Got sent to B&Q for paint today by the other half, whilst there I saw this for £5 in the clearance section. Some of the leaves are damaged which I am hoping is just from the hot weather this week. I have planted it out in a sunny spot hoping it grows well, time will tell but for £5 why not.
@Stuart McKenna, what brilliant bargain Stuart. Don't worry about the few leaves. Next year you will have a beautiful tree with many years of Winter interest in those lovely red branches. Well done you!!!!
Hi @Stuart McKenna , wotta deal! :) What's more, it looks grafted, which is better than a rooted cutting. A lot of the very cheap big box maples are rooted cuttings that last for about 7-8 years, then die. Hard to resist at £5, rooted or grafted, though, as it looks in pretty good shape. Looking the first photo, though it's hard to see, I wonder if it isn't planted a little too deeply. The soil level should really just come up to the bottom of the root flare, that's where the roots come out from the stem. You can leave a few "root tops" exposed with no problem. Planting too deep, even by a little bit, can be a big issue down the road though. If by any chance it is too deep, now would be the time to correct it. Cheers, -E
@emery thanks for the tip about planting depth, I have just checked and if I remove the layer of bark from the soil then I can see the root flare so am hoping it will be OK.
Because "sad plants" may be diseased or slow to recover. Avoiding them is a good general policy - I am not saying I see any signs of disease on this particular maple specimen.
I strongly disagree with Ron B on this one, ‘sad plants’ were just overlooked in the nursery, they deserve every chance to flourish when planted properly. Great pick !
Great find ! What a trove for 5 quid. If you planted it in a sunny spot, there is very little chance the leaves, or new leaves will improve, but that's not a problem. Water it regularly (don't soak it), and next year it will be beautiful. Since it's been stressed, perhaps you can spray it with a copper-based fungicide after leaf-fall, to be on the safe side. Makes me think of the 'Butterfly' I gave to my son : almost all the leaves were gone and it had a 70% reduction. Great find. Good boy, you saved a tree ! ;°)
Probably 50% of these were nursery or DIY store bargains (some bigger bargains than others) that needed some degree of TLC.. the only cultivar I have failed with in terms of end of season DIY store bargains is Wilson’s Pink..they all looked superb in spring and all three snuffed it along with a Seriyu. I have noticed each of the fails had a teabag material plug around the root flare..I wonder whether this is something to do with the sudden death after a superb spring leaf out.. I would also no longer buy DIY/nursery trees less than circa 0.5m tall But getting back to the subject..your tree looks superb, I’m confident you will do well with it..my preference would have been to stabilise it in a pot for a season or two, rather than straight in the ground though.
@dicky5ash. Lovely photos from your second floor window R. You really get a sense of all the colour from above. What a blaze of colour you are going to have as well in a few weeks. Looking forward to your photos. All plants deserve at least a try, but Wilson's Pink Dwarf and Taylor are sold a lot at DIY stores in Spring as they look so pretty but both very difficult to keep alive. I've now given up with Taylor. Totally agree with your size theory, as so many small, trees (9cm pots) die no matter where you buy them from. 50 % of your trees were bargains, that makes them even more special. Well done R.
Getting on for 4 years later, this tree has now established itself nicely, it struggled for the first year so moved to a more sheltered spot and it seems happy now
