planted Jp maple from pot to ground

I finally got my Ornida Nikishki taken out of the pot and into the ground today. I planted it on the west side of the house. It will get all morning sun, some afternoon sun and then shade. I was surprised at how much the roots had grown in the pot and it was a big pot. I mixed garden soil, peat moss, a little mulch and perilite together and placed that in the hole first, then put the tree in and backfilled with the same mix. Mulch was placed on top. Does it sound like I did it right? It was growing in just potting mix in the pot.
Now I have to get the orgeola planted.

I need an input as to the soil I mixed up.

marie when i plant jm's in the ground, they just go in the ground like i would any tree or shrub - mix in some compost, if i have some wood ashed i throw that in and mix with the dirt from the hole dug. and make sure the site has good drainage.
i actually would have waited until spring to plant them and stored them in the garage.

I dont have a garage. So planting was my only solution. Well I will see in the spring how it made out with being planted.

I'm in Zone 5b and often plant JMs for clients into November. I haven't had any problems with survival, even though the usual advice is to plant them in the spring. I think the key is to mulch them before the ground freezes so that the roots have time to grow as much as possible before the ground freezes. I think I read somewhere that roots grow until the soil temp goes below 40º. If you're worried, marie_kap, I would stick a few stakes around the plants and stretch some burlap to make a windbreak/shelter for them.

So far we are having nice hig temps. It was 70 today. I will mulch it heavy. It is about 12 ft from the woods , so I am hoping that the trees help block most of the winter wind. I will keep a watch on it.

Thanks

Fall planting is a bit dicey in north but NJ isn't that cold .. Most of the problems come from freezing cold and too wet of soil. if they get wet and freeze or partially freeze no matter what anyone tells you that is not a good thing. Mulcjhing helps but if they are swimming in water good luck and this has been an record setting wet year for many up north . Remember the biggest enemy of any jm is wet feet period .THEY HATE IT!!! If you have a well drained soil you may be fine .. Of course planting in a lake in spring is no walk in the park either but generally the soil is not frozen in spring and water is not either sitting on top of frozen soil with a fall palnted not very well adjusted youngin under it or frozen with the tree under uit or around it. Also fall planting can cause problems if it it warm and shoots out growth that WILL die back and injure tree . Also if a tree has not adjusted to it's surroundings as with "newly purchased" fall planted JMs it is INHO much more likely to have bark split in winter than one that has had a full growing season in ground .That all, being said most fall planted JMs do fine ... but it begs the question why bother ... they are generally leafless in a short time and you put them thru heck for what ??? Unless your fall planting a Sangu kaku then good luck all around!!!...sorry Bill ;>). The only benefit is to get a good spring growth from complete dormancy to leaf which often is impossible for many as the timing of plants you get from out west or warmer areas are out of sync with yours and may come in too soon before your area is warm enough to plant them out. But that is MUTE if you overwinter in your garage the first year.or buy from a reliable northern grower or nursery and onere that will work with you on timing or buy a bit later in spring... overall there is little upside to fall planting and some to allot of downside although most of the time the tree will do just fine.

This message was edited Oct 27, 2009 7:06 PM

This message was edited Oct 27, 2009 11:23 PM

i agree with David - it simply is not worth the chance - i bought four last fall in the beginning of november - lost two and two lost a third of their size - i replaced one for much more than the fall "special". i should have put them in a larger container and in the garage - expensive lesson learned.

Does it make a difference that my tree is about 5 ft tall? Also the spot I planted it is on a slight slope, and the base soil in the bottom of the hole if very porus so I dont think I will have a problem with water logged.

This message was edited Oct 28, 2009 8:24 AM

Size doesn't matter in my experience (no pun intended!), but David's comments about "wet feet" are right on the target. Even planting in the spring will be dicey if any JM doesn't have good drainage. Poor winter drainage is bad for a great many shrubs and perennials. If in doubt, plant high (small raised bed), and mulch.

I think that is correct size has little effect but the smaller the root system the more susceptible it will be to freezing and other winter damage to tree and root system including critters. So as far as that is concerned if you plan on doing fall planting a larger tree is best but then if you loose it you've lost more $$ . The other side of the coin is if you are in a snow area a smaller on will likley do better since it will be totally insulated with snow cover ... But this conundrum just points out the pitfalls of fall planting ( IN NORTH) to my thinking just too many "ifs" with little upside in doing so...much fewer "ifs" with spring planting . I hope I was clear none of this pertains top fall planting in south which I think everyone agrees is A-OK.

marie_kap I just did the same thing, planted a 6 foot Japanese maple last week..it was very pretty and on sale and I wanted to plant it lol Anyway I just dug a hole, put in aged manure & humus, and watered it. Mine's a beni kawa. I know hardly anything about jm's, but I have very good drainage and I'm hoping it does ok. If not, it was worth the dirt therapy ; ) I'm already planning it's companion plantings. Let's compare notes in the spring, hoping we both see our trees thrive, or at least survive! . Good luck!

Ok lynnie6868, lets try and keep in touch through to spring as to the wellness of our maple's.

beni kawa is nice lynniie

Good luck with that tree. i do like it...it is a very pretty tree in fact a fav of mine!!! But have found it tender and very touchy..but if you didn't pay much for it thats cool. It is one I certainly wouldn't recommend for your area except containerized and brought in for winter.... but as with all JMs even touchy cultivars can do ok in the strangest places. I have personally never had luck with it planted out and i am warmer than you .It also does not do well in sun which is the case with some of the other such trees. If you can plant it, the Japanese Sunrise is the best of the bunch since it at least can take full sun no problems and is simply all around gorgeous but it is also a tender tree I think my wifes best JM photos are of that tree that lasted one summmer. thejn was destroyed but a not very cold winter..As Bill knows i have persoanlly had little luck with any of the red branched trees but they do well in milder areas and do do especially well in south . The one exception and that is a yellow /orange branched cultivar is Glowing Embers.I have found it to be I both hardy and sun worthy. Davidsan

thanks wha!
meyers thanks for the info, I know you're the japanese maple man :) I'll keep glowing embers in mind if this one doesn't make it. It's all in Mother Nature's hands now.
Hoosier I can always do the burlap thing, we can get some strong winds here.
marie_kap what color is yours?

Mine has green leaves that also turn pink and white.

oooh that sounds pretty! I tried to google it, but didn't get anything.

lynn here it is

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/55279/

i have this one and it is pretty hardy and a fast grower that requires some trimming on the more aggressive branches

oooh that IS pretty! That sun to part shade thing is the part that confuses me....I have read that most don't like too much sun, unfortunately my yard is very sunny but I put mine in the only place with a chance of afternoon shade.

I got mine from a Co-op last spring. they were 20.00 a piece. I think they are going to have a co-op agian this spring.

Davidsan - I read your blurb on the Japanese Sunrise and how you recommend it for warmer climates. Do you think it would do well in zone 9a or is that going to be too hot?

Here is a picture of my JP that I planted.

Here is another.

Looks healthy so far.

nice marie - you may want to think about staking that for the winter

Once we are done with leaf clean up I will do that.

I am not sure about that zone ... any tree will burm if it gets really hot sun...and humidity I think DOES play a part in this... I have gotten leaf burn or browning on 15 year old bloodgoods during an extremely hot humid summer in part shade!! This really makes little sense thus the theory humidity plays a big part since out west this really doesn't happen much. I certainly wouldn't put any tree in full sun in a really hot zone.and not expect some burn. Most of us don't have perfect siting or very limited sweet spots for planting JM's so it is what it is.... .for sun ridden yards find those trees that take sun best and live with some damage... I do think JS will do fine in sun in not real hot areas and in a little mid day shade in hotter ones or just live with less damge than some others. I also don't know how much winter color JM's like JS need in the way of colder weather to show their colors and Sac. doesn't get much of that. I think it will still color just not as dramatically but not sure.

As far as Oridono nishiki it is a very nice tree and realiably haerdy and can take some sun for a variegate . It's only drawback is that it is a super fast grower as Bill pointed out and an especially slovenly grower...branches gowing everywhere. If you want a central leader good luckyou will have refind it every year . it needs yearly heavy pruning... to the point that afterwords it is not the pretiest tree on the block ... next spring it again looks boffo only to become an overgrown mess . for those with the time and effort it is worth it since it is so hardy and so pretty.. If you have not very fertile land, especially as far as nitrogen, it should do much better ( I have highly fertile black soil 2-3' down) ... but don't feed this puppy or it will become a nuisance Just say no to fertilizer!!!.
Davidsan

This message was edited Oct 30, 2009 10:59 AM

I appreciate the input, Davidsan. Sacramento is a challenging place to try to grow JMs because of the heat, but you are right in that we don't get a lot of humidity here so that is a blessing.

There are just so many intriguing cultivars and so few places to put them. ^_^