Mr. Maple Q&A: Tips for Transplanting Japanese Maples

In this video, Matt and Tim share tips for transplanting Japanese Maples with an active audience. 

One of the most helpful things in preparing to transplant a Japanese Maple is Googling "American Nourishment Standard, and by doing that, you can start to look at the size and root ball you're going to need for the size caliper for the tree. What you can do is start to plan how big a root system you will need. 

With very large trees, you will have to cut some of the root system up. The best time to do any of your transplanting from ground to ground is when they're dormant. We prefer early spring before they leaf out, since they will be in their most regenerative stage at that time of the year. They're very easy to heal and ready to push for spring, so that will be the most forgiving time to transplant. Another key to transplanting Japanese Maples is vitamin B12. You can get vitamin B12 in a kelp-like mix. With this, it kind of takes the edge off of the transplant. 

Digging a donut around the tree, a trench all the way around the tree and down is very simple and it will help you to keep the root ball intact. What other nurseries will do is take a large spade and stamp around the tree every year in certain spots to keep the root ball contained, so that's something that you can do. If you know that you're going to be moving your trees in 2-3 years, continue to limit the root growth by stamping that spade and keeping the root ball compact and contained.