this would be a great way to learn how to pot and keep trees alive in pots ... and once you get that knowledge.. you could move on to quality trees [like the ones in mikes pic] .... rather than aggressive seeding maples ...

think about how many there are ... and ask yourself.. if you add a couple more mature trees to the seed producing pool ... will the whole area be covered with seed ... perhaps a couple feet deep ... lol ...

get some potting media ... moisten it ... dig up a tree .. insert in media in pot ... water in .. place in bright shade ... and you should have a very high success rate ...

in fall .. repot to larger pots ...

and then.. in the future.. you can use better media.. better pots .. and better trees ... maybe find some acorns to grow... etc ...

trees like a sip of water.. full drainage.. and near drying.. before the next sip.. do not keep them constantly wet ...

ken

thanks for the info. after posting, I was looking at the maple's section of the forum and it looked doable. nice looking maple's you have there Mike, we come from the same region (pnw).

this is the mother tree.

If you can wait at all, I wouldn't do it now. Those are tiny little seedlings only now showing their first set of true leaves. You will probably kill more than you can save :-) If at all possible, wait until the end of summer when they have a bit more size on them and pot up or replant then.

btw, those were last season's seeds that sprouted. And mature JM's in this area will do a lot of seeding......as Mike can attest :-)

That's a nice looking tree!

I see your seedlings are coming up right next to the road and driveway. Might be vulnerable to traffic, foot and vehicles. If you're close enough to me in Maple Valley you can come here and have plenty of seedlings already in pots, pretty much, your pic. Some are several feet tall..... up to six feet. I have more than I want to water.

funny story. i was at a garage sale years ago. i was admiring his japanese maple next to his driveway. the owner asked me if i wanted 1. he took me around to his back yard, and there were several pots with little off spring, that's her's.

when my new neighbors moved in next door (3 yrs), they mentioned how much they liked that tree. one day a couple yrs ago, i was headed to do an errand and ran across a garage sign and followed it. yep, led me to the house that i got the original tree from?!

the little tree in the picture, highlighted by the sun, is another one. picked it up as a house warming gift

thats a JMaple???

do they all reseed vigorously in the pnw????

if you need to move them.. or lose them ... i would get some small pots ready.. moist media ... and do it on or just after a rainy day .... looks too dry in the pic to do it immediately ...

and so what.. if you lose 75% of the million you have sprouting.. lol ... how many do you really need ?????

ken

hi ken, it looks maple like to me?

I told the kid next door (he likes those trees) that he can take em all, I told him I would try and find a way that would better our survival rate. it looks like we're going to have to take them out at a bad time. I need to turn some soil. already tilled several in before I noticed what they were :(.

if he can save even a couple, he would have done good.

Not any doubt that it is a Japanese maple, Acer palmatum. And yes, mature ones tend to be very free seeding here. It is not at all uncommon to find little forests of baby maples coming up in spring in the immediate vicinity of a large tree.

If we had more Summer rain there would be a lot more. Most of the seedlings dry out and die in the Summer, even our native Acer macrophyllums.