditions dictate. And the bulk of the root system is contained in the top 12-24" of the soil profile. Also, tree roots do not "tear up" foundations - if the foundation itself is structurally sound - no cracks or crumbling - any tree roots that encounter the solid surface of a foundation wall will simply change directions. Foundation issues only occur if the structure is already compromised and that is typically attributable to settling or soil subsidence, not roots :-) Many trees will develop large roots right under the soil surface that in time will emerge through the lawn or in the soil surrounding them, large growing maples like both silver or reds are just a couple of common examples. This is one of the reasons growing smaller plants under the canopy of these trees is difficult - it is a very rooty location, hard to dig, and those existing roots claim the majority of available nutrients and soil moisture, not to mention the heavy shade these situations produce. Few other plants appreciate those tough conditions.

Silver maples are no better or worse than any other large growing maple. They seed heavily - but then so do my native bigleaf maples - and they tend to have a natural branch structure that leads to breakage in high winds or ice storms unless properly pruned/trained (ditto the bigleafs). They are very closely related to red maples and share many of the same characteristics: a preference for moist soils (they share the common names of swamp or water maples), a wide spreading, surface oriented root system, heavy seed production and both are native trees with a very wide natural range. I would not plant either silver or red maples close to inground plumbing/water pipes or near a septic system as their water-loving nature can create problems. Their DNA is so close they are able to hybridize easily, with the resultant Freeman maples (Acer x freemanii) offering the best characteristics of both species. Numerous named forms - cultivars - exist of all three types and all are propagated by grafting.

Switching forms is what has happened to me I just posted a question about the root stock growing leaves on this form and it is not showing up. I guess I have to wait until tomorrow and try again.

@arkansas girl, is Aldi where you saw the tree? That is where I purchased two last month.

The trees were at Marc's. I've bought plants from Marc's before and had good luck and the prices can't be beat! :)

I do not have that one in my area. Marc's looks like Aldi and they have some great plants and they are so reasonable. Aldi is a discount grocery store but they also sell plants during this time of the year.

I planted a willow oak that I bought at Lowes for $11.97 in 2001. It was a a scraggly little thing about 6 or 7 ft. It has grown into a beautiful tree that is probably about 30ft tall. The leaf color isn't bright, but the leaves stay on for a long time in the fall and it puts out a lot of shade in the summer.

If it was me I would avoid the grafted maple. The research I've done seems to indicate that graft incompatibility can be a really serious problem with maples and cultivar propagation should be done via root tissue or cuttings. I'm not an expert on that but personally I would try to avoid a grafted maple.

"I'm not an expert on that but personally I would try to avoid a grafted maple."

Seems a shame to limit your choices that completely.

Well, what I've read about this is you run a high risk for a tree that will break off at the graft point later in life. I guess if your willing to take that risk then go for it but I personally would rather not.

The graft incompatibility occurs when you attempt to graft unrelated species. If you graft Acer rubrum to Acer rubrum or Acer palmatum to another palmatum, there will be no incompatibility. Maples are notoriously difficult to strike from cuttings - virtually all named cultivars - the trees one really wants for various feature - are grafted.

I guess if you just want a species tree, that could be the course to follow. I will say in all my years of growing and selling maples I have seen no breakage on any maple due to graft incompatibility. Wholesale growers know how to do it right.

That's helpful information. I had been lead to believe grafting with maples was just a lost cause.