A couple of weekends ago Judy from Mordialloc (one of our regular customers) came in and bought a 4 ft standard japanese maple which another staff member and I had to duly stuff into the front passenger seat of her car. The next week she came in and bought another. These things are quite brittle, and it was equally challenging to also get this one in the car. The next week Judy decided to buy the biggest one we had, and there was no way this was getting into her car. We struggled to get it in the truck. We also agreed to plant this one and so its epic journey to its final resting place began.
The tree was an Acer palmatum 'Dissectum Atropurpureum Ornatum' and of course it came from Flemings Nurseries, one of Gardenworlds major suppliers of trees. The Fleming family have been doing great things in horticulture for four generations and grow a great Japanese Maple. This ones deep red new growth turns coppery and then bronze green in summer following by vivid orange in Autumn. Of course you can read more about it at: Fleming's website
The site was perfectly positioned on the south side of the house with plenty of protection from an afternoon sun. I must admit, it was a challenge just to get this big baby through the side gate. An hour later we were ready to dig the hole whilst some muscles were already aching. Fortunately the garden had a long history of cultivation including a prominent rose grower and the soil was a beautifully friable chocolatey loam.
I guess it is important to get the depth of the hole right. We didn't want to have to pull the plant out of its hole because that would have been hard going. Too deep and it may get wet feet, and too high would have looked plain silly. Using a tape measure at this point is not so silly.
Finally, we popped it in, spread a bit of excess dirt around the garden and we were on our way. Well, it wasn't quite that easy, and we did make sure we watered the plant in well.
Judy was happy, and had been quite correct on the importance of the trees height and wanting it to sit just below the stained glass window. We did have to move one of the smaller trees a bit to the left, and trim one bit of branch that was sticking across the pathway, but apart from that it looked perfect from inside and outside the house......and I slept very well that night.
before & after
Just wondering whether you are able to provide some advise on how to transplant a japanese maple tree.
It is 3mts in height & 2.5 mtrs in diameter. I just want to give it the best chance of survival as I have never transplanted a tree before & the last thimg I want to do is kill it.
Hope your able to give me some advice. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by: Angela | September 06, 2011 at 06:49 PM