I am thinking of building a raised bed for my JP's. Do large JP's such as Sango Kaku and Bloodgood fare well in raised beds? If the ground below the raised bed is clay, should I incorporate clay into the raised bed soil mixture so the roots may penetrate the ground eventually
Japanese maples will all beneft from the increased drainage potential of raised beds I would break up the clay soil, add some organic matter, and then add your raised bed on top of that (a personal opinion only)
Yes, if your soil is clay (as mine is) you definitely must plant any JM in a raised bed. This bed must be at least 1 ft of the original soil covering a good perimeter around the three. Eventually, once the three stablish in the new location and develop good root system; it will fix part of its roots in the original soil without harm. it will take time to do that (probably several years). Don't do a hole in the soil because due the clay you only will create a basin to keep water, so this will drive to kill (drown) your maple fast. (I almost lost some of my maples due this detail, fortunately I saved them). The soil mix to be used must be one that allow good drain (Beware: The "perfect" soil type and ammends used in it, is the main topic of discussion in any forum). Also cover it with 1-2" of mulch. I did it with all my planted JMs (include sango Kaku, butterfly, viridis, bloodgood, palmatum, atroporperum, among some others), and they're doing pretty well. here are an old pic of part of my planted and potted JMs. Good luck! Nelran
This is what you call drainage, the bucket in the center has a lead out at the top of it that is attached to a 3/4 inch pipe on a ten percent grade. It drains into a county drainage ditch some 10 or 12 meters away, so if the water ever fills to the top of the bucket it just drains off through the piping or though the bottom. I have seen this hole evacuating water for up to three days. This hole was dug out of pure raw clay. Do you see that little tree on top of the bucket is now seven or so feet tall. The hole was dug by me a short time before I joined this forum. The radius of the hole is about 2 meters. It is now a berm with excellent drainage. Yea I didn't talk about the yard of compost and the ton of rock dust plus that load of mulch that was all tilled in.
