Planting Maples in Containers

Your young maples will arrive bare root and ready to plant, so it is important to be ready with a container and soil. The soil used in container growing is especially important. The purchase of a good commercially available potting mix simplifies the process, and is sure to get you off to a good start. In general the requirements of container-grown maples suggest a sand-based soil is best. Sandy soils help develop the fine fibrous roots necessary to sustain the trees in their pots, and sand is dense, adding weight and stability to the planting. If you wish to make your own soil, peat moss or ground bark are best for holding air and moisture, and good kitchen compost can be added to provide nutrients, and sand for drainage. This completes the mix for maples and most plants. Proportions for maples are: 1 part coarse sand, 4 parts quarter inch bark, 1 part leaf mould or compost that does not contain animal wastes.

Fertilizers are essential for container grown maples, but in general the rule is a little goes a long way. We want our trees to be healthy and happy, but it is our goal to keep growth slow, so the use of nitrogen is watched carefully, and is very limited except in the spring when new growth is being encouraged. Many folks find fish emulsion to be the perfect solution. It is a complete food, is low in nitrogen, and is easily used. We use Dyna-Gro (1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water every other week) in the nursery and find it to be superior, but Miracle Gro is also satisfactory at half to quarter the strength recommended on the package. If you live in an area with poor water quality (hard or alkaline) or a very hot or windy location you will find that ProTekt used at 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water every week or so will prevent most tip burn to leaves.

A soak of your maple's roots, while you prepare your container, in a solution of 10 drops of SuperThrive to a gallon of water or plain water is recommended. Carefully cover the roots with soil, gently firming the soil around them. The first watering will settle your maple into its new home. Water several times until the water flows from the drainage holes and the soil is completely soaked, then very lightly to keep just moist until bud-break. From this point on a regular watering schedule is very important.

Maples in containers should be transplanted to larger containers every few years or root-pruned to renew the root system. This is necessary for the health of your tree. Our booklet, Growing Japanese Maples in Containers contains a wealth of information about pruning, root pruning and growing maples in containers. You can purchase a printed copy for $3.00 by clicking the link above or download a pdf version for free.