Q Every time there's a bad storm, large silver maples all over my Bloomington neighborhood lose branches. Can you warn people against planting silver maples?

A OK. Readers, consider yourselves warned.

Silver maples (Acer saccharinum) can grow rapidly into tall, stately trees that seem perfect for parks or lake cabins with lots of land that can easily accommodate their size. They are far from ideal, however, for typical city or suburban lots, where they quickly dwarf most homes and often wreak havoc when storms pack strong winds.

It's their speedy growth that makes silver maples popular, particularly in new housing developments where the landscape looks bare. Unfortunately, the tradeoff for that fast growth is weak wood. Because their wood is weak, silver maples are more prone to storm damage than most trees. Other potential problems: lots of messy seeds each spring (the little "helicopters") and a strong tendency to produce large, unsightly roots at the surface of the soil, making lawn mowing difficult.

Two more fast-growing trees to avoid planting in most city or suburban landscapes: green ash, which have been planted far too frequently as a replacement for dying American elms, and poplars, which are sometimes employed to provide a quick screen along lot lines.

Before long, the green ash are likely to fall prey to the emerald ash borer, a destructive pest that is making its way from Eastern states, where it has devastated the green ash population.

Poplars, on the other hand, are very disease-prone and tend to be short-lived. In addition, they send up suckers, or tiny trees, from their roots. You can cut the suckers, but more keep appearing. And if you remove the original tree, stand back: You and your neighbor will have an army of suckers popping up for years to come.

Deb Brown is a garden writer and former extension horticulturist with the University of Minnesota. To ask her a gardening question, call 612-673-7793 and leave a message. She will answer questions in this column only.