I wouldn't worry about a tree that's only three years old. It should be fine to transplant. I've moved plenty that were 3-5 years old. Just dig up a reasonable sized root ball. The size will depend on the plant, but as a rule of thumb try to make it about the size of the drip line. I know this gets to be impossibly heavy, and you can cheat it, but the bigger, the better. When you plant it, mulch well around it, but leave a few inches from the trunk. In fact, don't make a big mulch volcano like you typically see, instead, make it nice and wide, and no more than 2-3 inches deep.

You're going to get lots of sun burned leaves this summer. Make sure the area gets some afternoon shade, as Texas summers can be brutal.

Good luck,
Warren

That is good advice from Warren!

I don't like the idea of moving a Japanese Maple in summer.

If you live in Texas, you are in a location that is somewhat stressful for Japanese Maples (which are native to the mountainous, alpine areas of Japan). In their native habitat, they are used to living in areas with lots of water, fairly quick-draining soil, and fairly cool temperatures.

I live in the Pacific Northwest, which generally is a great climate for these trees, since we have two of the above (quick-draining soil and fairly cool temperatures) in abundance here. Ironically, what we don't have here is a lot of rain for about a 3 or 4 month period during the "dry" season (at Seattle's airport, there hasn't been measurable rain in 25 days).

Living in Texas, the stresses you are going to have on a Japanese Maple are 3-fold: 1) heat 2) excess sun; and 3) wind. In siting your tree, you are going to want a location which gets a partial but not total sun exposure. It's especially important to protect the tree from the hottest sun of the afternoon. Also, ideally you want some type of "windbreak" (the house, a fence, even natural hedging or other plants) that can protect the tree from at least 1/3 of the winds it can get, preferably the strongest, prevailing winds.

I have 6 different Japanese Maples in my front yard. I water them, generally, 1x a week, with a hose. They are flourishing (I have acquired all of them in the last 4 years and they all have seed pods, except for 1). I don't fertilize them. They are flourishing because they are well-sited--none of them get significant afternoon sun, and they have good wind protection (two of them have about 300% of the 360% of wind protection, for example, my house, the neighbor's house, a fence, and neighboring plants protect them from all except NE winds).

Good luck. My personal preference is not to move plants in the summer, particularly in an area with a continental climate (I used to live in Wis. & Maryland)!!

My friend and I dug up maple seedlings a few weeks ago.

We've had very co-operative weather since then - cloudy, cool days with some rain even.

After digging up the plant, I drop the root-ball into a container that has been lined with a plastic bag (white shopping bag) and filled with a moist mix of bark and perlite. I fill the container with mulch around the sides of the root-ball. I water thoroughly, then punch holes in the plastic bag along the bottom of the container to allow the mix to drain.

I keep the trees in a shady location for about a week, then I slowly introduce them to sun. I think it will be most important for you to provide a protected area while your tree recuperates from the injury to its roots.

Good luck!

Josh