Illustration
Silver Maple
Acer saccharinum
Also called soft maple, water maple, swamp maple and silverleaf maple
Silver Maple blooms from March through March.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Silver Maple
Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 3–9. Expect it to reach about 39 ft tall and 26 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 20 years (checked).
Pets
- Not yet checked for pets.
Lists differ and none is complete. If a pet eats a plant and seems unwell, call a veterinarian or a pet poison helpline.
No toxicity note is on file for Silver Maple. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.
What was checked
Nine facts were checked against named botanical sources, each recorded beside the sources that carried it: mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, the trait tags, and years to mature size, which rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one and is marked so. Soil, diseases, pests, toxicity and the plant's own names have not yet been read for this plant, and its trait tags are the ones a feature uses rather than every word a page prints. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Silver Maple
Plant Silver Maple in early spring as soon as the soil is workable, or in early fall at least six weeks before your first frost, so roots establish in cool weather. In zone 6, the middle of its hardy zones 3 to 9, spring means March to May and fall means August or September. Once settled, it blooms in March.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 6, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 6 in March. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Silver Maple get?
39 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult26 ftwideSee Silver Maple in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Silver Maple
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Give Silver Maple about 26 ft of clear ground in every direction, measured from its center. It is one plant with room around it, not a row, and a raised bed is too small for it.
Add Silver Maple to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Silver Maple's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, years to mature size and trait tags were checked against 8 published sources on October 19, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.
- Missouri Botanical GardenPlant Finderheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- NC State ExtensionGardener Plant Toolboxheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- The Morton Arboretumheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- RHSRoyal Horticultural Societyheight, spread, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- University of Illinois ExtensionSelecting Trees for Your Homeheight, hardiness zones, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- ornamental-trees.co.ukOrnamental Trees, UK tree nurseryheight, spread, bloom months and color and years to mature size
- woodyplants.cals.cornell.eduCornell University Woody Plants Databaseheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and trait tags
- naturalresources.extension.iastate.eduIowa State University Extension and Outreach, Natural Resourcesheight and bloom months and color
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
Where it grows wild
Native to 38 states and 3 provinces
United States: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and 26 more
Canada: New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec
Recorded growing wild in 1,267 counties.
Also grows wild, but is not native, in Colorado, Idaho and Oregon.
Range data from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 4.0, adapted) and USDA PLANTS. How the native range is credited.
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Design a garden with this
Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.