Advice - new maple seedlings in garden and yard

[bonsairoofer]

Hi All - please let me know if this is the wrong place to post this. I’ve been searching and searching to make sure I’m not being redundant as it seems to be a cardinal sin here.

So here it goes:

As of last week all of the little sprouts I’ve been seeing and plucking from acer Palmatum seedling pots have now sprouted like absolutely lovely weeds all over my lavender patch and everywhere else. I live in Northern VA so it is finally getting to be summer here - is it okay to move this tiny little guys directly into flats i plant in the ground with 6-8 hours of direct sun?

I know for the saplings and everything that I have discovered in our azelas I should wait till winter to move them. However, I cannot for the life of me find out if I should leave these too - I need to move them soon otherwise I don’t think I can keep my gardener from going rogue and removing them.

I was planning on using a good organic potting mix and fertilizing every two weeks and watering as needed. Any suggestions would be greatly, greatly appreciated. There are a couple hundred so it would get me right to the point of having enough trees to not be able to fiddle with them lol.

 

[bonsairoofer]

*EDIT* they are definitely from our acer rubrum or sugar maple that we have a plethora of on our property

 

[Shibui]

Acer rubrum and sugar maple have quite large leaves so not really sought after for bonsai but if you still want to try some you can transplant small seedlings now. I regularly transplant small seedlings into pots through the first summer. I often prune the roots real hard to encourage more lateral roots that will become the nebari later. Even when roots are cut or broken the vast majority will keep growing.
Older seedlings can also be transplanted though it can often set them back a bit. Some will drop all the leaves and appear dead but should soon sprout fresh crop of leaves and start growing again.
If you transplant straight to the ground you will definitely need to watch watering. Going into pots first makes it easier for me to monitor watering and care while they recover but if you can check daily and water whenever the soil starts to get a bit dry they should still be OK direct in the ground.

Not sure what you mean by planting in a flat in the ground. If you want lots of growth I'd do without the flat. You will still need to cut all the roots when you dig them whether they are in a flat or just straight in the soil. The flat will just make it more difficult to get the spade under IMHO

 

[bonsairoofer]

Thank you! That makes sense about the not being as sought after. I mainly would like to just practice keeping tiny trees alive as well.

 

[Tieball]

Make a mini forest of about 7 to 11 trees and have some fun. Kept tiny in size the leaves may never fully develop to full larger. There also won’t be that many leaves either. Ramification with sugar maple starts means having 3 to 5 leaves. I have sugar maple starts all over. I’ve taken a few and just for entertainment kept them less than 3” in height. The tiny tree starts can make interesting growth on a bed of rolling mounds of moss.

 

[bonsairoofer]

Make a mini forest of about 7 to 11 trees and have some fun. Kept tiny in size the leaves may never fully develop to full larger. There also won’t be that many leaves either. Ramification with sugar maple starts means having 3 to 5 leaves. I have sugar maple starts all over. I’ve taken a few and just for entertainment kept them less than 3” in height. The tiny tree starts can make interesting growth on a bed of rolling mounds of moss.

Would I start those in small nursery pot as well right off the bat?

 

[Eckhoffw]

I’d dig up as many as desired. Plant in seedling flats, and put in a greenhouse, or something you can create to give them some shelter from the elements.
I’ve found that -when they are brand new-getting scorched from direct sun during the hottest parts of the day, is a danger.
Like @Tieball suggests, putting a bunch of groups together is a fun way to get some group plantings going, + makes it easier to care for all of them.

Sounds fun. Here is a group of silver maples ( definitely not sought after!) That have been in this container for a few years.

 

[Tieball]

When I created my mini forest I had no intention of growing the tiny trees bigger. I enjoyed the delicate tiny size. I knew that if I wanted bigger all I had to do was dig more trees out and grow with that purpose. I moved the trees right from the ground. Cut the tap root. Arranged and planted them in a medium flat bonsai pot (I think it was about 1.5” - 2” height and an oval shape about 12” x 8”). I started the planting with some moss mounds in place. I have plenty of moss mounds around me so easy picking and replacement if needed. I used a fine grade of substrate mixed with extra fine wood chips. This resembled the soil they grow naturally in around me. The tricky part for me was giving sun exposure to the trees yet more shade to the moss. I located the planting in a place that received morning sun but was semi shaded by another larger bonsai tree in development for the rest of the day. My intention was just having fun. The tiny details interested me. I need to make another one. It was a lot of fun. The tallest tree was probably 5” high.

 

[Tieball]

Grow some to be smaller. Dig other to grow larger as @Eckhoffw showed. Around me the autumn colors of the maples are fabulous. These can add interest to your bench.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Grow some to be smaller. Dig other to grow larger as @Eckhoffw showed. Around me the autumn colors of the maples are fabulous. These can add interest to your bench.

Yep. Even though nothing special, The fall color blaze is worth it. This fall pic 1.5 yrs ago.

 

[TrevorLarsen]

I did a very similar thing with silver maples seedlings a few years ago I agree with bigger leafed trees a forest is your best bet. I’ll post a picture of 2 years ago and today of my silver forest. Nothing great yet but worth it when it’s free IMO.

 

[Tieball]

Yep. Even though nothing special, The fall color blaze is worth it. This fall pic 1.5 yrs ago. View attachment 488244

Fabulous color. Well done on the photography. These trees are fabulous and interesting to examine.

 

[Tieball]

Yep. Even though nothing special, The fall color blaze is worth it. This fall pic 1.5 yrs ago. View attachment 488244

@bonsairoofer here's a terrific example of what you could do. Have fun.

 

[bonsairoofer]

Thanks! Thats what I will do - I've got about thirty going now. I've lots a few A.P seedlings to a nervous watering habit, lol. So its good to have a few more.

 

[Tieball]

Cool….and remember to add your general location to your profile.

 

[bonsairoofer]

Cool….and remember to add your general location to your profile.

Done!

 

[Gabler]

Plant a bunch of seeds, and after a year or two, keep only the ones with the shortest internodes and smallest leaves.