A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 japanese maple care

hello all...

in the spring, i pulled 6 japanese maple seedlings out of the ground... i have cared for them all summer, and it looks like 4 of them have survived...

my question is... how do i care for them over the winter? do i bring them indoors? or do i insulate them and leave them outside during the winter months so they can hibernate?

by the way... i am in toronto, canada, so we get COLD winters...

any suggestions anyone can provide me will be greatly appreciated...

thanks!


tim

Tim, Your Japanese Maple babies need to be treated just like their mamma. Leave them outdoors where they are for at least another season. They are deciduous and need to toughen up to your Canadian climate, just like their mamma did. If you coddle them and bring them indoors, I don't believe they will be as healthy of a tree than if you just left them out. Their roots are better left undisturbed and being a slow-growing tree, it's not like they will be taking up too much space for a while. Let Mother Nature take her course for a tougher, healthier tree in the long run. Becki

thanks for info... that's kinda what i figured...

but how should i leave them outdoors? currently they are in tiny plastic pots... do i insulate them in any way to at least give them a degree of protection, or do i leave the pots completely unprotected and let nature insulate them with snow?

thanks for your advice...

I'm bringing mine in, it's in a large pot. I'm keeping it in a sunny, unheated work room.

PL