take both the lower ones ... to get over the mailbox.. we are talking 4 feet MIN ... and we are going after that now ... why wait until you are cutting off one inch branches.. making big wounds??? and i would still reduce the dominance of the second leader.. to favor what i might call the third ... and finally.. keep in mind.. almost NOTHING there now.. will be there.. when the canopy is to your preferred height ... and.. again ... if you look at the first pic ... all that will be there is the leader that looks like it goes in the garage ... crikey... WHY DO YOU WANT/NEED TO DEVELOP MULTIPLE LEADERS DOWN BELOW ???? ALL THE LEAVES ARE FOOD MAKING MACHINES.. TO GROW THE ROOT MASS.. TO MAKE A FUTURE TREE .. carp.. darn caps lock ... so we never want to remove too much at once .....but if your goal is height.. why do you want multiple leaders down low now ... again.. trees heal wounds .. but its easier to heal a 1/4 wound .... than a inch or two wound ... one trick.. as you drive around town.. just look at other specimens.. if you cant find JM's to look at.. you arent trying very hard .... just study how others have done it.. and when you start 'seeing' what they did wrong.. you will be well taught ... [you usually find the bad ones.. in front of businesses .. lol micky d's.. etc.. when they prune them 3 times of year.. to our horror ...] ken

Dear Judy, I have hundreds of bigleaf maple seedlings, which I could bring bareroot to the Green Elephant. LMK if you want me to save some as they are going to be covered by a huge compost heap otherwise. These are 6" tall this year, but they will be 5' tall by this time next year; they grow fast. Please post to the Green Elephant String as it will keep it up on the first page of the PNW exchange forum. Thanks, Jim Here is a link that might be useful: Green Elephant String

Depends what you want. If you want the tree to grow as fast as possible then don't trim any. Removing leaves removes photosynthesizing potential, which is more important to a young tree. If you want to keep it as small as possible then go ahead and take them. Most people will disregard this info but you are talking about a three year old seedling, not a five year old nursery tree. Next year or the season after the tree will not care as much and the pruning scars will heal over and disappear faster.

From the info provided, it's really not possible to determine exactly what the problem(s) may be and therefore what you need to do to correct them, but here's a few things to consider: 1) Clay soil has an unfortunate reputation. Yes, it is difficult to work with, can be rock hard when it dries out and may provide iffy drainage. But it also tends to be nutrient rich and also binds applied nutrients (fertilizers). Drainage is probably the most important consideration and hopefully the nurserypeople planting the trees accounted for that - a very wide but quite shallow planting hole and with the top of the rootball slightly above the existing soil surface. Any backfill or mulch should have been used to gradually mound up to the top of the rootball. 2) Timing of the planting. Planting trees in the middle of summer when temps are at their highest is just going to be very stressful and bound to create transplant shock. That's likely what the initial wilting reflected. 3) Adequate watering. I've not used the gator bags myself so don't have any firsthand experience on how well they work. But newly planted trees need a LOT of water and good sized trees planted in high heat in the middle of summer need more than you might imagine - at least 5 gallons per inch of trunk diameter per week. And this should be after the initial planting, wherein both the rootball AND the planting hole have been thoroughly soaked. This practice should continue throughout both the first and second growing seasons in the ground. I suspect the trees are under drought stress......just not getting enough water. The symptoms you describe certainly fit this diagnosis. Either the original rootball has been allowed to dry out or was not properly hydrated before planting or the trees are not getting enough supplemental irrigation this season. Dig down into the rootball and check - the soil should be just moist to the touch and that moist area should extend all the way down to the base of the rootball, a good 12-18". The deeper the soil moisture extends, the more likely and easier the tree roots will follow and a good, deep root system results in greater drought tolerance after establishment. Mulching properly will also help to conserve soil moisture. 4) Finally, when a plant is under stress, you never want to fertilize it. The roots are unable to metabolize it adequately and it just increases the stress. Trees generally require minimal fertilization anyway - only if the soil tests deficient in particular nutrients or if the appearance of the tree itself indicates a specific nutrient lack, i.e. chlorosis. MiracleGro would not be my first choice.....a slow release granular fert applied throughout the dripline would be better but test your soil first before applying any fertilizer. Fertilizing when not needed is often worse than not fertilizing at all. FWIW, 1.5-2.5 inch caliper trees can hardly be called seedlings :-) Water appropriately for their size and your climate!!