A friend let me air layer the large Acer Rubrum in his yard. The layer was set in a small nursery pot, open on top (no bags) filled with sphagnum moss. I set the layer in early April and actually forgot about it until late July when he asked me what I was doing with it. The branch was at least 8 feet tall and I pruned it back to about 1.5 feet and then removed the layer. Removed the tree from the nursery pot, moss and all, and did not muck with the roots at all. Then placed it in a larger nursery pot filled with Bonsai Jack universal mix. It has been backbudding and growing very nicely - some branches grew more than foot in a month.
The tree will end up in the redwood section of the garden given its water needs - this is a very different animal than Japanese maples. The trunk is just shy of 2 inches at the base over the roots. Given the large leaves and petioles, the plan is to develop this guy as a larger specimen (although the thought did cross my mind to chop down to the lower branch). Unless I hear otherwise, I will repot in early spring and attempt to remove the moss.
There's just something about knowing the tree grew so happily for many decades just a few blocks away from me - I trust the layer will do just fine in the same exact micro climate as its mom. Definitely something different in my garden and I look forward to many years with this tree.
The tree will end up in the redwood section of the garden given its water needs - this is a very different animal than Japanese maples. The trunk is just shy of 2 inches at the base over the roots. Given the large leaves and petioles, the plan is to develop this guy as a larger specimen (although the thought did cross my mind to chop down to the lower branch). Unless I hear otherwise, I will repot in early spring and attempt to remove the moss.
There's just something about knowing the tree grew so happily for many decades just a few blocks away from me - I trust the layer will do just fine in the same exact micro climate as its mom. Definitely something different in my garden and I look forward to many years with this tree.
