I have this small Maple tree in our front yard and am considering replacing it with a Kwanzan or a Yoshino Cherry tree. I want to get rid of this Maple because I highly suspect it’s a Silver Maple which I have read numerous bad things about (seeds, shallow roots, weak limbs, etc). I’ve heard better things about Sugar Maples and would consider transplanting to my back yard if it’s a Sugar Maple, but I’m on a 0.25 acre corner lot so I may consider transplanting somewhere random in the wild or giving to a relative. But first - can anyone tell me what kind of Maple tree this is? Please ignore the baby - it was a joke picture taken this past summer. The tree currently has no leaves (zone 7) and has gray/silver colored bark.
It could be a silver Maple,and as you state they are a weed tree,they grow fast, can get to 20 feet in 5 years,We have many in our yard and I would like to have them all cut down,but that is expensive and 4 of the trees are over 100 years old, however they drop their seeds and the seeds grow so fast and are a mess.
You may take a branch or twig to a place that sells trees and they would tell you if it is a sugar maple or what kind it is.
Thanks monavis. I will take a branch off to the nursery, but I’m really erring on the side of cut it down and plant something known if I have any doubt at all. Since my neighborhood is still being built, I may walk around and see if I can find another tree with the same tag (or ask the sales agent).
It doesn’t look like a silver maple from that shot. No young silver maple that I’ve spied has ever had leaves that look like that. And it’s hard to tell, but are the undersides of the leaves especially silvery? If not, I would definitely consider a different species.
The Autumn Blaze is a hybrid Red Maple and Silver Maple. This could explain why (I think) it was labeled a “Silver Maple.” To me the leaves here look almost identical except for color (obviously). Our tree is only 9ft high and was still suffering transplant shock this summer so we never saw the leaves turn this color.
I don’t recall the undersides being especially silvery, but this tree was transplanted by our builder in maybe May so we never got a ton of leaves and most fall off before really changing color.
The undersides of silver maple leaves are silvery in the summer, when leaves are green, not in the fall. It’s not something they change to; it’s their normal state.
Honestly, my first thought on seeing the title of this thread was “probably not unless it’s a silver maple; they’re pretty distinctive”.
