Planting Maples

[RaceFan14]

I was just given 2 Crimson King Maple trees. Can someone tell me if they need protected from the frost once they are planted?

[Petee]

Crimson King Maples are very hardy in our area.  They grow relatively slowly which can be a plus.

 

Make sure it is planted at the proper level.  Then be sure to keep it watered well till the ground freezes, then mulch it for the first winter.  Pull the mulch away next spring when the really hard freezes have stopped.  A frost will not hurt it. You just want to make sure it doesn't heave up out of the ground.

[lavender]

It's pretty late to be putting in trees.  I had a small Japanese maple that I just dug into the ground in the pot and mulched. If you do put it in the ground make sure the ground is packed down around the roots and then mulch it with wood chips. Is it dormant?

[RaceFan14]

Thanks Petee.  I got these trees from a private grower in Michigan but didn't receive any planting tips.

And yes lavender, they are dormant. Would pine chips be good for mulch?

 

[Petee]

Any kind of chips would work fine for the winter.  Just fill the hole firmly enough to hold the tree upright, don't pack it.  I don't normally suggest staking trees but since it is getting a little later in the season, you might want to stake it just till spring, no longer.

[Tiramisu]

It's pretty late to be putting in trees.  

I was wondering what time of year would be the best to replace our tree.   It was a flowering hibiscus and it just split down the middle and died.  I'm not sure what we will replace it with but something about the same size.

[RaceFan14]

Thanks again! I usually have a "green thumb" with my gardens but just wanted to be sure about my trees!

[Petee]

 

I was wondering what time of year would be the best to replace our tree.   It was a flowering hibiscus and it just split down the middle and died.  I'm not sure what we will replace it with but something about the same size.

Flwering Hibiscus is not a local tree which you would plant in your yard. Do you maybe mean a Rose of Sharon?

[Tiramisu]

It looked just like this only huge.  It was so pretty.

 

[Guest snellma]

That's a hibiscus.

[lavender]

That is a hardy hibiscus known as Hibiscus moschuta. I have several of them; some that I got at Rainbow Valley as seedlings. The one in the picture has been trained into a standard. My hibiscus die back to the ground everyyear so they are bushier. I also live in a cold pocket but it must be warmer in your yard if you manage to maintain the stems through the winter. The Rose of Sharon are hadier but not as pretty or at least that is my opinion.

The small Japanese maples are nice trees. Some of them don't get much over 5 or 6 feet and the coloring is striking all year. I like the really fine leafed ones. They had a goreous one at Lowe's this year with red stems and yellow leaves. I almost bought it but couldn't deal with the grief I was going to get if I brought home one more tree.

[Petee]

Like a banana you can try heaping loose mulch up around it till you have a huge mound.  Then you wrap the entire mound in a piece of wire fencing to hold it in place.  You don't want water to be trapped in there.  

[lavender]

Fall planting is tricky in our area. I know that it is very late to be planting trees, as a friend of mine tried to get a local nursery to do it recently and they refused. That was good enough for me and I heeled mine in. The problem is that they don't have time to grow those little roots that keep them in the ground. They are especially absent on dormant bare root trees. Those also are the ones that take up nutrients and water. The mulch keeps the ground frozen so it won't freeze and thaw and heave out the tree that isn't securely anchored.

Another thing that you have to be careful of is to make sure the drainage is good so that the roots won't rot before they get a chance to grow.

The idea of staking trees is pretty much frowned upon these days. In the case of a new tree driving in a stake and tying the tree to it is just as likely to result in the wind blowing down the stake or the ground heaving it out and taking the tree with it as it is to keep the little tree upright. If the tree has lots of branches and is to be planted in a windy area a better way to keep it upright is to guy it using three stakes. If the branches are very unwieldy either trim them back or use taller stakes to help support them but the best way to do it is to use 12-18 inch stakes and tie the tree with something like pantyhose that allows it to move  or get one of those ring thingys that go around the tree and you can tie something to. The idea is to let the tree sway in the wind. This encourages it to grow the roots that keep it in the ground and also makes it less likely that it will go over.  Remove the stakes as soon as the tree seems secure.

Pine bark mulch is fine. Just make sure it isn't against the trunk of the tree to discourage insect or bacterial injury to the bark.  You also might want to wrap the tree trunk to discourage rabbits and field mice. Remember as the snow starts to lay these animals can reach further up the trunk than they would if they were standing on the ground.

I think spring is a better time to plant trees in our area but then I have very poorly draining soil. Good luck with them.

[Petee]

I've planted trees clear up into December with no problems as long as the ground hasn't frozen first.  The problem is, do you have a garden in which to winter the tree over in the pot?  It has to be very loose soil, still should be temporarily staked to prevent it blowing over and getting top damage, and by spring it could be very root bound which is yet another problem.  Evergreens do poorly when planted late in the year but others will do just fine.

 

Lots of times our local soil doesn't ever freeze deeper than a couple of inches.

[Petee]

Hopefully this will give you enough information to make the late fall/overwintering planting decision:

http://www.wikihow.com/Plant-a-Tree