Help! My first JM!

I have been wanting to get one of these forever, and the local Kroger grocers have had these for only $15. There was one pitiful one left and they marked it down to $9.99, so of course I had to have it!
Can someone tell me which kind it is and if I should put him in shade, sun, partial?? Many of the leaves are dried up at the ends, and the soil was dry, too, what little there is in the pot. I watered him right away. He'll 'come back' with a little tlc, right? (I'm a plant rescuer by nature, lol.)
Also, we have lots of clay--should I amend with some of the forest topsoil/leaves? The local nursery sells a 'planting mix' that contains a lot of bark; would that be good? Should I spread out the poor cramped roots when I plant him?
Help!

Here's a close up of the leaves. The stems are reddish, too.

Edit: We live in the middle of a wooded hillside, but there is a small semi-shaded clearing next to the house.

Edit #2: Okay, when I went out earlier, I noticed a couple other plants that looked like mine, planted in front lawns in full sun, and they looked fine.

This message was edited Jun 24, 2010 6:24 PM

This message was edited Jun 25, 2010 1:03 PM

I was able to peel off the sale price sticker today, and below it was the name of the tree--had to read it backwards, as it was stuck to the back of the sale sticker, but here it is: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/72816/

Sorry if I stumped everyone!

Hang in there, those with more experience will respond. I'd keep it in the shade and watered well for the immediate future...if you are a plant rescuer, you already know about that. I would not repot or plant it just yet as it is stressed and that will add to the stress. If the soil it is currently in is really bad, then you might gently repot into a larger pot while it's getting its recovery under way. JMs are tough...but it seems this one has had more than its share of stress in the recent past.

As to variety, if I am not mistaken...that label is used for a lot of fairly generic trees, it could be a seedling, or not. Can you see a graft on it? They are usually fairly obvious. I usually pick my JMs by the quality of the graft...not overlapped, it should be even and if so will be less obvious as it grows. If it's a seedling, it can get quite large. You can look up information on that tree on the web. In addition to plant files, the UBC Botanical forum will usually show up on searches for JMs and normally has good information. The folks here will also have more advice on care and when to plant it. I would not amend, JMs generally do just fine, even in clay, which is what I have here too.

Thanks, largosmom, I just came inside from the heat, after digging in the clay, lol. Do you think it would be to hard on it to make it into a bonsai project?

This message was edited Jun 26, 2010 4:00 PM

I don't know...that is a question better posed to bonsai people. I would think, though that some TLC for now is in order to ensure it lives. It may put out a few more leaves to replace those which were dried, and that will take some energy.

Laura

Thanks, good idea!

Bonsai is a life long art ... not for anyone who is older IMHO unless you want to do it with your grandchildren and bequeath nit too them not that you are old ;>) .. It takes years of experience and not something to dabble in unless you really want to get into it .. your tree will only go row minimally each year . In addition most jm bonsai product are very small leafed that is almost a mantra if you deal with these folks..

Yours looks like a comon red variety that has larger leaves (I was correct!! just read your other post and this is edited.... and the Atro is a misnomer .. most think it doesn't exist anymore.. most large big box nurseries put that moniker on any seed grown red Japanese maole ..so thats what you have ).,
What you see in other yards are likely bloodgoods.. this tree was developed ( selected seedling) from the now questionable Atro as a tree that holds it color better in summer , and is a darker red.. and hardiy like it's mother. Unfortunatly just like the Atro many trees sold as Bloodgoods are not . Many are just seed grow red JMs ... I bough several in the past from big box stores when I first started collecting and only one is "possibly" a Bloodgood..But I digress ;>)

. If you want to get into bonsai, and all the life long hassle or love. But best to start out with a tree that is good for bonsai .. there is a forum here at daves I believe they would be best to ask .. you may get allot of persnickety futzy answers .. you are heading down a different road with bonsai you may become a completely differnt person .. not that is anything wrong with that some of my best friends are persnickety and futzy ..Davidsan

This message was edited Jun 26, 2010 4:19 PM

This message was edited Jun 26, 2010 4:33 PM

ROFL, thanks...yeah, mine, too! I do like the finer leaved ones better, it's just that this one was on sale cheap because it was abused. I'll just plant him and nurture him back to health like he is, and save the bonsai project for a mimosa seedling. They're only four inches tall right now, and my son would love to inherit it--they're from a tree we left behind in California in 1997!

But then, I like the way this one came out:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/192045/


This message was edited Jun 26, 2010 5:29 PM

As David said, doing bonsai right is a long process and you don't just do it with one tree, learning how will take dozens, even hundreds, of trees and many years. But there is no harm in dabbling and trying for a "bonsai look" even though it isn't really bonsai (the image you show, for example, isn't a bonsai, it is a young tree in a small pot). I've been interested in bonsai most of my life, but never really looked into doing it until now, when I'm in my 60's, so it is too late for me, but I bought books on the topic and ask a lot of questions and get great advice over on the bonsai forum, and my ambition it to create plants that please me and have a bonsai feel about them, even though they would be laughable at any competition. It helps a lot to start with suitable material, which your new tree is not. But I'm sure it will be pretty in your landscape and it got you thinking about bonsai, so that is a good start. Get a good beginners book and check out the bonsai forum here at Dave's Garden.

Thanks! Or maybe I could get my son interested in it--he's only 21 and loves plants and gardening.