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Growing Japanese Maple to sell.

15 years ago

If I have access to a Japanese Maple that has seeds germinate in the ground every year, is there any reason i should not collect the seedling and grow them to sell in a few years?

The seedlings will die off if left in the hard clay after about 4 inches tall. When the grow in a pot they do great! There are literally hundreds of them available each year under this tree.

thanks for the input

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Comments (9)

shortleaf2002
15 years ago
Are you talking about the straight species tree or maybe a certain cultivar 'Bloodgood'? Selling 'Bloodgood' by seedlings is deceptive because they aren't true 'Bloodgood's, because they aren't red all the time. I always thought that was ripping folks off, but i think it is still done.
I used to wanna do that too (not rip folks off) a while back until I found that out. Its very tempting because the parent 'Bloodgood' tree can be just amazing. But unfortunately, seedlings not so much.
If somebody is buying a 'Bloodgood', I'd ask if its a seed grown plant.
My 'Bloodgood' of choice was at McDonalds, it was a good reason to go there anyway!

Here is a link that might be useful: McDonalds 'Bloodgood'.
imstillatwork
Original Author
15 years ago
I have no idea what variety it really is. I'll see if my mom remembers - it's at her house. as for green-to-red or always red I don't remember. I'll try to get more info. thanks a lot for the help. I don't mind if its a less valuable variety, as long as I know what it is and can be honest about it.
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What's "huge"? There is a limited market for reselling large, established mature trees removed from a home landscape because of the cost involved in digging, wrapping and transporting them. It's an expensive process that should only be undertaken by professionals and the result is an expensive tree to purchase just to recoup the costs involved, forget about reimbursing the homeowner. And then there are all the issues with attempting to re-establish a mature tree in a new location, which are considerable. Sometimes putting out feelers to local nurseries that work closely with landscapers can put you in touch with those who are looking for specimen plants for a specific, big ticket design project.
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This topic comes up from time to time on the Maples forum - a mature JM located in an awkward position and is too large and attractive to just chop down. Besides, mature Japanese maples are valuable trees - certainly someone should be willing to pay for it at a discounted value, right?? The problem is the cost and effort involved in safely digging and moving the tree usually greatly exceeds its value. Unless, as mentioned, it is an extremely unique and venerable and sought after specimen. And can be approached easily with the necessary equipment for removal. Unfortunately, this is seldom the case. It could be hand dug, but I had a client do that once on a tree somewhat smaller than the one described and it took weeks of spare-time work to free the rootball safely. In my area, nurseries will only purchase from licensed vendors so chances are you are looking at a private party sale or perhaps a landscaper looking for some discounted stock. You could try Craigslist for a u-dig, u-haul customer (if you don't mind strangers terrorizing your property) but I wouldn't expect to realize much income from the transaction. And just to confirm mainegrower's statement - Japanese maples do NOT produce any tap roots :-))
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
15 years ago
Seed grown Japanese maples can only be sold as generic Japanese maples. Named cultivars are propagated asexually - not from seed. You may get a number of seedlings that look a lot like the parent plant and just as many more that will be quite different but you can only honestly call them "seed grown Japanese maples", no specific name.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
15 years ago
finding a market will probably be the hardest part ...

but what you do have there is UNDERSTOCK for grafting ...

now there is a market ...

or learn how to graft.. and make better JP's out of useless rootstock ...

you MUST begin with a proper ID of what you have ... a picture of the leaves.. trunk/bark and buds.. will probably get an answer from some folks here ...

once you have an ID.. then you can determine what you can graft onto it ... and that would be how you make a $25 plant out of a 25 cent seedling ... given a little labor and 5 years ... lol ...

god luck

ken
botann
15 years ago
Seed grown Japanese Maples have almost no value at all except for understock as Ken mentioned. They may be as nice looking,(usually not)but their characteristics are undocumented. Collectors are looking for certain varieties and home buyers want to know what they are buying. You can't expect people to buy a plant and not know what it's going to look like at different times of the year. Fall color is not the only criteria that Japanese Maples are judged by.
I have over fifty 4 footers you can have. I can't even give them away to my friends or neighbors. My garden is full of them.
{{gwi:332602}}
LightGreenHue
11 years ago
What if you are propagating from a known cultivar? How do patents work? I am interested in starting a small nursery.
brandon7 TN_zone7
11 years ago
LightGreen,

Patented plants can only be asexually propagated, for any reason, with the permission of the patent holder. You could get permission, often by paying a small fee per plant, but you'll have a LOT of competition in this field. This isn't really the right venue to cover the topic of starting your own nursery, but you might begin your research by reading some of the threads about the topic here on GardenWeb. Some can be found in the Professional Garden Forum.

Here are a few examples. I didn't re-read through them, but their title appears to indicate they are some of the relevant ones I've seen before:

Starting my Own Retail Nursery

Starting a backyard nursery

To all the dreamers who want to start a nursery

How profitable is a backyard nursery?

Reserarching Backyard Nursery, need advice!

and you can find many, many more in that forum with a quick search.
LightGreenHue
11 years ago
I appreciate all the info and links!
Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
11 years ago
LGH, start small but take a shot at grafting. Some of the other members here are very good at it.

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