Contrary to what another poster wrote here, I have nothing but praise for Advanced Tree Technology. I ordered an Autumn Blaze Maple and an Exclamation London Planetree. Both were carefully packaged, and quite large for the price paid (well over 4'). Both trees leafed out beautifully this Spring and are doing great. There's no way I could have found trees this nice and of this variety at any of the local big box stores (HD, Wally World, Lowe's) and as far as Pike's in Georgia is concerned, they're basically a has-been joke which went into bankruptcy. So I for one am thankful for internet nursery options. "Second of all, that site doctors their photos." This is an empty argument. How many web sites DON'T doctor their photos?? At least enough to enhance color and contrast. It's standard practice for most. Shabby image, shabby sales. Sharp, colorful image, better sales. That's common sense, not suggestive of anything criminal. "Third of all, they sell junk trees. Paulownia, Pear trees, silver maples. These are junk trees that you don't want." Either this poster is deliberately going out of their way to smear this company, or they have Advanced Tree Technology confused with someone else. No where in ATT's current catalog or web site will you find either silver maples OR paulownia trees. Check for yourself (see link). Yes, they do sell a hybrid Cleveland Select pear, which is supposed to be an improvement over the old Bradfords. Just because this poster sees it as a 'junk tree' doesn't mean everyone else feels the same way. "Forth of all, after shipping, a 3-4' tree is $71.90 THAT IS A RIP-OFF." Again, I have no clue where this poster is getting their facts and figures, unless they live in Timbuktu. I live in GA, and still have my receipt. Only $64.50, including S+H, for 2 trees shipped in soft fabric rootbags. I thought it was a pretty good deal, even more so since I'm happy with both trees and they're doing fine. And no, they don't anything like 'junk trees' : )) Here is a link that might be useful: Advance Tree Technology

We have 9 japanese maples, all but one planted in the ground for about 20-30 years. There is always some dieback. Just make sure you clean your pruners(with bleach)between cuts so you won't spread any diseases, and cut back the dead stuff several inches into the good wood. You can always prune to even things up. We wish to keep some of ours less than 10' tall, so we do some MAJOR pruning every few years. As long as you have a healthy tree, prune it for the shape you like. -Babka

The Red Sunset is one of my very favorite large maples. It is moderately fast growing and will handle a wide variety of conditions. When we left ours behind in a recent move, it had been in the ground 3 years and while purchased at a size of about 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide it was getting close to 20 feet by 15 feet. In your climate it will do well, but our leaves on new growth did burn in summer when we did not give enough water. So don't drown the tree, but do give adequate water in dry seasons. Besides that, the trunk was pretty sensitie to minor burn and nicks and small cracks, so a tree wrap for a few seasons will be a good idea. Other than that, just enjoy. I also like the London Plane tree, as it has the gracefulness of the Big Leaf Maple, but with the disease problems, the maple will be a better choice. We did have some pretty heavy aphids in the spring and early summer, but no damage was done and they aren't prolonged like the infestation we see on the Raywood Ash in this area. Good Luck! Michael

Ditto above. I am quite familiar with these trees and had 4 large Norways removed from my lot, with 1 huge one remaining, which is the biggest. :( They are extremely weedy, and have started to invade the small woodland areas in the neighborhood. I cut, poison, and girdle these suckers at every opportunity and am still debating removing the last big one which is indeed a beast ($$$). Acer platanoides 'Crimson King' is a very common cultivar and may be less aggressive than the species. However, since it is a Norway, I would trash that sucker and plant a much nicer native tree instead (I hate Norways too).