I live in NE Ohio...zone 5...I was told of this site on another forum and a member who might be able to help. Though if anyone can shed light on this issue of having success with maples (looking for a small size one) For a few years I grew a Ryusen maple with no issues...survived winters here. Then 2013-14 we had arctic air move in. And it killed it off but a foot of the tree from the ground. (Significant winter damage) A nursery told is if we offered burlap protection...it would survive. We planted another...and lost yet another this past winter. (My husband is in love with the tree. Wanting to try yet a THIRD time. Possibly building a cold frame around it) Or...finding a weeping variety maple that is cold hardy. I was wondering if there might be another weeping variety maple...that might be cold hardy. Or if anyone can offer up advice for adding a maple with success wintering steps. I'm to the point...I just don't want to rip out another damaged tree. Maples scare me...after losing two. I don't like staking the deck against me...and losing two...I feel that adding a maple is just not wise. (Though our neighbor has a red leafed small maple that wintered well both winters we lost the ryusen. So I'm curious...can we find another variety and have success)
Do you get much snow cover there? If you do, you might have more success with Ryusen if you obtain a low grafted one and plant it a couple of feet away from that wall and allow it to cascade down the wall. To my eye, that would look nicer than a tall staked one out in the open and the snow cover (if you get decent snow) would protect and insulate it from the worst of the winter weather. Other than that there are many Japanese maples that do survive zone 5, but I will leave it to someone with more local knowledge to recommend which ones. Do you have a preference regarding leaf color or shape? And do you prefer the weeping style or would an upright habit be ok?
Preferably a weeping...both ryusen had a low graft. The first tree we had for awhile before it having die back I ended up tossing in bonsai substrate and am playing around with it. Wiring some upper branches more just "Artsy Fartsy" is what a few members call it on a bonsai group. When...a tree doesn't fall into a set of rules. Since the graft is noticeable...yet has great Nabari (roots exposed) I don't see my wishing to air layer. So...since it had that swollen graft area. It doesn't fall into something one desires for show. So...I'm just using it to play around with. Wintered just fine in my cold greenhouse that does have a thermostat set low to keep my dormant trees dormant...but, when the arctic temps move in...they are kept comfortable. I had considered burying a larger pot to keep the hole clean...and keeping the new ryusen in the container it came into...and wintering in the greenhouse. Popping it in and out of the buried pot when the weather got nice. But, am concerned with the buried pot filling with rain water...and the effects of that. Then I thought...I could just pot it up in bonsai substrate...but, it's not the right season for that...but again...I fall into how does one handle the buried pot if it fills with rainwater...will it cause the roots of the tree to rot? As to snow...we used to see a lot snow in the winter...but the last two years we had more cold than snow. Temps lingering in zone 4 for weeks on end. Which is the dilemma. I don't want to lose another beautiful weeping maple. Having just dead bones of a lovely tree is disheartening. As for planting it near the wall and cascading over...that is what I'm doing with the one I stuck in bonsai substrate. It sits near the stairs...and cascades down over the stone there. But, to plant it near the wall...my husband is afraid of it pushing the wall over eventually with it's roots...then there is the issue of our electrical running along that wall about a foot from it. Our lights for the waterfall and electrical for it all run the length of that wall. I had planned on just replacing it with a Lavender Twist Redbud. For I seen several ryusen with the same issues we had in other yards. Yet seen a Lavender Twist in at the drive thru at Wendy's go the two harsh winters with no protection and suffered no die back what so ever...bloomed profoundly come spring. But, my husband is hung up on a maple...so I plan on researching if it's even possible to have success any longer if we're to get zone 4 temps for long periods with our winters. Here is a photo of the ryusen that I tossed in bonsai substrate...you can see the swollen area at the base of the trunk.
I commented on your thread on the other page. :) Do try the Davidsan's App-- there are some Acer shirasawanums and Acer japonicums that weep and will do better for you in colder temps. Otherwise try a red laceleaf like Tamukeyama or Crimson Queen-- I see them surviving and thriving here in very cold 5a winters. One question for you and others... does the rock "mulch" help or hurt maples in deep cold? I wonder if you'd get any benefit from giving the maple a thick organic/bark mulch in the root zone, rather than rocks?
Yes, thank you for the information you left there. You have lifted my spirits and I am excited to choose a hardier tree for our area. That the base didn't die...and only the top. In my minds eye...I don't think it could be the rocks,or I would imagine one would lose the entire tree. We don't put the stone up near the trunk of any plants planted in it rocks. (Read it can smother a plant doing so) Not sure it's fact...but not willing to find out.
