Hi, I am on my way to developing a Japanese maple addiction and need some guidance as to their care.

I have 3 maples, a Bloodgood, a Tamukeyama, and I guess a generic kind of redleaf (garden center labeling was somewhat lacking) and they are good sized (3 feet to 5 feet) and in the ground. They kind of set things off. I now have 4 new maples and 2 more on the way that are small grafts about 2 feet in height. They are little more than branched sticks at this point. I also bought an end of season sale Waterfall that is well developed, broad and about 2-1/2 feet tall.

I need to know how to overwinter these guys. The grafts are in 5 inch pots and the Waterfall is in a 10 gallon. I can keep them on an enclosed porch with southern exposure over the winter, but is that sufficient to keep them from freezing solid? Should I group them together in a box with bubble wrap or some kind of mulch to help insulate them?

Thanks for your help. This site has been very informative.