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Potted Amur Maple

17 years ago

Hello everyone,

Question here from a relatively inexperienced tree planter. Got about an 8' tall 1.5" trunk size tree form Amur Maple this weekend. The tree was potted and the roots were circling pretty badly. I tried to seperate the roots that were circling and even cut some and tried to spread them out some but Im not sure I did a good enough job. The tree really looks great but Im just wondering if I should pull away the mulch and dirt and try and extend the roots better?

Basically my question is how far do you have to go when spreading out the roots of a potted tree to make sure it lives?

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Comment (1)

ezochi
16 years ago
I have not had direct experience with Amur Maples, but it sounds like you are doing it by the book. A neighbor and I are thinking of putting a large one up betwen our properties to replace the Elm tree lost in the drought of '05. They are nice trees and do not require babying in this zone.

Without knowing how much your roots were circling its impossible to tell you you did an adequate job. Books say that a two-thirds reduction of the root ball should be ok, but I've never had to do that with my Maples.

One thing if you cut roots you need to prune the branches above to compensate due to less water/nutrients going to the existing branches.
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