I have just received a nice 4 foot acer palmatum in the mail. The only problem is that it has started to break bud. What do I do? Its still cold here. Thanks, Pat
Were you planning to plant it or put it in a pot? Also, did it arrive bare-root or potted? If the former, on both questions, you'll have to pot it up for now until temps warm up enough to safely plant. Do you have an unheated garage you can keep it in until it warms up? Or a cold room in the basement? Something where it can still get sunlight too would be best... Those are probably your best options at this point.
Hello Pat, Anytime plants are brought in from other parts of the country, this time of year, you can find yourself in a situation like you describe. Its not an ideal situation, but there are ways of working with what you have, a tree that is probably a month ahead of the trees outside (with this winter that refuses to quit, it may be even more). So when it happens, I tend to look at how far along things are with the trees outside to develop a game plan. If the tree you got is only a couple of weeks ahead of the trees outside, you can wait it out by putting the tree in your garage at night and when the weather is near or below freezing. Ideally if you had a green house or a sun room, it would be more ideal than the garage, but I assume if that was an option we would not be having this conversation. Based on our winter this year, I feel the garage will not work. It will get you by for a couple of weeks, but beyond that the tree starts getting long and leggy, sometimes the leaves will get deformed or even start to fail. I found myself in your situation, with a tree leafing out, and Spring is a long way away (not the calendar Spring, but the Spring when things start to open up and look beautiful again). I had success with putting the tree in a room with good light and a room that is not commonly used, or can be shut off from the rest of the house. For me, that was our home office. I closed the heating vent to that room (the idea is that the heat will not be drying out the leaves). I kept the blinds open and placed the tree several feet from the windows, but in a location that it would get light from both. I did not want to put it right in front of the window, because the sun can get quite hot and there is very little air movement in the house to disperse a buildup of heat. I watered the tree about every 3 to 4 days, but every house is different, so you want to monitor the soil and make sure it does not dry out or that it does not stay too saturated. Check on the tree daily to make sure everything is going good. Pay attention to it on the weekend to make sure the tree is still in the lighting sweet spot (because the sun angle is changing pretty quick this time of year, so what was a great spot last week may change). Be sure to place the pot on something that will retain any water runoff to protect your floor. For me this was a large plastic storage container with low sides. Once everything outside catches up, then its time to make the transition to outside. The tree needs to go into shade, preferably bright shade, with no direct sunlight (maybe a little early morning sun would be okay) to allow it to get acclimated to the sun. After two weeks, you can make the transition to more sun. Protect from frost. I have done this before with no problems at all. Its not an ideal situation, but it is one that can be handled with a little work, dedication, and attention to your new tree. By late Spring, your tree will be just as happy as the other trees in your garden. Take care, John
Andrea and John thanks for your help. My maple has been outside for a few weeks now and it looks good. Ty, Pat
