Elinor Teague On Gardening: Tips for fall tree planting

Japanese maple trees have three to four growth spurts or pulses during the growing season. In our area, the first pulse occurs in February when they exit winter dormancy and sprout new leaves. The next pulse is in early summer, May or June, when Japanese maples can really get bushy. In September and early October, Japanese maples often produce long thin “whip” branches that deform their lovely natural shape.

Japanese maples can be lightly pruned at any time during the year. Major branches are trimmed and the tree reshaped during winter dormancy, but the whips and any bushy growth can be trimmed back to the main branches or trunk as needed. There are good Japanese maple pruning how-to videos on YouTube now that can lead you visually through the proper technique. (Many pruning guides are out of print; check used book stores or on line for used copies of Orthos’ “All About Pruning.” the best and cheapest guide).

Fall is the best time to plant trees, but we should wait until sufficient rainfall begins to alleviate the drought before planting trees in our gardens. But Japanese maples do very well when planted into pots. They need little water (about 2 to 3 gallons a week in summer), can easily be irrigated on a drip system with a timer, and planting maples in a pot slows or stunts growth, keeping the size manageable.

The Japanese maples sold in nurseries and garden centers will be showing fall leaf color soon. When choosing your maple, look for a good solid branch structure with branches on all sides of the trunk. Check the mature size given on the label. Smaller varieties will need less pruning and take up less space.

A maple in a five-gallon nursery container doesn’t need a huge pot for planting. The pot should be deep enough to allow for a couple of inches of soil underneath the roots and several inches of soil at the sides with another couple of spare inches at the top to serve as a watering well. Buy a castered saucer at the same time as the pot. The wheels on the saucer make it easy to move your maple into shady spots and focal points in the garden as the seasons change.

Make sure the container has drain holes and cover the holes with fiberglass window screening material to keep the soil from escaping. You can use a good quality sterilized potting soil or an azalea/rhododendron planting mix or a combination of both. Plant the root ball a little high in the soil so that the root flare at the bottom of the trunk is a couple of inches above soil level. Feed your potted maple as it comes out of dormancy and again in fall with a few tablespoons of a low-number granular fertilizer. Use the same shade plant food you use on your azaleas, camellias and hydrangeas.

When growth has stopped or when the potting medium has subsided significantly, repot in the same container during winter dormancy by removing the bare tree and refilling the pot with soil at the bottom. Gently shave off excess roots at the same time. Japanese maples can live for generations in the same pot with judicious branch and root pruning.

This story was originally published October 7, 2015 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Elinor Teague On Gardening: Tips for fall tree planting."