In the last thirty years, since it became available in our area, Trident Maple hasproven to be an excellent small-tree choice for our residential gardens.
Practical gardeners like it because it is pest-free… it tolerates drought… its leaves do not scorch when moisture stressed… it tolerates infertile soil… and it handles cold and heat with equal aplomb. Because it matures at 20 – 25 feet it is valuable as a street tree and to plant under utility wires.
Exuberant gardeners like this tree because its mature size makes it valuable for today's smaller residential properties. And they like the attractive, glossy dark green leaves that turn yellow and red in fall… and they like the grey, orange and brown bark in winter.
Michael Dirr summed it up well in Dirr's Hardy Trees & Shrubs when he said, "Small, dapper, handsomely clothed trees are a rarity, and Trident Maple qualifies as one of the best."

Dr. Carl Whitcomb wants you to give attention to the only real caveat concerning this tree. He said, "In soils over pH 6.0 to 6.5, iron chlorosis may develop. This problem is compounded by the fact that much of the water used [to irrigate] is somewhat alkaline which slowly increases the alkalinity of the soil and decreases [nutrient] availability, especially of iron and manganese. The best defense appears to be annual applications of elemental sulfur at about 3 pounds per hundred square feet."

To return to positive attributes for a moment:
The Wikipedia article on Acer buergerianum says, "Trident maple is a popular choice for the art of bonsai and responds well to techniques that create leaf reduction and ramification.[4] It is suitable for many style and sizes of bonsai."
• ramification is the divergence of the stem and limbs of a plant into smaller ones, i.e. trunk into branches, branches into increasingly smaller branches, etc. Gardeners stimulate the process of ramification through pruning, thereby making trees, shrubs and other plants bushier and denser.
I'll close by saying even though this maple was introduced to the United States in 1898 it has never really taken off with the trade or with gardeners. That is a shame… this is a beautiful tree… and it can be found on line with a little due diligence.

John, what a great comment about this lovely tree but you should copy and paste your comment at the very bottom of the database page for the tree where everyone will be able to see it. Since you've attached your comment to a single photo, the only way it will be seen is if someone selects and enlarges this particular photo and sees that you've started a thread for your comment. We actually have a plant comment section at the very bottom of every database page where members can post comments about the particular plant, rather than just a single photo.

Scroll all the way to the bottom of the database page for Trident Maple (Acer buergerianum) and look on the left side where it says:

Adding Actions:
The second item down is Post a comment

When you finish, don't forget to select the green area that says Preview and then the area that says Finished. If you post your comment in this area, the NGA system will automatically award you an acorn!

I agree, please add this to the comments of the database entry.
If on a laptop or PC, the Adding Action to post a comment is on the left side.