Quick Facts
Exposure: Full Sun to Part Shade
Height at Maturity: 50-80 Feet
Usage: Landscaping
Shipped As: Bare-root
Planting Zones:
Product Details
When a project needs canopy fast, silver maple seedlings deliver. Acer saccharinum is the fastest-growing native maple in eastern North America, often adding 2 feet or more per year, and it is at home on floodplains, river bars and streambanks. We sell bulk bare root silver maple seedlings in bundles of 100, 500 and 1,000 for riparian restoration, wetland mitigation, erosion control and quick-shade plantings.
- Species: Acer saccharinum, also called soft maple, white maple or river maple
- Family: Sapindaceae
- Zones: USDA 3 to 9
- Height at maturity: 50 to 80 feet, spreading 35 to 50 feet
- Growth rate: Fast, commonly 2 feet or more per year
- Exposure: Full sun to part shade
- Soil: Moist to wet, adapts to clay, silt, loam and sand
- Leaves: Deeply cut, five-lobed, green above and silvery-white beneath
- Available grades: 6-12 inch, 12-18 inch, row run 6-24 inch
Built for Bottomland and Streambanks
Silver maple is a classic floodplain tree. It thrives in seasonally flooded and saturated soils along rivers, lakeshores and drainage ways, and its wide, fibrous root system binds loose streambank soil. That combination makes it one of the most practical stems for riparian buffers, stream mitigation banks and bank stabilization work, where crews need survival and rapid cover on wet ground. Find more wet-site species in our restoration and mitigation plants collection.
Speed to Shade
For property owners, developers and municipalities who want a shade tree that makes an impact within a few seasons, silver maple's growth rate is hard to beat. The open, vase-shaped crown and silver-backed leaves shimmer in the wind, and foliage turns soft yellow in fall. It is a favorite for large lots, rural properties, parks with room to spread and farm windbreaks.
Wildlife Benefits
Silver maple flowers in late winter, often the first tree to bloom in a bottomland, offering early pollen to native bees. Its large winged seeds ripen in late spring, earlier than most trees, and feed squirrels, chipmunks, finches and wood ducks when other food is scarce. Mature trees develop natural cavities used by wood ducks, owls and raccoons, which makes silver maple a valuable addition to waterfowl and wildlife habitat plantings.
How Silver Maple Compares
| Silver maple | Red maple | Sugar maple | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Growth rate | Fastest | Fast | Steady |
| Best ground | Floodplains, streambanks | Wet to dry, wide range | Moist, well-drained uplands |
| Signature trait | Silvery leaf undersides | Scarlet fall color | Syrup and hard maple timber |
See red maple seedlings and sugar maple seedlings for the other two.
Planting Plan
Riparian buffers and mitigation sites are typically planted at 10 by 10 feet (about 435 seedlings per acre) or 12 by 12 feet (about 300 per acre), often mixed with sycamore, bald cypress and hazel alder. As a shade or windbreak tree, give each silver maple 40 feet or more of open room so its broad crown and spreading roots can develop fully. Our article on the beauty of seedlings covers more on getting young trees started.
FAQs About Silver Maple Seedlings
Is silver maple the fastest-growing maple?
Yes. Among native North American maples, silver maple is the fastest grower, often 2 feet or more per year when young.
Can silver maple be planted where the ground floods?
Yes. Silver maple is a floodplain species that thrives in seasonally flooded and saturated soils.
How many silver maple seedlings do I need per acre?
About 300 to 435 per acre at standard 12 by 12 or 10 by 10 foot restoration spacing.
What zones does silver maple grow in?
USDA zones 3 through 9, covering most of the eastern and central United States.
When are silver maple seedlings shipped?
Silver maple goes out dormant and bare root starting in November.
About Tennessee Wholesale Nursery
We are the wholesale division of TN Nursery, a family business Roscoe Tate founded in 1959 in Altamont, Tennessee. Our maples have even appeared on screen: the USAF and the Discovery Channel used our maple trees to film a time-lapse of a tree waking from dormancy in spring. Silver maple seedlings are dug while dormant, treated with Terra-Sorb hydrogel and packed in sealed bundles that hold moisture for up to 12 days. Volume buyers can request wholesale pricing for a single quote across every species on a job.