Just received 'Shaina' from J&P

I just received my Japanese Maple 'Shaina' from Jackson & Perkins the other day. The edge of the plant leaves are a little dead, but I expect the plant to be ok. The plant came potted and the instructions state to leave the plant in the pot in a shady spot for 3 days and to water well. This is done to acclimate the plant before it is transplanted. Since I plan to grow this Japanese Maple in a container, I will acclimate it further for another week on the North side of the house once I plant it in the container. I then plan to move the Japanese Maple to the East side of the house for about a month to further acclimate it with only morning sun. The final place I plan on keeping the Japanese Maple is on the deck on the South side of the house with the most sun, but it will be dappled sun because of the Dura Heat River Birch that I am preparing to plant behind the deck. I did a similar acclimating procedure with the first plant that I got - a dwarf weeping Colorado Blue Spruce called 'The Blues' - and it seems to have worked well in preventing plant shock, especially since the plants are in containers and also for the fact that I live in hot and humid Central Florida

Any suggestions would be appreciated since this is the first Japanese Maple that I am growing. Thanks.

Since you live in an area with hot summers you will need to watch how much sun it gets in its final location. I suspect the north or east sides of your house might be a better place for it. Maybe once the birch has been there for a while and has had a chance to grow it might provide enough shade that the JM will be happy on the south side, but while the birch is still small I don't think it'll provide enough protection. But if you plan to keep the JM in a pot it'll be easy enough to move it somewhere shadier if it does start to get crispy--just make sure you keep an eye on it when you get hot weather so that you can catch early signs of stress and move it to a shadier spot.

Thanks for the information. The birch I plan to get is a clump river birch. I have not been to the nursery yet to pick one out since I am waiting for it to cool down here, but the nursery said that they have hundreds of them between 8 and 16 feet and that they are fast growers. If it doesn't provide enough shade right away, I will keep it on the east side like you suggest.

Is the dried out leaf tips nothing to worry about? This is my second plant by mailorder. The first one was the blue spruce which came perfect from a different nursery.

the leaves are not a problem - just sun burnt - you will need to watch that closely in your heat and sun in FL. not sure a birch is going to provide a lot of shade in my opinion.

Shaina seen to do ok in sun but down there it is ?? Almost total shade would be best .. that seems to have lost about at least half it's leaves and the burnt ones are what is left and a few others .. . No big deal but it will likely releaf maybe soon I don't think that is a concern . What is , is containerizing it .. I would say Shaina is one of the worst trees to containerize ... it is very easy to kill in a container . Planted out they seem to do ok but are very water sensitive and you will heave to be very careful NOT over watering it a bigger problem for you weith such brutal summer temps ...Also a concern is getting a period of dormancy .. Your 9a is not the same as ecrane#3 . Basically jms are deciduous and need a period of dormancy in at least the 40 degree range which you may or may not get . Without it your tree should do fine for a few years but will likely see a steadily decline . You might want to see if there is a local bonsai club around that may know how to handle that. they would know best for that area. Davidsan

After allowing the Japanese Maple to acclimate in it's own container for 3 days on my front porch (north side shade) according to the directions supplied by Jackson and Perkins, I transplanted it into a 20x20 planter. I am keeping the Japanese Maple on the front porch for an additional week to further acclimate it before moving it to the east side of the house which only receives morning sun.

My soil is made up of two and a half parts potting mix (sphagnum peat moss, perlite, starter charge, dolomitic limestone, calcitic limestone) to one part pine bark fines and one part crushed lava rock.

I am originally from Pennsylvania, but every year since I have moved down to Florida I have seen freezing temps in winter. Usually it is just for a day or two, but last winter we had extreme cold for 2 weeks - the coldest period since the 1940's. Summers the highs are usually in the low to mid 90's and we rarely hit 100+.

On plantfiles it said sun to partial shade and suitable for growing in containers. This is also what J&P told me so I was just going with this information when I ordered it, but based on what you are telling me I will keep a watchful eye on it.

In general, the advice you'll get on this forum is that almost all Japanese maples would prefer to receive morning sun with afternoon shade. Their are obvious acceptions based on different cultivars, different zones, and different growing conditions such as in-ground (and all the various soils) vs. being potted.

I'm also in Zone 9a (other side of the country with no humidity though) and I've also tried growing some JMs in pots in the sunnier locations in my yard. Some of them have done "okay" for me but I eventually moved them all to either eastern or northern exposures and every single one of them has responded better. I get less leaf burn, better growth, and in most cases better color.

If you really want to keep the tree on your deck you can probably keep it alive with some effort, but every summer you'll have to expect more of the leaf burn that you see now. If you can tolerate that, then give it a shot. Otherwise, I'd do whatever you can to protect it from the hot afternoon sun.

Humidity does seem to play a part in leaf burn and also fertilization ... Even my planted out trees in afternoon shade have some , to allot, of leaf burn in hot summers like this past one .. but my "hot" is not like Fla . This summer we had weeks in the 88-95 range max I don't think we ever reached triple digits but dew points in the 70's for 2 months... More established planted trees did better but many had top burn ... some seemed little effected . As Sox said you have to live with leaf burn almost anywhere and the lack of mid summer coloration . Those that don't experience this live in JM perfect areas , are blind , or just lucky IMHO. Normal leaf burn and lack of summer coloration aside It is truly a balancing act in hot areas to get enough sun so the have at least some color and growth but not too much to burn to a crisp ...

I've been in Southeastern Louisiana, and now in South Georgia, and my JM's do well, without much leaf burn at all. I've got a few that seem a little less excited about summer than others, but most are in pots (and in bonsai soil-which is almost like gravel). Some in full shade and some in morning sun, but they are all on a drip irrigation system, and in the heat of the summer, the ones in pots get water twice a day. The bonsai soil drains VERY WELL, and all my little guys seem to be doing great. We even moved, in June, and I brought them about 10 hours in a U-haul. I'm getting some really great color this fall, too. I have a Shaina, that's been in a pot in regular soil for about a year and a half, and I can't find any leaf burn on it.

Be careful about putting a River Birch near your deck or pool. We planted one several years ago, and didn't realize it would drop sticks ALL YEAR LONG. It also drops seeds, which clogged the pool filter so bad, I was cleaning it every day, sometimes twice a day. Also, aphids love them. When the tree was small, it was ok to spray and get rid of them, but as the tree got larger than my 2 story house, that just wasn't an option. So, the aphids would drop sticky all over the deck (and you) and would drop down on you as you sit on the deck. It's a great tree, but not for use around your deck or pool. Wish someone had warned us before we planted ours. I don't know how large a tree you're looking for, but a Drake Elm might be a better selection.

Good luck with the JM. I didn't realize that Jackson and Perkins sold JM's. I love Pacific Coast Maples, Mendocina Maples, and Essence of the Tree for mail order. I just got two beautiful Tamukeyama from Pacific yesterday. Nice sized, and a good graft union on both.

When I got the JM about 2 months ago mailorder from Jackson & Perkins, the leaves had already changed color for Fall (see original photo above). Since then the leaves dried up and fell off about a month ago. Last week I started seeing budding and this week there are all new leaves - the JM thinks it is Spring I guess.

I'm just wondering what is going to happen when we get freezing temps next month at night? What should I do (if anything) to correct my out of sync to the season JM?

stick it in the garage if you can - the fl weather must of fooled it - did not know it got to freezing down there:)

sinkevito, Best advise for in the future, is that J & P is a Rose grower and only dabbles in other things. Best to order your next Japanese Maples from a specialty grower as the information you get from J&P might be thorny. I am a newbie too with Japanese Maples. so I am reading lots of old posting here and learning lots before my new batch arrives. Hope yours is thriving. Patti

Ct flower show today