Maple seedlings

Franco

Last summer I gathered about 50 maple seedlings that germinated in my gutters. I took them out and planted them in a pot. Most of them survived the summer and the winter. It is approaching spring and was wondering if I should let them grow together or should I plant them individually in the ground?

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Jay

Franco,
I guess the answer is what are you looking to do. First do you know the type of maple you have? Some are better than others. What is your aim? There is a technique where you can plant 'lots' of seedlings around a frame and get (after they fuse) the appearance of an old thick tree. Or, you could just let them grow individually in grow boxes to get individual trees.....I guess it depends on what you are looking for.

Jay

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A Bonsai student living with his trees at N 44.37 W 77.49...
Think before you act... then think again... no good comes from rushing

Franco

I havr no idea as to what species they are, they are the "local" maples in Freehold, NJ. I am looking to do some group plantings and form some individual trees; some large large some shohin. My main question is I guess, are they too young to plant in the ground?

BonsaiManNJ

franco

i am in northern NJ. they are probably sugar or field maples. not used so much in bonsai which I feel is bad, I am a big fan of local stock. the leaves reduce well. Plant them in the ground is my suggestion, maybe build a berm with some nice topsoil, and put some mulch over to keep out the weeds (this will be important for youung plants). Let it grow for a year or two and you will have some great trees for a forest planting.

if you are going for a single tree, you could probably find some 3-4 year old seedling lying around. The deer-munched ones are great--they have been kept small!

good luck