Amur Maple, next trunk leader?

mholt

Mame
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Here is an Amur maple that I purchased discounted last fall. Just nursery stock. I did some chops this spring and have two good shoots to decide from to keep next spring. I'm rather undecided. It has a 3" base.
 

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Tachigi

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I like the 3rd image...the fourth seems a bit unbalanced, though its probably to soon to tell, Nice little piece of material
 

mholt

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Thanks Tom. That's the direction I originally I was aiming for (#3). I have another Amur, similar size with a similar decision to make. This one has a lot of knobiness to the right with all that I cut off and I'll have to address that later, carving into it. It might be a good one to try that wrap that you suggested on my hornbeam. Do you know if there are potential issues in regard to moisture getting in there? Do you think that it would have too jarring of an angle to the trunk line if I kept the lower left branch instead? Images to follow...not sure if I can post pics with this "quick reply."
 

mholt

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Amur 2

Here are the pics to go with what I mentioned.
 

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mholt

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Spring chops and repot

Here's some of the latest work on the Amur. I took it out of the 10 gallon pot and potted it in an Anderson flat, exposing more base and continued with some more chops. I'd like to hear what others have to say in regard to freezing temps after re-pots. We're expected to get freezing temps at night and the last couple days I had to do a lot of repotting and chops and slip-potting as buds were at that point. Rockm, you always have sound advice. What do people do that don't have a greenhouse? Move them back and forth from my unheated garage?
 

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DaveV

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I would not let the tree stay in freezing temps if you have already root pruned. That is what I do - move them back and forth from my garage to outside.
 

rockm

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Amurs are tough trees. I repotted mine two weeks ago, along with an extensive root pruning on all of them. They have been left out in shallow freezes--about 29-30. They are fine.

However, it's not really the best thing to do. If you can shelter them, do so.

There is more freezing weather on its way at the end of this week. I will bring the amurs into the house for a couple of nights, as they have leaves now--which means they have lost most of their winter dormancy capabilities. The leaves will also be killed by the freeze.
 

Dav4

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I have taken maples, either recently root worked or beginning to push buds before the risk of frost has past, and mulched them in the garden. A good layer of mulch should prevent the roots from freezing, and the top should be fine if the buds havn't opened, assuming a brief period of freezing temps and not real deep cold that would freeze the ground, of course. I did this while living in MA.
 

mholt

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Thank you for your advice "Dav4." I did move to and from the detached garage last year as well.

Rockm, I'm weighing my options. I did extensive root pruning to a Japanese Maple 'momiji', Corkbark elm, 2 amurs, and 2 crabapples 'mary potter'. They are all wired into Anderson flats which aren't very conducive to moving as they tend to fold when carried around so my fear is unnecessary disturbance to the roots in that manner as well. Until they do form leaves, is it safe to store in detached garage until leaves do appear or I can clear out our unheated back porch which has windows facing south, east, and west and store them there? Looks like a cold spell this week:
Today: 38/36
Wed: 40/24
Thurs: 32/22
Fri: 31/21
Sat: 32/21
Sun: 34/23
 

rockm

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If they have no leaves, things could be a bit easier for your trees.

The most important thing is to protect the root masses at this point. If you have a lot of mulch, simply leaving them on the ground and piling on six or seven inches of shredded pine bark mulch over the pots and up the trunks can work. (pots should be completely covered and the mulch should extend out at least a foot from the pots underneat. THe mulch will trap the heat in the ground for a few days around the pots on the ground--longer if things thaw out in the daytime.

The pots have to be thickly covered and the mulch should be wet all the way through--freezing water gives up heat and will have to freeze all the way through before the roots are affected.

This might be better approach than an unheated porch with unprotected roots...
 

mholt

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Thanks Rockm. I will see what areas of the yard to stick these guys. I have hardwood mulch in the landscape and could probably rake up more of last year's leaves to use as well. Does it matter that it's not pine mulch?
 

rockm

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Leaves don't offer enough insulation. There is too much air space in them. Hardwood mulch can contain bad stuff, but it's really not that big a deal. I use pine mulch because that's what I have around. Wood mulch is better than leaves.

If you have only leaves, bring the trees indoors.
 

mholt

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Back to the garage they will go. No need to bring them out during the day this week unless leaves appear, correct? Thanks again Rockm.
 

jquast

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Matt,

Do you have these in straight Turface or are you just using it as a top layer? I have two bags worth of it and wanted to know how it works for you.

Thanks
Jeff
 

rockm

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If they have no leaves, they can stay inside until freeze danger has passed. Deciduous trees have no use for light if they don't have leaves. Dormancy is broken by temperature and is not light-driven. Exposing them to more sunlight (heat) will warm up the soil in the roots and spur top growth. At this point with freezing temps around for some time, you don't want that.

What you want is a constant cool or even cold (just above freezing) temperature to slow them down so they aren't in the position of having leaves in a dark place while it's freezing outside.
 

mholt

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Jeff,

These were slip-potted fall of '09 from 2 or 3 gallon size nursery pots into 10 gallon pots with turface as my only surrounding medium. When I repotted these this week, the roots colonized the turface regions very nicely. They are currently in 100% turface. I've used a couple simple combos of turface, gran-i-grit, and pine bark and experimented with just turface and have been very pleased with just turface. I fertilize heavily though. I'm leaning toward simplifying and keeping everything in turface. I have a source (landscape irrigation store) for turface just up the street for $10/bag and if I'm getting results with that I won't bother running to farm and fleet for gran-i-grit and ordering overpriced pine bark.
 

mholt

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Rockm, simple enough. I've had 100% success storing in garage and cellar stairway the last couple years and am glad to hear it reinforced that the cold will slow down the trees to at least help keep them in dormancy a bit more.
 

rockm

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"and am glad to hear it reinforced that the cold will slow down the trees to at least help keep them in dormancy a bit more."

If the buds are swelling and getting ready to open, technically the trees aren't really in dormancy. They're active in the roots and top. By keeping them on the cold side in early spring, you slow them down. The colder things are (not below 25 though), the slower they will push buds. THis is a trick that is hard to learn. Mulch not only keeps the roots "warm" in the winter (although warm is a very relative thing) it also serves to keep them cold in the springtime.

Keeping things in a sheltered environment like garages and porches can speed things up a bit, sometimes too much...It's all a balancing act of sorts.
 
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