We get many questions / comments on our youtube channel regarding watering of container grown japanese maples. Thought it was time to create a short video describing in detail how we water ours
Good advice in general. I handwater with watering cans using stored rainwater. It would get old very quickly if I had to do it every day. My maples thrive on being watered every 3 days in normal summer conditions and every 2 days during extreme heatwaves.
Years ago we would only water our containers every other day but with the sustained hotter days and increased winds we find every day is better for our trees. Years ago when we would set up a booth at Granville Island market in Vancouver with our trees, a person bought one of our signature older "fireglow" varieties and was going to place it on their penthouse deck in the city. It was already in a cedar box, good for the next 3-4 years. I gave detailed instructions along with a care card that we provided with every tree we sold. Three weeks after the sale I got a call that "her tree had died". I just knew deep down that they had not watered sufficiently, but regardless, I drove the 9o km's and picked up the tree and gave them a refund. We were determined to nurse it back to health. We placed it in our shade house for the remainder of the season and by early september we saw signs of new growth thru out the tree. Fast forward 25 years, and here it is, in one of our cement pots, only because it is a fighter and deserves the best!
