Shantung maple (Acer truncatum)

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I’m starting individual threads for each of my trees to track their growth, development, and work. Here is my Shantung maple (Acer truncatum).

This was a commercial nursery tree that was planted in the ground in 2020 for an experimental nursery plot. In spring 2022 it was girdled (as part of the experiment). The experiment ended the next year, so in April 2023 I dug it up, pruned enough roots to fit into a nursery pot and filled it with NAPA oil dry for soil.

 

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It did extremely well during 2023. This species is extremely hardy. The only thing I did was cut back some growth in June, otherwise I just let it do its thing.

 

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I overwintered it in the garage. In late March 2024, I pruned it back to just two branches. One will be the first side branch, and one the new leader. When the buds start to pop, I plan on taking a look at the roots and fixing as much as I can and will repot it back in the same pot. The roots will need a lot of work to set in order, but I feel like this tree can handle a lot.