Before I select trees, I usually check out the Ohio Conservancy site and make sure what I want isn't an invasive tree. Amurs aren't on the Ohio list. What I'm hoping these will turn out is like this photo. I've seen several in the 'hood and really like them - not too tall, but a nice canopy for a bench underneath. Pretty color in fall and with more and more windstorms I wouldn't have to worry about them falling on the house. LOL (Like my red, sugar or silver maple likes to remind me now and then.) So, to recap: Since I don't have the places ready to plant them in permanent locations right now, I could a) pot them up in 2-gals until fall or b) dig them in a holding bed and dig them up and replant in fall. I guess it won't hurt them if I gently pull the 2 trees apart when potting. Right now my 'regular' maples are all budding out. But no leaves, of course. Perhaps I should keep these babies in the unheated garage for a couple weeks before putting them into a hold bed (with or without pot). P.S. How short lived are they? Will they last 20-30 years? Thanks. Kris Sorry they are a pest in Minnesota. It's very troublesome to find that lots of popular plants sold today are on someones 'invasive' lists.

First thing Kry-is this your jurisdiction? If there's a city forestry dept. they would both have the say-so in this and be the ones to do any work needed. Having asked that, the city forestry dept. that I happen to work with planted some Amur maples under wires-not my idea-and they are, just as you say, ill-suited to this purpose, crowning out too low and being hard to confine to a single leader. After the first question is answered and it's determined that you have the go-ahead to do as you please, and without a picture to guide my answer, I'd say why not maintain it as best you can, using a combination of judicious pruning and judicious not-pruning ;^) all the while, putting your efforts elsewhere in your yard? Or. give us more info, maybe a picture, to help us decide what course of action to take. There are, of course, numerous other smallish trees that could occupy that spot, if that is the direction you wish to take. +oM

My soil is an extremely sandy soil and is classified as an excessively well drained soil. It's actually called a Pence sandy loam here in Wisconsin. I was able to get alot of the smaller roots that were circling unwinded and spread out, but I was unable to do the same with most of the larger roots. I did cut some of the larger roots but definitly not nearly all of them. And, yes it's already starting to leaf out. Should I just let it be and hope for the best? Thanks!

About the sucker growth coming up from the base of your winter flame: If it is from below the graft line then the leaves should not match the leaves of the rest of the plant. Those are from the root stock and will eventually take over. They should be pruned to the ground if you want to keep owning a winter flame. For the maple in the pot: ASSUMING Its outgrowing the pot, come fall or so I'd be tempted to cut the roots growing into the ground and try transplanting it into the ground. I'm not a fan of fall Japanese Maple transplants in zone 6 or colder but pots make me nervous also. Their soil gets COLD over the winter. Then again if it survived last winter in the pot outside why suspect different.