Can Silver Maple be Bonsai?

[Kahless]

I have a few young trees in my garden which I thought were red maples at first. It now appears that they are silver maples based on what my plant identifying app says. They have deeper lobes, longer internodes, and grew really fast. My question is, can silver maple ever be decent bonsai or should I just give them away? My grow-out garden is getting really crowded and I'm trying to select which trees stay and which go.

 

[Kahless]

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Those look like red maple leaves to me... A. rubrum. The leaves can present slightly different profiles on the same tree.

I have yet to find a tree identification app that is particularly accurate. I usually test them by submitting lots of different photos of leaves on the same tree... to see how many different ID's it gives me

For easiest proof, look at the underside of the leaf. Silver maple is silver - almost white.



To answer your question - both A. rubrum and A. saccharinum can be used for bonsai. The leaves are a little on the large size, so they work best for larger trees, and you will want to develop fine ramification and defoliate every year to keep the leaf size small.

 

[Kahless]

I'm guessing they are hybrids. All the leaves look like they are somewhere between Freeman and Silver.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I'm guessing they are hybrids. All the leaves look like they are somewhere between Freeman and Silver.

Given the variability of leaf size and appearance, it is impossible to use such a simple photographic guide to identify a tree as a hybrid, particularly if the tree appears to be naturally occurring (versus a hybrid developed as a cultivar for the nursery trade like A. x freemanii).

These are all A. rubrum leaves on the same tree. Note the difference in size and shape:

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Also... here is what the underside of an A. rubrum leaf looks like. It is pale green and doesn't look anything like a silver maple leaf (at least to me).