Hi, I'm just beginning to get into the whole plant business. I really like japanese maples and want to start growing some for my own yard. I have been told that the japanese maples grown from seeds are very brittle and would not make good yard plants but rather should be used for grafting. I have researched grafting but what I don't understand is what form of rootstock should be used? I wanted to start off by growing a nice bloodgood. I recently began working at a nursery so I have access to plenty of seeds if I need to begin growing seedlings. So...if I was to try to grow a bloodgood japanese maple for my yard, what tree should I use as a rootstock, what size should that plant be, and what should I attatch that rootstock to? (a clipping? a rooted clipping? a seedling?) Thanks in advance, TheNewGuy
Wild type green seedlings are more suitable for landscaping than the many cultivars, which often have cultural problems or other limitations, like miniature growth or highly unnatural appearance. Such seedlings would also be used for rootstocks because of being tougher and cheaper than named forms or another species. In fact, for some reason Japanese maple seedlings have even been used to propagate named forms of the related vine maple in my region.
I have several seedling maples as part of my drive way planting. The original one has been with the house since at least 1955 and is a grand tree that gets some pretty hefty wind action on occasions. Its fine. I prune mine out so they have the main branches and not a lot of side growth andy they do look lovely. Liz
I don't believe that to be true Japanese maple seedlings, especially those grown 'in ground' are quite reliable and certainly not overly brittle in my experience If you are not especially set on having named cultivars, simply grow your trees from seed. You will have some terrific plants to enjoy for years to come. If you must graft ( quite a specialist exercise) then graft a twig taken from Bloodgood (known as a scion) onto a Japanese maple understock of something from one to three years old. You would need to study how to do this. This slideshow might be helpful to you http://www.bodwen-nursery.co.uk/graftingslidesho.html
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