Japanese Maple Seedlings 2020 Prices and Detailed Guide to Cultivation and Shaping Techniques
The Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) has beautiful leaf shapes and is often used as a foliage tree in gardens, with quite high ornamental value. So do you know what the prices of Japanese maple seedlings were in 2020? What are the cultivation techniques? How should they be shaped?
1. 2020 Japanese Maple Seedling Prices
The price of Japanese maple seedlings in Wuzhong District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu is 70 yuan/jin; the price of Japanese maple seedlings in Wujin District, Changzhou City is 150 yuan/plant; and the price of Japanese maple seedlings in Shuyang County, Suqian City is 280 yuan/tree.
The price of Japanese maple seedlings in Dongyang City, Jinhua City, Zhejiang is 255 yuan/plant, and the price of Japanese maple seedlings in Xinchang County, Shaoxing City is 1.2 yuan/plant.
The price of Japanese maple seedlings in Chaisang District, Jiujiang City, Jiangxi is 380 yuan/tree.
2. Cultivation Techniques for Japanese Maple
1. Artificial Propagation
Japanese maple is generally propagated by sowing, though grafting can also be used. After the samaras mature in October, sow them immediately after collection, or store them in stratified moist sand and sow again the following spring. Sow in drills with a row spacing of about 20 cm, cover with soil about 1 cm thick, and cover with rice straw. They germinate and emerge in late March, and the straw should be removed promptly.
2. Seedling Stage Management
To prevent scorching by the intense sun, a shade shed should be set up in July-August, with watering to prevent drought and topdressing with dilute, well-rotted cake fertilizer water to promote seedling growth. First-year seedlings can reach 30-40 cm in height; leave them in the bed for another year before transplanting separately. Ornamental varieties such as red maple and feather maple are usually propagated by grafting, carried out before spring bud break, using 2-3 year old Japanese maple seedlings as rootstock. Use cut grafting or side grafting, a few cm above ground level. After the graft takes, growth is relatively slow, so management must be strengthened. If single-bud side grafting is done in summer, the survival rate is higher and seedlings form faster. Wild Japanese maples are mostly tree-form and not suitable for bonsai; wild seedlings dug from under the forest can be potted and shaped into beautiful ornamental bonsai.
3. Shaping Techniques for Japanese Maple
1. Processing
Japanese maple is mostly shaped by combining bending and pruning. For bending, palm fiber is preferred, and it must be removed in time, otherwise it easily cuts into the bark. If metal wire is used for bending, even greater care must be taken to prevent it from cutting in. Bending work is best done during the plum rain period or after leaf fall. The large branches of Japanese maple can be bent, while the small branches are better pruned; generally leave 1-2 nodes on each branch, cut off the front end, so that the two lateral branches that grow form a Y shape, then prune in this way in sequence, finally forming the crown.
2. Tree Form
Japanese maple is suitable for making into a combined-planting or forest style. A solitary planting can be made into slanted-trunk, curved-trunk and other tree forms. The leaves are elegant in shape, red and colorful, quite beautiful. When making the combined-planting style, attention must be paid to handling primary and secondary, density, height, and distance; one can refer to the layout of combined-planting golden larch, with the difference being that golden larch is mostly straight-trunked, while Japanese maple is often curved, so when planting together one must also pay attention to the direction and degree of trunk curvature, achieving unity and harmony.
Japanese maple can be planted as a street tree and ornamental tree; it is a relatively good “four-season” greening tree species. The tree species is precious and has relatively high economic value; interested friends can try planting it.