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Japanese Maple Stump -- Hmmmmmm...

11 years ago

Hi All,

I was poking around a nursery yesterday and stumbled upon a 4 foot Emperor Japanese Maple that was apparently damaged by a front loader. It had a pretty severe crack running through the trunk.

It was originally $175, but I purchased it for next to nothing since no one was going to pick it up as is. I got home and whacked it down to about 6 inches. I wasn't even going to try to keep it inside since that would be a quick death for the tree.

So... I know it's not the best time to transplant the tree, but I went across the road and planted the tree in a tree line on some city property. I know I know, it's not my land but it's for a good cause (I live in an apartment and have NO outdoor space). Question is: how likely is the tree to survive such a transplant at this time? There are no 100% definitive answers here, but I've heard of people TRYING to kill these trees without success.

Also, IF it survives and starts sprouting branches, how many seasons should I wait to start pruning. My plan is for it to grow happily in the ground and get strong before putting it back into a training container for transition into a bonsai. I just felt so bad for the guy at the nursery and I wanted to give it a chance. It has 2.5" trunk diameter, with good root spread of about 6" total. Great for potential bonsai!

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Comment (1)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
11 years ago
I'd have waited until leaves fell to chop it. Hopefully, you didn't cut the plant back to the root stock - it's unlikely the plant was on its own roots. How you go about bringing the plant along depends on how well the plant does & how radical your vision for the plant is. IOW - no one can establish a meaningful time line for you unless your goals are concerted. Physiologically, if the plant responds well to the transplant you COULD start working on it in spring of '14, but that might not be a realistic expectation esthetically ...... the tree may need to grow for more than a year to achieve a meaningful transition in taper or lower branch development, for example.

Al
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