Spring is comming !! I have some maple ready for planted, please suggestions ,trick and after care for a good work. Tanks alex
0 reply ok I write my method: I made one hole 80x80x80cm ,remove the pot ,check the roots is are roll (if yes cut the roots for 3/4 cm) fill the hole whit hearth for garden 50%,vermiculite(or vulcan stone)10% cow or hourse mature **** 30%, set the acer (is important see the musk on trunk or on pot for north)like live in nursery and fill whit sand of river 10% I read that acer lovely a little of silice ,fertilize liquid 10 litre use pine bark 7/8cm around the trunk. Please reply your method . tanks ALEX66
Alex, I used the advice of nursery Esveld: I dug a hole, at least (which is very important) double the size as the volume of the pot, for the type of ground I only put peat in it, put the Acer in the middle and done. Don't press too much the peat. It must be humus, loose. First year no need to fertilize, a year after in spring can put just a little granule cowfertilizer which I will try at some Acer who had visit of some aphids, I killed the aphids with Spruzit (ecostyle) and to make the Acer healthy I try some fertilizer but just a very little, sorry Alex I am new growing maples....but this way is advised to me, hope this helps you. I think its OK because last summer 2006 I bougt Acer Garnet as my first plant, not knowing anything about Acer I put it in pot in heavy sunshine, sure we had extreme hot wheather in Holland and ofcaurse the plant lost all its leaves and I think it was stessed too. Last August, September 2006 I have put the Garnet in garden and the plant looks happy and healthy, I see the buds are ready to open soon. Also all other cultivars look good and most are leafing out so I am sure it will be OK now. Yesssss finally spring coming....my 1e time to have the opportunity to see all different maple colours, I am excited ! Greetings from Jan
Hi. Here is what I do: I usually dig a hole no deeper than the rootball (not very deep since I also eliminate all the soil from the rootball and inspect the roots before I plant) - but I dig a much larger hole: in the end it looks like a saucer. I also 'roughen up' the sides to help the roots further penetrate the surrounding area. The trees often come in a peat based soil when you get them in containers. Peat can be problematic if we do not eliminate it since it can harden around the stem, creating - at worst - an effect similar to girdling roots. It forms a compacted mass with the roots, where my first concern is to help the roots penetrate as quickly as possible the surrounding soil. As regards amendments - here is one other way of looking at it: if you add anything alien to the hole, meaning anything else than the soil that was already there, you might risk trouble with water movement. An example: let's say you plant without removing all the soil from the rootball, backfill with a particular mix rather than the soil that was there, you end up with 3 different types of soil in the immediate vicinity of the roots. These 3 different areas will not uniformly stay moist or dry up in the same manner but water will be drawn towards the finer soil, for instance. Result: a rootball that stays wet, while the immediate area dries up - or vice versa - this the roots do not like. I am generalizing, if you wish. It depends a bit on the type of soil you are working with. Ron B, who participates a lot in these forums, once suggested an author to me, Carl Whitcomb, who writes pretty informative books that discuss the why and the how. One relevant book is 'Establishment and Maintenance of Landscape Plants', now in its 3rd edition. Happy planting.
tank you Jam tank you Schusch,Jam ask to Esveld (if possible)why not fertilize first year ,Schusch is avaible this book in Europe ?or you received from USA? Good spring alex
Planting Fact Sheet. http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda Chalker-Scott/FactSheets/Planting fact sheet.pdf
Hi Alex. You can get the book here : http://www.lacebarkinc.com/books.htm Or from amazon.com - just make sure it's the 2006 edition. Of course, these books are a bit pricey. Schusch
I may have miss read this but a graft should never be covered by soil. Make sure it is above the soil line or it will rot. If the plant below the graft starts to shoot make sure you remove the growth or it will take over the grafted section. "If the acer is graft ,the graft is in the hole(?) yes for me! Please reply your method . tanks ALEX66" As far as my experience with maples they like good composty soil mix and if you have a dry summer keep some water up to them. I have several of the ones we call Japanese maples that I simple grew from seed. They make a lovely arch over my driveway and autumn colouring is deep red that turns to yellow. The leaves are very small and delicate. I would dig a hole twice the size of the pot and leave some loose composty soil at bottom. Add a bit of bone meal or other natural fertilizer tease some of the roots out to loosen soil then place in hole and back fill with the dug out soil. If that is not of good quality mix some compost and fertilizer into it and then backfill. Press it in firmly. Give the plant a stake and tie with soft stuff like stocking. Water it in very well so the soil is carried into all the airpockets, I always leave a saucer shape around the tree so that water stays with it when watering. The saucer hollow is filled with mulch to keep the tree damp. However be careful not to keep it waterlogged. Eg clay soil would benifit from river sand being mixed in with the compost. I mulch my trees because we have very dry hot summers and this year we are in drought and on water restrictions. Liz
Hi I read one article on magazine ,write by Giordano Gilardelli (www.gilardelli.it) "the acer have got earth around the trunk like one bell" no gratf in hole sorry for my traslete not well!!!the name of magazine is "Gardenia" N°210 october 2001. I delate this error !!!!
Alex, when I bought Acer cultivar from Esveld I always noticed there was some slight fertilizer added already, but they said to me if added too much fertilizer plants will grow for sure but the risk and what happens most of time is to get brown or burned leaves in summertime caused by (again) fertilizer. So they advised me to wait, I bought my plants in October 2006, I wait this spring 2007 and do nothing but next spring in 2008 I can add fertilizer. The only thing I do now is get rid of aphids, I think because we had hardly no winter with some good frost here....many insects are still allive, we have to protect the plant and try to keep it healthy as possible. Jan
This year my garden is absolutely full of Ladybirds, so aphids had better look out ..... Obviously, as Jan says, because of the milder winter?
Hi Schusch, I have the original edition, do you know if the 2006 edition is significantly changed to justify buying it? Gomero
I think the fist thing to consider is what type of soil you are working with. If it is of poor drainage you may want to plant the tree on a mound. To much amending can cause the tree roots to remain in the amended soil. I also always add one thing to the soil and that is a good humate and one thing to the roots the Mycorrhizal fungi.
Hi Gomero- I read the previous edition a couple of years ago, the new one a few months ago. Significantly changed content wise - no. The main findings are still the same. But as a first buy/read it's better to get the newest version: it's a better book, better lay out, better structure, easier to navigate, etc. Schusch
Hi Richard I read about Mycorrhizal fungi, but I don't hundertand the functions of this fungi ,where you buy this fungi? Ok Jam! This winter in my garden ant "a-go-go"
I will give you a link to read about it, many profession nurseries use it but they know to use it sparingly if they are growing in pots. After reading about it and if you decide to try it make sure that the product has not gotten hotter then 75 to 80 degrees. This is not a concern after you have inoculated with it. As to where you can get it, this may be easier then you think you can always email or call the company, they are very nice and answer all ? quickly. If I were to bet on there is a supplier in France. If you have anymore ? s just shoot me a line. Oh yea don't be huffing the stuff, it has been proven to grow stuff things out of peoples ears and noises, in fact I have seen this from time to time for my very self, mostly in old men at the market. Off to the nursery and more work. I am building a pink and silver shade house, another topic for another day. http://www.usemyke.com/mycorise/index.htm
ok Mycorrhizal is very interesting ,I see the link by Richard and Chimera (many tanks). Do you use several care or lovely care whit maple? many, many, many or litle litle,litle (fertilize,water,pesticide)and again, you prefere natural form ,or prune for have es.upright form?please reply! Richard when your house is finish send photo is important for me see this architerture(pink and silver shade)Ciao alex
Alex, you can buy mycorrhizal fungi in Europe. Any major garden center will carry them, just ask. In addition the kind sold are ok for maples. Ciao Gomero
How you use Mycorrhizal ?add to earth when planted or above the earth after planted before of pine bark ?Please reply. Gomero write you method for planted well the maple tanks alex
If you can afford Calidama, I have had awsome results for potted plants as this stuff retains moisture yet drains faster than sand. Unfortunately the cheapest Cadlidama is about $10 a cubic foot :(. I don't think I could use it for something in the ground as I would probably spend over $100 on dirt. The saddest thing is that the stuff is basically abut 4-7ft below the dirt in my garden except it has not been crushed into granules. If I had a backhoe i'd dig it up myself and put all the dirt I have dug up with the crappy alkaline poor draining dist that is topsoil here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Joaquin_(soil)
Alex, You sprinkle a litlle bit on the roots when you plant (or replant) your tree. Can be used either in pots or in the ground. Gomero
Well I asked about this and they pointed me to one thing: http://drearth.net/products/blended.php Ceing organic you have to use a lot of it per planting and its not exactly cheap, but from what they told me at the garden center its one of the best for starter plantings as far as adding beneficial microbes.