What type is it?

All I have is what is on the tag: Acer japonicum Ao jutan'. This tree has a slightly cascading habit to 2' tall x 5 wide in 10 years. Large green leaf dissected to the petiole with fall colors in vibrant shades of orange, red & gold. Sun to part shade in well drained soil. To -20F

It is in a one gallon container and is staked. Should this be allowed to remain in the container for a while? My soil is prepared and I was just going to go ahead and plant it.

I would suggest planting it now unless the soil is frozen where you are. And if the soil is frozen now, I'd be sure to plant it before spring.

If your soil is poor, a small amount of fertilizer couldn't hurt (but I would wait until spring to add that if necessary). I don't think most people fertilize up there in your neck of the woods, but down in SC we have about 3 inches of top soil on top of brick. :(

Be sure not to plant it too deep, as to prevent root rot. Make sure the root flare is level or a bit above the ground.

If it is dry, water it a little. Be careful not to overwater, and it probably won't need any extra water after a couple of months.

I'd suggest mulching around it, but be sure to keep the trunk base clean of soil/mulch.

I'm not familar with that particular cultivar; but assuming it is similar to other cultivars in the species, I'd say it should be fine if you do all of those things. If I'm not mistaken A. japonicums don't need to much care up in WA.

Personally, I don't like to plant tiny little maples directly into the garden initially, preferring to grow them on for a couple of years in containers until they reach a size where they are unlikely to get trampled by pets or visitors (of any species) and so they can get some individualized attention. If you elect to plant directly in the ground, treat as you would any other Japanese maple. And definitely attend to the watering diligently for the first few seasons (matt, our summers here are dry as a bone!)

This is apparently not a widely distributed cultivar of japonicum, but mature size is indicated at being much larger than your tag allows - 15-20' eventually and likely with an equal spread. By your description it sounds much like a somewhat scaled down version of 'Aconitifolium'.

It is 20" x 15" and is in a one gallon container. Yes if was a totally impulse buy. I had earlier yesterday purchased a Sharp's pygmy. I was having a JM frenzy. I had started a couple of weeks ago looking for a good speciman of an Osakazukie. I found what appeared to be the perfect one at Molbaks, but I had to go home and see if I could borrow a truck. While I was gone, it was sold of course, so I was feeling very deprived. I bought the AO at Wells-Medina, so I can return it if that seems like the way to go. On the other hand, it could be interesting to see how this grows - but I don't have room for another tree that big - darn, darn, darn, what to do? Thanks for all your help by the way.

That I would consider NOT tiny and in fact would be a descent sized purchased cultivar for a dwarf tree but since yours is not a dwarf from what we can find ...then yes it fits at least small tree definition but not a twig, whip, or first year type ebay graft which is what I thought you were talking about ..with that size I would be on the fence , if you decide to keep it, you could plant that out it's not THAT tiny...and I have had ok success planting out that size BUT , if ya keep it, GG's suggestion is obviosly "safer" ...David

It seemed so tiny in the pot. After your question I took a ruler and measured it and was surprised at how big it was really. There is just one upright stem and one branch going off at a right angle and both are no bigger around than straws.

I think I see now where I have been going wrong in looking at size (I did say I was a rank amateur) I have been looking at the 10 year size, which apparently has little or nothing to do with the size at full maturity.

Actually the ten year size is is a good benchmark...and your tree if planted out ( eventually) would be alot bigger than their dimensions at ten years ...unless you are seeing meters ONE meter equals 3+ feet then thats about right many dealers DO use meters so you have to do the math . If your plant is now 20" x 15" at probably has just finished it's second full season of growth ( just a guess it was grafted winter of 05) then their 10 year figure is way off this is a large tree by all reports..David

I was under the impression that WA got lots of rain, but I guess that is just west of the mountains.

Down in SC it seems to be much safer to plant them ASAP. Those black containers get upwards of 120 degrees in the summer, and you have to water them twice a day or those young plants will fry. A local nurseryman even told me he had to water an A. shirasawanum 'aureum' 4 times a day to keep it alive. Of course almost all of my trees are in pots, but only in lots of shade. So I guess environment plays a big part in things like that.

We do get lots of rain, but we have draught conditions in the summer when we can go from mid-July to mid-September without a drop.

Oh fooh, I would really like to see what this looks like in leaf, but I guess it had better go back. Is this how the JM madness starts?

Lets just say I started with two small trees my first year. I have increased the number of purchases steadily since then. I currently have 8 cultivars ordered over the internet for this spring, and I will buy at least 5 this spring and summer locally just to ease the hunger. I've only been doing this for a few years too, as I don't even have my own house yet! By the time I retire I'll probably have 200 cultivars or more. Run away now, it only gets worse with each year.

matt, just to clear up some misunderstandings, a good many parts of western Washington do not get very much rain. The extreme coastal areas and Olympic Penninsula rain forests aside, the Puget Sound basin and the I5 corridor average around 36" per year, far less than many other parts of the country, including most of the east coast and midwest. We just tend to get it spread out in dribs and drabs over an extended period of time - like a persistant drizzle from mid October to late June :-) July through September is typically very dry and this is considered to be a recurring summer drought area.

As an aside, the past few months have not been representational of our normal weather patterns - we received more rain in November than at any other time in the 100+ years they have been keeping such records.

devorah, if I were you, I'd keep the little guy and grow it in a container. You can substantially restrict the rate of growth and the size a JM will achieve by container culture and most are well suited to this method, even larger growing forms. Of my maple collection - not nearly as big as many here - only two are actually in the ground. All others are grown in containers, some for going on 15 years.

gardengal, I am going to do just that. Both my husband and I are just so darned curious now how this will look over time (assuming I don't manage to kill it)

We have had a one gallong Au jutan, supposedly known also as Woods #1 (there is said to be a Woods #2 that will be traded or is in its infancy of being traded).

Au jutan is a very dissected leaf form of Japonicum with very large leaves, that are said to reach a good size of possibly 8" or more across. The uniqueness of the plant is in its leaf size as it is not all ther different from Aconitifolium, Green Cascade, etc. with its colors and color pallette being idential. Think of a much larger leaf than a typical Aconitifolium and then stretch out the lobes and make them much thinner near the palm and dissected all the way to the palm.

Now for the bad news. This plant has not been in trade for very long and the scion wood used for my plant is not clean. It think that this plant will have a difficult time reaching maturity and will likely suffer freqently from bud failure and will not likely respond well to heat or drought. I would encourage you to keep it in a pot and control the culture so that you get your plant up to at least a full 5 gallon root system before you consider putting it in that ground. Keep it lightly fertilized so that you get even consistent growth the first few seasons. You will want to keep a light dose of fertilizer on this plant but you can cut back as it gets older. I would recommend that you do no let the plant stagnate as I suspect that this particular variety will quickly shut down on us if we don't watch it closely.

That is just my impression after one year of growing it. So, I could be wrong and there might be cleaner plants, but I suspect, being so new and originating for wider trade with Larry Stanley that my plant is not too far distanced from the source which is generally not a good sign.

Good luck with your plant. Unfortunately, I feel a little remorseful as well as there is really not that much unique about this plant. Good thing that japonicums are beautiful plants for any number of reasons--but this one is not a standout.

Cheers!

So, more than 2 years later, and the Au Jutan is not only alive, it is thriving. It is about 18 inches high and 5 feet wide. I think it is yummy. I did plant it out - sort of. It is in a smallish terraced garden. In time, I will have to move a couple of small azaleas out of the way, but I knew that going in.

Dev,

Could you post a photo of your tree?

I'm very interested in seeing if it looks like 'Woods'.

Thanks