i dont have a picture but let me see if i can describe it. its incredibly huge, towers over my house and garage, the bark is rough, you can actually peel it off in pieces, the branches produce a strange looking mess in spring that looks like brown tiny grains that i'm constantly having to sweep off my patio. the leaves look like a maple but not quite. this tree is always dropping dead branches that also make a mess of my yard. any ideas? i want to trim it way back, can I?

i forgot to mention that i'm hoping its an oak because i want to use the leaves as mulch. i was trying to kill the grass on the perimeter of my yard in advance of planting and mulching this year and im afraid that they may be harmful to my hostas and perrenials. can i use these leaves if they are maples?

With the peeling bark, perhaps it is a birch?

Certainly you can use the leaves, it doesn't matter if it is an oak, a maple or a birch.

anychance it's this one?...

http://www.treehelp.com/trees/maple/maple-types-paperbark.asp

no, its not like that, but thanks, the canopy is much higher, about the height of the house. maybe its just a really old one though. so i can use any leaves for mulch? thats great news because there are lots and lots of them, lol. i left them on the perimeter over the winter and they seem to be doing well in killing the grass there. this is our second summer here and i'm hoping to make a flower bed all along the fence line. i want to have a garden i can stroll through and i'm just getting started. this forum has been so helpful, i want to thank you for your responses so quickly. i will be visiting here often.

If the leaves kind of resemble those of Maples it must be one of the Acer (maple) species, maybe, possibly the Box Elder, http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/trees/aceneg01.htm

Does the trunk of your tree have a silvery grey color where the bark is peeled off and is the trunk mottled looking? Are many of the branches bent rather oddly, sort of like arthritic fingers, and are there any round ball-like things hanging from the branches? If so you've got a sycamore.

ok this for sure will decide, i just noticed yesterday that the tree is forming those whirly birds. you know the things that spin when they're falling. they turn brown and fall off. how about that? does that make it easier to figure out?

That would make it a maple then.

AH HA! thank you georgia girl.

Since you mentioned "whirly birds" its a Silver Maple....or soft maple! It breaks up easily, in the wind & although it grows fast, its a terrible tree to grow close to a house. It does provide quick shade & can be quite pretty, but ice storms & wind, spell certain doom for it.

I don't know why someone thinks only Silver maples (or soft maple, whatever that is) has whirly birds. I have Red maple, sugar maple and Chalk maple and they all have whirly birds!

quote:

but ice storms & wind, spell certain doom for it.

Not necessarily. If taken care of properly, can live to be a very nice, big, old tree. It may be true that you don't want one too close to the house, but if you've bought a house with one growing nearby, you may not have a choice.

mgt, thats exactly what i have. the tree was here when we moved in. it certainly does drop a lot of limbs in the wind too. it's a little too close to the patio for my comfort, but its there. its also making the lawn look spotty, there are places where the roots are poking up. i want to trim it back some, but it looks like that is pricey. it does provide a lot of shade, but to be honest, i would prefer more sun. there arent a lot of flowering plants that do well in complete shade. i'm just getting started landscaping this property and putting in a lot of perenials, but some parts of my yard dont get any sun at all. some parts only get an hour or two, so you can understand my problem.

I do understand, Wendylee. Maples are shallow rooted trees, so the roots will be up at the soil level. Try some shade flowers for those areas that don't get much sun. Impatiens, Astilbe, Toad lilys, day lilys if you like them, Hydrangea & then you can get beautiful colors of Hosta and Coleus. They all do beautifully in shaded areas.