So, i worked my maple seedlings all winter long with various techniques that i will be posting on over the next several weeks as i get time.
Firstly, i want to show the clump process. I will take current pics of all the clumps i planted to share soon.
I spent some time trying to research how i wanted to make some clumps. I do mean clumps also, wasnt really thinking much of a forest but i think now i should have considered. O well, we will see how they turn out. I can always start some more in the coming years.
First, i took a cheap cutting board and drilled about 8-10 holes, (probably should have been odd numbers but o well). Bought some cheap plastic salad bowls and drilled drainage and tye down holes in them.
Something i was thinking about for a while was how do you backfill the soil underneath the plate that the seedlings are grown through. So i just did it the best i could. See below.
First, the seedlings, since they were potted up several times last year, were rooted trimmed back to their original plug diameter to allow me to bunch them up closely.
These seedlings were grown with the clump in mind so they were not wired last year like the other seedlings. The required seedlings were bunched up in the pot and plate carefully slid down the seedlings. Once i got the plate down and made sure the rootballs were located in the required space, i would lift up the plate some and backfill with soil.
Once the soil was filled enough to when i pressed the plate down it would push soil out the sides a bit, i secured the plate down. Then i filled with soil and used twine to pull and position the trunks how i wanted them.
Keep in mind that i am shooting for a clump style where all the roots grow together and basically become a large raft look. This will take a while but i have the time. Some i will grow larger and allow to thicken and some i will keep smaller.
I dont have any final pics as of now, but i did fill the bowl up to the top with soil, not all the ways but close.
