Greetings, Japanese maple aficionados! I have a 2-3 foot orange dream acer needing a move as it was planted too close to a viburnum bush. My question: Is it better to move it now, mid-October in western Massachusetts, newly declared zone 6? Or should I wait until spring? A thank you in advance for all those who so generously share their expertise in this forum! Debviolet
As long as the tree is dormant and the ground is not frozen it is fine to move your tree. Generally mid October thru until early March is the best time. Once the spring buds start pushing out in size leave the tree alone. You could watch this video as I had to move a tree (Shishigashira) due to a building project we were doing. Although I could have placed it in another location in our garden, we placed it into a pot until we had the right new location in mind. I give step by step details and real time info as I remove the tree
In zone 6 I would be scared to move a JM just before the start of the cold weather in case a very hard freeze suddenly affects your location soon after replanting. It should be alright once it is fully dormant but I wouldn't like to try it right now. Whether you can move it during the proper winter obviously depends on how hard and how long the ground freezes. Otherwise, early spring before budbreak is a good option, as @Otto Bjornson said above. Try not to disturb it during the leafout process. Another window that I like, and you will not hear recommended very often, is the period directly after the first flush of leaves has fully leafed out, generally sometime in May, depending on local climate. The reasoning behind this is that new root growth has not yet started, but is just about to, and the plant will be primed to grow new roots in the new location.
Thank you so much for your advice and the reasoning behind it. The tree is not dormant so I will wait, until spring most likely. Last winter, we barely had a moment of ground freeze here. Still one can't count out a sudden freeze snap even if the same seems to be happening this coming winter... Shocking and disturbing how quickly climate is changing! Interesting about the window after first leaf flush! I will keep that in mind. Hope all have a colorful fall-- here in western Massachusetts, the leaves are browning out. Still beautiful tho' and the air smells great :-)
We have re potted maples after the first flush of spring growth during our nursery years. Often though, the foliage would curl and dry out as the trees would go into shock even though they were all in shade houses. The good thing though is none of them ever died, just unsightly looking for the remainder of the season or until the second growth flush pushed out new foliage. @debviolet Another option you have is to move it into a pot now and then decide where to put it in the spring. I did that yesterday with one of our Seiryu maples:
Another idea--thank you! Abit worried about keeping an outdoor potted tree going during our recent winter-weather volatility.