This link may help. Seeds are ripe and ready to harvest in October. At that time, it doesn't really matter if they have fallen or you pick them off.

It is important to understand that any seedling grown JM will just be a generic Acer palmatum - no cultivar name can be assigned to it. And the appearance of the seedling may be very different from that of the parent tree(s) with regards to leaf size and shape and color. But you can still get some very appealing free trees this way, even if they have no name :-)

Hopefully MIke (miketann) will drop by and give his advice. He is a master at collecting and growing JM's from seed and has a great collection.

I prepare a 3 1/2 ft wide raised bed in the Fall, then collect the ripe seed in October and sprinkle the seeds on the bed. I then lightly cover the seeds with screened topsoil, then a light mulch of small woodchips and leave it for the winter. In the Spring, up they come. They're put in pots as needed. I only keep the best, but it usually takes several years to determine that. I judge by Fall color, new growth color, leaf shape, Summer color, vigor, and seed color. In that approximate order.

Mike

Thank you both very much.

Also, Mike, can you tell me a little bit more about the raised bed and what you mean by "screened topsoil"? Thanks!

Kyle

Screened means that the soil has been run through a screen to separate the rocks and small pieces of wood from the soil. I use hardware cloth nailed to a frame on a 45 degree slope.

I make the raised beds by digging shallow ditches three and a half feet apart and throwing the soil on the bed where it is raked out to make it smooth. Then I texture the surface for erosion control with the added benefit of not having the seedlings come up all at once. At 3 1/2 ft. the beds have good access for weeding and transplanting. I fill the ditches with woodchips for weed control.

Lately though, I just dig up volunteers under the Japanese maples I like the best. My form of natural selection. Remember though, they are 'just' unnamed seedlings, not named varieties, even if they come from one. All named varieties are grafted....except the original one. That's a seedling!

Mike

Thanks Mike. I'm looking forward to begin collecting and raising seedlings myself. The fact that you never know what you might get really excites me. Thanks.

Kyle