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Moving Japanese Maple

RonNdeDejlARonNdeDejlA Posts: 5
in Problem solving
Ok so I’m not a great gardener! - just to set the record - having just retired, my attention is turning to the garden! 

i have a Japanese Maple Palmatum (purple leaf verity). It has been in a large glazed terracotta pot for about ten years. It’s about 5ft tall and seems quite healthy.

however, I have noticed that the plant is now rather pot bound and it needs transplanting. I’m thinking of just putting it straight in the ground, but our soil is very alkaline also, I’d really like to keep the pot it’s in, but the pot is rounded (like a goldfish bowl) which means the plant won’t just pull/slide out.

so I’m open to ideas as to: how I might get the plant out of the pot, without breaking the pot. Will the plant be ok in alkaline soil? what would be the right time to do this and are the roots of these plants evasive i.e should be cautious of where to position the plant?

Plus, any other advice or experience you may share

Posts

  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    You aren't going to get that out without breaking the pot.
  • Captain_ChaosCaptain_Chaos Posts: 60
    We planted an Acer that we'd had in a pot for around 10 years. It took well and at least doubled in size. More recently we had to move this and another acer (house move) and I asked on the forum for advice. I was told the best time to move it was during the colder months when it's dormant. As we had no choice, we moved ours in March. I took as large a root ball (and soil) as I could manage. They were transported in recycle bags (the 2ft square ones) and replanted in the new garden. Both seem to have survived the move and are sprouting leaves.
    Growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional.
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    Acers generally have very fine roots which are easily damaged. To get it out of the pot you would have to run an old knife round the edge of the pot then squeeze or prise it out in some way. It will not like this, your only saving grace is the recent cold weather will have slowed the growth down a lot, will it survive? difficult to tell. I did read that you can water them with sugar solution & they claim this helps root development and does not attract ants. Never tried it but you never know.
    AB Still learning

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    IMHO, you can keep the Acer, or the Pot, but not both.
    Your choice.
    Devon.
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