I have 4 Silver Maples that I have been growing for less than a year from seedling and wanted to make them bonsai. Does anyone have any experience with Silver Maples?

Thanks!

never heard of silver Maple, but as you only have seedlings you can treat them as such until they a lot bigger

keggart wrote:

I have 4 Silver Maples that I have been growing for less than a year from seedling and wanted to make them bonsai. Does anyone have any experience with Silver Maples?

Thanks!

I have a silver maple in the front yard planted as a mother's birthday present in 1986. I have been trying to propagate it for years to give the boys a memory of home. I can't get anything to work.

I had twelve seedlings and they did fine until one day they all died. I have no idea why. Cuttings don't survive and air layers don't root. I think I should have left the seedlings in the ground another year, but that is a guess.

Good luck.

Acer saccharinum or Silver Maple is an uncommon species for bonsai but there are pictures and examples online. I would suggest growing them in the ground and pampering them until they get thicker. They grow incredibly fast though so you'll have to monitor their growth and prune accordingly. Also, monitor for maple gall mites. These mites are incredibly annoying and can easily defoliate a small tree.