Pruning Japanese maple seedlings in January

Fonz

Chumono
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I want to start a few projects this year that include putting 2 year old Japanese maple seedlings through a hole in a tile. For that I need to prune off some branches and the top of most of those seedlings in order to fit through the hole. My question is if I can do it now or are the seedlings going to bleed to dead if I do this?

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All I can say is that I trunk chopped a trident about 3 weeks ago. No bleeding.
 

Shibui

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If it does start to bleed just take out of the pot and cut the roots. Bleeding stops almost instantly.
 

Dav4

Drop Branch Murphy
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Trees can't "bleed" to death... they don't have a cardiovascular system. Make your cut and properly seal the wound. As others have mentioned, trimming the roots at the same time can decrease or stop the sap loss entirely, but it's not necessary to do, either.
 

penumbra

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Bleeding doesn't begin until the sap rises which is dependent upon your climate. More of a concern would be die back from a fresh cut in extreme cold.
 

leatherback

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The bleeding you can see for maple and some other species in the ABC families is mostly just waters. The plant floods the sapwood in spring. When there is a hole, it flows out untill the tree blocks this. But.. Water is aplenty, so nothing to worry about. And the few sugars it looses are quickly recovered once foliage is back. Trees have reserves to flush multiple times n s[ring, just in case something goes wrong with the first flush.

Don't worry, just go ahead.
 
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