Silver Maple---A Tree Not Recommended Close to A House or Septic System

　
The Silver maple (Acer saccharinum) is somewhat like the Norway maple (Acer plantanoides) as the tree does have some critics. The silver maple is a fast growing tree and because of its fast growth and equally spreading root system, the tree is weak wooded and should most definitely not be placed in a landscape near a house, sidewalk or septic system.

　
When people would come to the garden center, I was initially a one-time detractor of this native tree of the eastern United States and southeast Canada. As a kid growing up in an Akron, Ohio suburb, our neighbors had planted two silver maples, which quickly outgrew the small lot. Their silver maple trees were large, had many lower branches sprouting at the base of the tree, had fall colors of a mottled yellow and defoliated quite early.

My opinion for the silver maple changed when my wife prior to our marriage purchased our current home. There is a large stately silver maple tree (height of 75 feet) along the driveway to our house. The tree provides a nice filtered shade, however as noted earlier, after winter or a summer storm there are often times significant branch droppings. But like a family member with some irritating habits, we still like the tree.

My recommendation would be to plant a silver maple in a large park area where there is a need for a fast growing tree (new growth can be 1 foot a year) or in a somewhat naturally swampy area of a landscape—again away from septic systems.
　
Back to the tree along our driveway.

The tree in our yard appears to be a likely natural cross between a silver and red maple. The silver and red maple crosses (Acer saccharinum x Acer rubrum) are quite common and have been deliberately hybridized to achieve the fast growth of the silver maple and the less brittle wood and less invasive roots of the red maple. The leaves, buds, and silhouette (shape) on our tree closely resemble a silver maple, but many branches in the leaves have the characteristic red fall coloration of the red maple and in the spring there are very pronounced red flower buds.