I have 3 of these trees up by the house. I need to get them topped or taken down. I would prefer to have topped. What kind of maple am I dealing with.
Topping is a terrible idea Rodger. Pruning is fine but if your going to the extreme of topping on most trees you may as well have them removed.
I may have the wrong term. My brother-in-law pruned up his mother's trees. I thought he killed them. 3 years after she had beautiful balled trees. I really don't want to loose the shade but feel I have to do something to eliminate the top weight.
Topping refers to cutting the whole top out of a tree. Like this: It's bad practice because the tree awakens all its dormant buds and sends water sprouts out (all the spindly little branches you see) which don't benefit the tree and never form a solid union. They will remain weak for the rest of the trees lifespan and can cause severe property damage when they get very large and decide to separate in a severe weather event. If you want to keep the trees you'll want to pay an arborist for a proper reduction pruning.
Topping is exactly why my one neighbor did to his silver maple. I got the stuff he just topped, and I have a feeling that I'll be getting the rest of that tree in the next couple of years. He hates that tree. Of the 4 conversations I've ever had with him, every one involved him mentioning that he wants that silver maple gone.
Silver maple and houses/yards don't mix well. Probably one of the worst trees to top. Should ask him who did the work and avoid that person in the future.
There is a place near here that had some nice maple trees around a nice old farm house...over the winter they topped it out just like this pic...just a trunk with some large branches sticking out now...it looks terrible! I can't for the life of me figure out why they didn't just go ahead and take them down?! I bet they will take them down within a few years after they see what a mess they've created...
Lol. He did it himself on a ladder. He's a grumpy guy. I was ready to dial 911 and work on triage duty, but it wasn't necessary.
Lol had a similar experience with a neighbor in the past. Broke out the a frame ladder and chainsaw. I literally had 9-1-1 dialed on the phone and was prepared to hit send. It ended alright and we eventually became good friends. He ended up having the tree removed at my suggestion.
Honestly looks like hard maple leaves to me. Would need to see the bark to eliminate silver though. For reference Red maple leaf:
