Winter for a young Japanese maple (acer palmatum)

[bryz]

Hi. I recently received my first tree, a very young, roughly 16 inch tall maple. I repotted it into a one-gallon and have been watering it at least daily since. It has only been a few days. My question is: What should I be doing to make sure the tree gets through the rest of this winter alright?

Right now, all I am doing is monitoring the weather to see if I have to take the tree inside (waiting for below -5 Celsius). What else can I do? Should I be mulching the tree? Do I even need to water a dormant tree as often as I am currently doing? Is this young tree able to handle a winter outside?

Generally, my instinct is that since these trees are hardy to below my zone, they should be able to handle living outside without too much interference from me (just as if it was growing out in the wild). So, I just want to know if there are any major concerns that I should be looking out for.

Thanks so much!

 

[j evans]

WELCOME! Congrats on the tree!

 

[0soyoung]

They develop winter hardiness by being exposed to a pattern of deepening temporary cold, like happens overnight in the fall. Then, they will need to accumulate something like 1,000 hours of time below 40F/+5C for proper bud break to occur.

I would put it outside sheltered from sun and wind and only worry about bringing it into the garage overnight when lows are forcasted to be near 20F/-6C like happened last Sunday. Per the forecast that I see online, this coming Friday and Saturday will be days where you'll have it in the garage all day and maybe put it back outside sometime on Sunday the 16th.

btw, you might want to back off on the watering, even if you potted it in a high porosity inorganic substrate. If it is in some kind of potting soil, don't water until the soil starts to feel dry-ish to your finger. By this I mean for you to stick your finger in the dirt and wiggle it down into the soil. Don't water if it feels wet. Don't water if the soil sticks to your finger.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Pics or you lyin'!

Sorce

 

[RKatzin]

I have maples that sprouted this past spring in 4x4 pots of mostly pumice tucked away under a deck with all the rest. Frozen solid right now and a nice little rosy bud at the tip of each. They're hardy little buggers straight away. These are seedlings from a Japanese maple in a friend's yard near me. Acquired nursery stock may need some extra care as prescribed by osoyoung.