AusBonsai

Bought 20 bare root Maple whips today. Plan on getting them in the ground to fatten them up. Just looking for advice on how far apart to plant them.

Thanks guys

I have field grown a variety of trees, including Chinese Elm, Ash, Olive and Celtis. In the first year I plant them about 30cm apart. In the second year I dig them and prune roots. I also prune their tops for taper in the trunks. I then replant them, this time a little further apart. I then follow this routine for further growth seasons until I have achieved satisfactory results. I feed like mad with organic fertiliser and I also use deep mulch (pea straw or sugar cane) so as to reduce the amount of watering necessary through summer (and for the Ash ... to encourage corking in the bark through retained moisture around their trunks). I believe that similar results would be achieved with maples ... nothing ventured, nothing gained!

There is a bonsai today edition with lots in it about ground growing. I'll find out tonight what number and let you know.

Webos wrote:Bought 20 bare root Maple whips today. Plan on getting them in the ground to fatten them up. Just looking for advice on how far apart to plant them.

Thanks guys

Hi Webos , i too have grown in the ground to pump trunks .I place a flat item eg' old ply , timber even corrigated iron under the tree covering with a bit of potting mix first and trimming the tap root off .Never use treated or new ply as the toxins will kill a tree . Need to run a line eg' coated electrical wire between a couple of stakes to tie the whips to .Bare wire heats up and damages the tender bark .I have some Tridents in the terrace now and i have dug a flat platform on which i have laid weed mat covered with some soil and planted the trees after root pruning .Cheers

alpineart, I would love to see photos to go with your description there. I can't quite picture what you mean...

Japh wrote:alpineart, I would love to see photos to go with your description there. I can't quite picture what you mean...

Hi japh i will throw a pic in tomorrow as a show how .Cheers

Thanks guys...I put them in today about 30cm apart...as a bit of an experiment I gave half a strong root prune and half no root prune. will dig one of each a year from now and see how they've gone.

Webos wrote:Thanks guys...I put them in today about 30cm apart...as a bit of an experiment I gave half a strong root prune and half no root prune. will dig one of each a year from now and see how they've gone.

I have not done that many, but I found that If I leave them for 2 years they do much better. Seems they take a while to recover from the root prune and get really going the second year in the ground

Although they do grow faster the in the ground the first year, the second one is where the action really happened for mine
After My move last year, I have recently put some back in and will only cut back the top if they require it next winter, but not lift them

if you have a enough in the ground, it would be good experiment and let us all know the results

Ken