I grew a Silver Maple from
seed, it was a house
plant for years. I topped it twice when it was young so the trunk quickly split into four about a foot from the ground. Not what you usually see in a yard.
Advantages? The
tree will not grow as tall. Disadvantages? Higher risk of wind damage.
To counter the wind threat the
tree needs companions. I considered Oak but I can live without the acorns. I considered Sugar and Red Maple. I found some
Tulip Popular (cool looking
flower huh?)
seeds and decided that would should be the major companion for my Silver. When it's large enough, I'll tranplant it south-by-southeast of the Silver. I have an Eastern Red Cedar
growing in it's shade straight north. I'll add a dogwood north-by-north east, a Crabapple well west and another evergreen something in there somewhere.
Woodscaping? Primarily natives, grown in clusters, that provide food and shelter for wildlife as a landscape concept.