First allow me to introduce myself. I'm a newbee to this forum and an amature gardener at best. I have a small home that sits on about half an acre of land with in city limits. I pride myself on the little bit of gardening I have done, the pond I installed is doing wonderfully and I planted a Red Dragon Japanese maple next to it that looks beautiful. That is until my friends dog got to it; which brings me to my first issue. I dog sat for a week last winter and the animal ate half the tree when he was outside doing his thing. Whats left of the tree is still alive and leafing, but it's only about 30%. There are some dead limbs and my consern is not whether it will recouperate, but will it ever look good again and how long will it take. Also my neighbor has a 30ft red maple in his yard(I think it's called a bloodgood), and one of it's seedlings is growing beneith my deck! It's about 3ft tall now and I would like to transplant it but I am concerned. I want to make sure I do this properly, so any advise would be greatly appreciated.
OK... so the tree the dog thrashed on will be fine, but it will take at least a couple-three years. If you want to move the seedling then it is best to wait. Early next spring just as you see the buds swell (but before they open) you can dig it up and move it. You can do it now and it might recover in time for winter, but if you wait until bud-swell in the spring it should take off without missing a beat. Michael
