Is a silver maple a good tree to plant in Indiana?
Think hard about it — silver maple is on the hazard list in central Indiana. It is everywhere. Indiana DNR street tree data put silver maple at roughly 18% of the state's street tree population — a level extension foresters flag as dangerous over-representation given that maples overall run about a third of the inventory — and central Indiana's older ring suburbs are dominated by them.
What you'd be signing up to clean up
It sheds the largest samaras of any maple in one heavy dump by late May, and they germinate in gutters, beds, gravel, and along foundations. On top of that it drops small twigs and dead interior wood constantly, so homeowners describe a tree that always has sticks under it even in dead calm weather.
Where to keep it away from
This is the sewer and sidewalk tree. Its roots are shallow, vigorous, and notorious for invading drain and sewer laterals, and in central Indiana's compacted clay they stay in the top few inches because that is where the oxygen is — so they lift driveways, crack sidewalk panels, and surface across lawns until mowing becomes impossible. Standard clearance guidance is about 40 ft from structures, walks, drives, and sewer lines, which essentially no subdivision lot ever gave them.
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