How to grow a maple tree?

Maple is commonly called one of the most beautiful trees in the world - its image was even chosen to decorate the flag of Canada. Unsurprisingly, many gardeners choose to grow it on their plots.

It is not enough just to plant the maple seeds correctly - it is equally important to properly collect and prepare the seed.

Maple seeds ripen in the last month of summer, but fall to the ground only with the arrival of autumn, so those who want to grow a tree in the garden will have to wait a bit. Gardeners will have to collect fallen seeds, looking for specimens among dry foliage. Maple reproduces by means of flat double winged wings, which are spread by the wind, and it is possible that you will have to look for them far from the tree itself. Maple fruits look like two large green nucleoli, connected to each other and equipped with a pair of wings.

The harvested seed is subjected to cold or warm stratification, which is easy to carry out at home. To implement the first method, it is necessary to prepare clean and healthy seeds without traces of rot and any deterioration. If some of them have already dried up, then you will first have to soak. In addition, a small plastic bag with a fastener is prepared for work, filled with a mixture of sand, paper and peat moss, an alternative to which can be vermiculite. If possible, all the material is sterilized, because otherwise the occurrence of fungus is likely.

The soil mixture is slightly moistened and supplemented with a fungicide that prevents mold. Next, the bag is filled with 25 seeds, if there are more of them, then a large number of containers will be required. Each bag is ironed to remove air, zipped and put into the refrigerator on a shelf, where you can maintain the temperature from one to 4 degrees Celsius. However, depending on the species and varieties, this temperature regime may differ: for example, the seeds of the American Flamingo maple germinate at 5 degrees Celsius, and the seeds of the red maple at +3 degrees. Most of the seeds require cold stratification for 3-4 months, although sometimes 40 days are enough for large-leaved maple.

It is best to check the seed packs every two weeks to make sure they are free of mold, excess or lack of liquid. As soon as the seed begins to grow, it can be removed from the cold and transplanted into moist soil, deepening 1.5 centimeters.

The warm stratification method is also easily carried out at home. It is especially recommended for mountain and Asian maples, the seeds of which are characterized by the presence of a rather dense shell. In this case, processing begins with an incision and soaking in hydrogen peroxide, and then in warm water. Further, for 8 weeks, the seeds should be at a temperature that does not go beyond the boundaries of 20-30 degrees Celsius. After completing the first part of processing, you can start cold stratification.

The seeds of some varieties of maple, for example, silver, do not require additional preparation. They can be germinated almost immediately after harvesting. The seeds are laid out in moist soil mixed with fallen leaves. It is important to remember that some seeds germinate only a year later, and some, spoiled, do not germinate. In this case, it is better to attend to new, better quality material.

Maple is best sent to open ground either in the spring or in the fall, although planting a seedling grown in container culture can be carried out at any time of the year. It is better to work with a krupnomer in winter, when the earthen lump will definitely not fall from the roots. The territory of the site should be open and sunny, and the soil should be fertile and moderately loose. When planting several trees, a gap of 2-4 meters should be kept between them. When forming a hedge, 1.5-2 meters are maintained between individual specimens. It is important to remember that there should not be sun-loving perennials and shrubs nearby, for which the shadow created by the crown of the maple will be destructive.

You can send a seedling to a permanent place, or just seeds that have undergone stratification. Before planting, the seeds are soaked in hydrogen peroxide for a couple of days. A suitable fossa should be 70 centimeters deep and 50 centimeters wide. The hole is filled with a mixture of excavated earth and humus. If the soil is too compacted and clayey, then it is worth adding sand and peat. Areas with the likelihood of flooding by groundwater require the creation of a drainage layer of rubble and sand, the thickness of which will be at least 20 centimeters.

When working with seedlings, you will need to drive a stake into the bottom, and then pour about 100-150 grams of mineral fertilizer into the hole. The root system is placed on the backfilled soil in such a way that the root collar protrudes at least 5 centimeters above the surface. Having straightened the roots, they will need to be covered with the remains of the earth. Next, the seedling is watered with 10-20 liters of water and tied to the support with a string or a wide ribbon.

You can also grow a maple in your summer cottage from a cut or cut. In the first case, oblique cuts are created on young stems with a knife, which should immediately be treated with stimulating drugs. The incisions are filled with small stones to avoid accretion, after which the places are covered with sphagnum and wrapped in polyethylene. Additionally, you should think about covering with foil, which will prevent the compress from heating up. When the growing season begins, the roots of the branch will begin to sprout directly into the moss. A year later, it can be separated from the main plant and transplanted into a permanent habitat. In fact, offspring rooting occurs in a similar way.

Reproduction by cuttings requires preparation in the spring of twigs 10 to 15 centimeters long. Cuttings are laid out in sphagnum moss, slightly moistened and placed in a room where you can maintain zero temperature. A week later, the branch can already be placed in moist soil and organize an impromptu greenhouse. After the roots and first leaves appear, the seedlings are transplanted into separate pots filled with nutritious soil.

If a maple tree is planned to be vaccinated, then the procedure should be carried out only after the period of sap flow has stopped. In this case, a thin cut is first formed on the rootstock in place of the bud. In the same way, the bud is removed from the scion cuttings. Without touching the wound with your fingers, it is necessary to connect the scion to the stock in such a way that the edges coincide, and then fix the structure with adhesive tape. The shoots located below the grafting site, as well as the top, are completely cut off. Only a couple of shoots should be left above the scion so that the tree receives nutrients. All cuts must be processed with garden varnish.

It is quite easy to care for maple, as this culture is unpretentious.During irrigation, it is worth applying the fertilizer "Kemira-universal" at the rate of 100 grams per square meter of the plot. Organics and mineral complexes are also suitable. This should be done throughout the growing season, that is, from May to September, approximately once every 4 weeks. Closer to the onset of autumn frosts, the amount of dressings decreases, and in winter they stop altogether. The soil next to the maple tree should be loosened in early spring to a shallow depth.

Maple pruning is not required, as the tree is able to form its own crown. However, if the plant is to become part of the hedge, then it will still need to control the growth of the branches. For formative pruning, remove all lateral shoots, as well as branches growing vertically. Sanitization is required to remove all dry and diseased stems and is done as needed. Some experts also recommend wrapping maple - giving the branches the desired bend with the help of wire. The procedure is carried out in early spring, and from June to October, the wire is removed. It is important to remember that the use of the wire should be limited to 5 months.

In spring and summer, on very bright days, a young tree should be slightly shaded so that its energy is spent not on evaporation, but on the development of shoots and the root system. Naturally, when the maple grows up, this will no longer be needed. It is important to remember that more sunlight provides a brighter color for the leaf plates. Irrigation of the seedling should be carried out once a month, and in especially dry periods - once a week. For each tree, approximately 10 liters of liquid should be spent. An adult plant can be watered less often, but also regularly, using about 20 liters. The water must be settled.

From time to time, plantings should be checked for insects and diseases. The infected plant is freed from damaged leaves and shoots, after which it is treated with insecticides or fungicides. The trunk circle is regularly weeded and loosened for better oxygen supply to the roots.

How to grow maple from seeds, see the video.