Whilst looking with sympathy at the temps. some of you have been enduring recently,we've had quite the opposite here,but it's not all good news.Often in double figures daytime and we haven't been near freezing point yet.....but boy has it rained! Usually the no.1 killer of my young maples,I've took some precautions this year. Anyway....it's the time to bring my rootstocks indoors for their usual wake up call before grafting.As usual I had to trim them down to fit the available space.....but this year they are bleeding within minutes! This to me can mean only 2things...either they've had a ridiculously short dormancy(as they were in full autumn colour at end of November)or probably more likely, they haven't even reached full dormancy yet.Just gotta hope the whole damn lot don't start waking up as I've already spotted my peonies starting to emerge. Anyone having a regular winter ? :)
If you are thinking the sap is rising, as in preparation for spring I'd think dormancy would have to have been met before this could occur. Otherwise winter is when maples are tapped for sugar, the trees presumably being fully dormant at this time.
Thanks for reply Ron.I am thinking the sap is rising as they continue to ooze out of their cut upright stems.You think therefore they must have had some rest,if so I hope they're the exception being in a very sheltered albeit dark spot in garden.Time will tell I guess..cheers.
As I remember, the sugaring season is in the late winter when the sap starts to rise. I seem to recall late Feb early March, when I was in high school in Vermont. Here though, it is not unusual for the sap to be rising in maples now. I have often found mid-Jan pruning too late for just that reason, and now try to get it all done before the 1st of the year. (Not always possible, but I try anyway.) The peonies are starting here also, in another week of warm the tree peony will be in leaf. It seems to be able to deal with later cold, though it does die back a little. I think we are likely to get some cold, at least I hope so (but not too much!) as we've really only had a couple of frosts here so far. But we have previously had very warm winters with only a few freezes, and the maples don't seem to mind. If it does get cold now, it will slow them down nicely. They're really not too vulnerable until the start to swell, which is when the sap really gets going. At that point, multiple freezes can be problematic. The wet this year, however, is another matter. Here's hoping your maples are well drained, Houzi!
I'm not sure when my maples start to bleed anymore as I gave up pruning during dormancy a couple of years ago.I suffer from a lot of,I presume bacterial attacks in my garden and pruning resulted in maples ending up looking like zebras with blackening at each pruning point.Even a couple of six footers were knocked out without me touching them. On the other hand my rootstocks have rarely bled previously despite waiting patiently so I was a bit shocked to see them bleeding immediately this year. So you're having a wet one too.We seem to get serious floods somewhere in UK every year now.They can quote statistics as much as they want but I know this isn't how things were. Now you mention it I think I was praying for a cold snap last year to slow things down. As for drainage,we'll see.They've all been re-potted and I'm trying out a new compost made from wood fibre.I've seen quite a bit of die back,maybe not helped by the potting/root pruning but it's all white wood not black thankfully so I'm not concerned...cheers
Rain by the bucketful and more floods to come from tomorrow. But Maples/Acers hate tap water but respond to rain water surely. They hate my tap water being in a hard water area.
Where are you located, Aisya? Many places in the south have standing water, and that's enough to kill most kinds of maple. (Acer and maple are used interchangeably usually, since they mean the same thing.) Basically most maples hate wet feet, and this is especially true of the Japanese sorts many of us enjoy. When the roots are sodden in the soil, all kinds of bad things happen. That's why, for this type of plant, I use mound planting techniques especially in the most poorly draining parts of the garden. For sure, these wet winters are very difficult. As for rain water vs tap water, I think what you say is true, which is why I use a water butt when possible, and well water usually when once it's empty. cheers, -E P.S. I'm afraid A. oliverianum ssp formosum is about to leaf out. That will probably mean the end of it if so.
UK Emery, My Acers leaves go horrible, tend to shrivel but maybe something is eating them. Last summer it was very hot here and I saw that Bees were enjoying the Acer, also saw other Insects. I also get a lot of dieback on the ones in the back garden.
