Hello,
I am new here! Glad I found this forum. I have a question on a tree I found yesterday under my azalea bushes. It seems to be a maple, possibly a Japanese one. I thought it should be out from under the bushes, so I carefully dug around the roots and under the roots. It still had some attached roots and I kept digging under until it finally gave. I then transferred it to a hole I had dug, however I wonder if I didnt dig far enough, it was about 7 or 8 inches deep. I put the ball of the root in it and watered it thoroughly, covered it back with the same soil I had found it in and added some better soil from a garden I have in the backyard.
My question is, does this tree need anything else I can give it to survive? How much should I continue to water it? The tree is about 2 1/2 ft tall. It has many branches already. Should I trim some of them?
Thanks so much for any help.

Definitely !👍 Start your scaffolding now. Yes yes yes !!! 👍👍😀
😎😎😎

Surprise gems are the best gems lol.

Good luck with your maple 🍁!!

😀

Mindi and welcome!!

Hi Phillip. Scaffolding? You mean using a stick beside it and attached to it?

Cut off that big stem jutting off to the side that is near the ground. My personal preference would to be to cut off all below the Y junction but it's still early and that can wait until it is bigger. I would go up to where the bigger limbs are there smack dab in the middle then call it good until it gets bigger.

Don't support the tree. It doesn't need it and will be stronger in the long run if you don't. They need to be able to move around some in order to develop strong trunks. But in saying that, if it has trouble staying upright in it's hole then by all means support it until it gets bigger and is able to stay upright on it's own.

If its a Japanese Maple, it will be prettier and easier to manage if you don't prune it at all. Pruning a Japanese Maple is almost an art form. Let it grow and see what you have before making any decisions about its future.

The only decision you need to make now is do you want a multi-trunked tree or a single trunked tree. I think multi-trunked Japanese Maples are gorgeous but its all a matter of taste. It looks like the second trunk has been cut or broken so it might be best if this tree is single trunked. Cutting the second trunk off would also relieve some of the stress on the root system.

DaisyI said:If its a Japanese Maple, it will be prettier and easier to manage if you don't prune it at all. Pruning a Japanese Maple is almost an art form. Let it grow and see what you have before making any decisions about its future.

The only decision you need to make now is do you want a multi-trunked tree or a single trunked tree. I think multi-trunked Japanese Maples are gorgeous but its all a matter of taste. It looks like the second trunk has been cut or broken so it might be best if this tree is single trunked. Cutting the second trunk off would also relieve some of the stress on the root system.

I might have cut that branch myself thinking it was part of some bush I was trimming, when lo and behold I saw the tree. I remembered it from last year when I saw something growing there but didnt know what it was at first. Now I see the buds, and being at a garden center today, I did see a Japanese maple that has the same exact buds. I'm excited, and yet I am sad as well because, in about a year or so I will be moving. Perhaps I can find another to take with me when I do.
Meantime I will see what it does in the summer before I begin to take any branches off. It IS an art to cut such a tree.

If your just planted it, it hasn't become attached to that part of the earth yet. Transplant it to a pot. I have transplanted a lot of Japanese Maples - they take well to pot life.

Not knowing what your lawn looks like or what type of Maple it is, I would still say put it some where else; too close to what appears to be a garden.

RpR said:Not knowing what your lawn looks like or what type of Maple it is, I would still say put it some where else; too close to what appears to be a garden.

BHI










This is the lawn in the second picture. The lack of grass on the left is due to what I think we're some kids playing on it, or a utility company worker left that patch bare and did place grass seed. The soil is kind of clayish. Also, the tree is near some pachysandra, surrounding some daffodils.
Took a better picture of the tree.