First thing Kry-is this your jurisdiction? If there's a city forestry dept. they would both have the say-so in this and be the ones to do any work needed.

Having asked that, the city forestry dept. that I happen to work with planted some Amur maples under wires-not my idea-and they are, just as you say, ill-suited to this purpose, crowning out too low and being hard to confine to a single leader.

After the first question is answered and it's determined that you have the go-ahead to do as you please, and without a picture to guide my answer, I'd say why not maintain it as best you can, using a combination of judicious pruning and judicious not-pruning ;^) all the while, putting your efforts elsewhere in your yard?

Or. give us more info, maybe a picture, to help us decide what course of action to take. There are, of course, numerous other smallish trees that could occupy that spot, if that is the direction you wish to take.

+oM

I have a fairly old Acer ginnala in a wild area on the back property line - about 30 or 40 years old. Probably self-seeded but maybe planted by previous owner. It is only about 15-20 feet tall and growing naturally in a multi-trunk form.

The Amur has nice flowers and great fall color, but I regard it with caution because it's a non-native and has been noted to be weedy in WI and potentially invasive in CT. I have noticed it seeds around here and there in the yard, but nothing terrible as yet.

I love Crabapples myself (also a little weedy :). Is it possible to have both, try to train the Amur and plant a Crab somewhere too?