Japanese Maples

[Erich]

Charles yes I have heard of it, there are 2-3 types of cleansers aka vitamin supplements during transplant and times of overheating and undercooling. My large specimen Suminigashi was root torn this summer for a new sewer line but fortunate for that tree the ripping of roots was some 6 feet away from the trunk. I was in close contact with the owner of Mountain Maples and our own Oregon Greer Gardens one of the largest sellers of Jap maple Cultivars on the west coast or anywhere, they both agree that it might be good to stimulate but only very slowly so I opted not to purchase and supplant the material around the roots of the plant. we've had a great wet and cold winter here in so Oregon so the tree should do well again, I found no leaf scorch or twig/limb die-back after the roots were torn up and I filled in the zig zag trenches with fresh clean fill.........had the trenches been closer proximity to the trunk then yes I would of given it some extra TLC. the one carry over I always remember on growing and sustaining Jap maples is no over-fertilization, a very porous and acidic soil, one reason why Azales/Rhodies and Dogwoods work well in conjucntion with one another in the great NW

[ccheese]

Erich: I know only too well, the owners of Mountain Maples... Don and Nancy
Fiers. Spoke to Nancy quite a few times. Did you know she died a few years
ago from complications of an auto accident ? Don was taught to graft by
J.D. Vertrees. Right now M.M. is in bit of a struggle. Nancy left her share
[over half] to her daughter Trish, and Trish has left the company. Don is moving MM to another location. I have also purchased from Greer Gardens,
and another Oregon nursery, Forrest Farms. Ray & Peggy Prag own Forrest
Farms, and I have purchased the majority of my trees from them. I think they are in Williams, OR. Hey man.... this is like old home week !! Even tho
I have not purchased a tree from F.F. recently, they still send me their
catalog.

Anyhow, Marcie Miller, who answers the phones at M.M. is an old and dear
friend. We have been corresponding by email for years. She owns half a
mountain in Laytonville, CA, and her house is at the 3,500 foot level. She
looks down at the clouds ! She got me hooked on SuperThrive...

Oh boy, now you got me wound up !!

I guess you've been into JM's for years, where I've only been doing them
about six or seven. But I do love them, and love to tend them

More pic's this weekend.

Charles

[Lucky13]

Wonderful stuff Mr C....!
I'm a sucker for those Bonsai trees....

Do you have any of those?

[Erich]

Charles yes Marcie is who I talked with some 15 minutes to half an hour for her/their opinion(s). Nice Bon Lucky !!

well you may flip out then not, small world by F.F. is only 15 miles if that to my north and east, and yes a ton of excellent selections of maples, just visited their on-line site. Interesting I have never of them before, they most likly are hidden away in one of the many canyons that surround Williams and southern Oregon. The are is vast with open range fields and then suddenly very steep hillsides leading right into the Siskiyou mtns. of course I have to say it's gorgeous and I am thinking drgndog would have to say the same of his beautiful Illinois Valley to my west some 25-30 miles.

and yes I have been growing, cultivating, pruning J. M's for well lets say over 25 years

[ccheese]

Lucky: No, I don't have any bonsai trees. Did you know it's pronounced
"bone-sai" and not banzai ? They take a long time to train, and I don't have
that kind of time left on this earth. They are very pretty and can be
expensive...

Charles

[ccheese]

Here is one of this years grafts. You can see how the bag is placed around
the graft, and secured with a twist tie. This makes like a small greenhouse,
with lots of humidity inside. I place these in a sand box with a heater cable
running under the sand. The sand stays about 80 degrees F.

The second pic is the whole of this years grafts, on the sandbox.

The third pic down is the Crimson Queen I have in my front yard. This is the
one I rescued from my dealership..... the one the pick-up truck backed over.
The tree is just waking after a winter's nap, so there are no leaves to be
seen. After she comes out I will take another pic for comparison. This tree
is just about four feet tall, and I would guess about eight years old.

BTW, this thread is about Japanese Maples. If you have any, feel free to
post them.

Charles

[lesofprimus]

Great stuff guys.... Never knew u had such a soft spot for JMs Erich.... Opens my eyes some.....

[Lucky13]

I have to admit that I have a soft spot for nice gardens, especially Japanese...funny.

Looking forward to more pics Mr C and others...

[Wurger]

You have to spend a lot of time to watch over these plants Charles.But effects are really nice.

[Erich]

Les after all the fatigue of those 1970's to 1980's years of life I tried to mellow out some.....gardening which has always been a passion of mine, it was ala natural' for Jap maples, Dogwoods, Azaleas/Rhodies. I have a small moss garden with a 35 foot nearly 40 footer J. Maple overhanging two monster azaleas with stepping stones and 3 different types of mosses growing

if I can wake up and get this digi camera going I'll gladly insert some pics of the Leaf gang in the yard ~ pots and in the ground. I use to have some 25 Bonsai but they are all gone due to a severe summer of heat and no-one to water.

Charles nice looking C.Q. Dissectum. remember you can go ahead and prune that baby in May if need be, this is when I clean out my big boy out front of dead wood and open it up for all to see the twisting branches for effect.

[Wayne Little]

Cool stuff Guys....very interesting!

[Heinz]

Originally Posted by Wurger

I don't know much about these plants but I'm very impressed Charles.Cool pics my dear.Keep them comming.

With Wurger here!

[ccheese]

Originally Posted by Erich

Charles nice looking C.Q. Dissectum. remember you can go ahead and prune that baby in May if need be, this is when I clean out my big boy out front of dead wood and open it up for all to see the twisting branches for effect.

Erich: She's not going to take much pruning. The back side (away from the
lens) was really tore up from being run over by a pick-up truck. I pruned
it rather harshly after I got it planted. Now I have just a little die-back.

After she blossoms out, I'll put up another pic.

Oh.... I talked to another JM collector, and he tells me he's had aphids.
Guess I'm lucky....

Charles

[Erich]

Charles could be your climate, Aphis love high humidity levels in early spring, I have to actually spray a dormant spray with oil in late winter before the buds swell or as they swell but before leaves come out and this does not always do the job. Maple leaves like these which are very thin do not take chemical applications very well, it has to be early morn and cool, without any intensity of the sun.

well even with the back side of your maple somewhat out of touch you can always rope, tie it off for the branches to turn and form new areas of growth, just being careful you do not do it in later summer when the growth hardens off or you will break the twigs/limbs. you are probably very aware of this already dealing with your grafts as they get older and start to multi-branch..........

on your recommendation of Forest Farms I think I will make a little trip later next month and pick up an O-Taki for the yard, like the almost "vine-Maple" like leaves and I have seen these in the fall farther to my north with specimens some 30 feet tall...........my gosh the colour spectrum is livid in bright orange/yellow, pink, reds-crimson with edges in dark purple

[ccheese]

Eric:

If you go to ForrestFarm, be sure to tell Ray Prag I sent you. I need the
points. Also ask him if he has an Abigail Rose in a "tube size" or a No. 1.
If so to let me know, he has my email address.

For the rest of the forum members who are interested in JM's, here's three
of mine that have blossomed. The yardstick on the Goshiki Kotohime is
showing just about 25 inches. This tree is six years old.

Charles