tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-802828775020917872011-11-27T19:34:10.091-05:00All About Japanese MaplesAll about Japanese maples does just that; advice, inspiration and tips on growing and caring for them. A one stop resource for the gardener who wants to know how to prune, where to plant, what's wrong with your Japanese maple and the hundred and one other things they never tell you on the label!John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.comBlogger161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-39335933644514878702010-08-03T13:57:00.003-04:002010-08-03T14:11:15.837-04:00Growing Japanese maplesGrowing Japanese maples is the title of a new video series designed to teach all the ins and out of how to care for a Japanese maple. The clip below is taken from volume 1 that covers container cultivation.In this preview, winter potting of Acer palmatum Akane is looked at but the techniques apply equally well to any Japanese maple and many others are featured in the full video, details of which John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-16679125460084797892010-08-02T12:21:00.006-04:002010-08-02T12:36:13.569-04:00Japanese Maple VideosA brand new video series on growing Japanese maples is out now on DVD. The first volume, on container cultivation, is now available and a full description and preview clips can be found at Japanese maple videosJohn Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-35992806707056593342009-07-01T12:51:00.003-04:002009-07-05T18:41:19.995-04:00New, improved Japanese maple blogA new, improved Japanese maple blog has now been set up and can be found at the Japanese maple guide.John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-85232830258009842972008-01-21T11:37:00.000-05:002008-01-21T18:23:26.455-05:00Pruning a japanese maple - don't be scared!Pruning a Japanese maple requires no special skills and is quite straightforward providing a few basic rules are followed. For older trees much of the pruning will have been done already by the tree itself. Smaller branches in the centre of the tree and branches low down on the trunk that are shaded by others will die back naturally and older trees will form the proper shape of their own accord.John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-57399639452672093872007-11-07T14:06:00.000-05:002007-11-07T15:01:06.072-05:00Mycorrhiza in the gardenI was probably overly harsh on the subject of Japanese maples and mycorrhiza on Friday. In practice, some benefit can be obtained from mycorrhizal treatment but overall, the difference in growth is going to be marginal, assuming that you have a healthy plant to start with. What mycorrhiza can't do is revive or improve the health of a poorly performing maple. As far as the soil microflora is John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-20411086538802731612007-11-06T14:33:00.000-05:002007-11-06T14:42:17.457-05:00Mycorrhiza, nature's root extensionsLooking through all the information I have on mycorrhiza, to put in this post or spread it over several days would produce an impossibly long article. For the moment, the best introduction I can give is to send you to the following site: Introduction to MycorrhizasI'll discuss how best to manage mycorrhiza in the garden tomorrow and provide some information for growers of exhibition vegetables.John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-87082273160761620122007-11-02T14:54:00.000-04:002008-11-13T05:41:34.249-05:00What not to buyFollowing on from yesterday's post, I thought it would be a good idea to illustrate some typical aphid activity. If you click on the picture, I've put two larger versions on my web site. You'll notice they're starting to congregate at the base of the dying leaf stems and around the base of the current season's shoots. These are all ideal hiding places to lay eggs; not to get away from you but to John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-18166462924948949092007-11-01T15:00:00.000-04:002007-11-03T15:37:00.903-04:00Japanese maple pestsToday I took my first inspection through my stock plants to see what wood is going to be available for grafting this winter and was glad I hadn't left it any longer. Although I regularly inspect plants during the summer when aphid populations can build up quite quickly, some had obviously been overlooked. Several trees had infestations of juvenile aphids crawling all over them and action need to John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-35619041155977313702007-10-31T15:13:00.000-04:002007-11-03T15:41:52.231-04:00Suitable soil types for Japanese maplesOne of the many comments I get from visitors to my stand when I'm exhibiting at flower shows is 'I cant grow Japanese maples on my soil' and it seems to be a common fallacy that they need an acid soil. The reasoning behind the assumption is they've grown a maple before and it's died and they garden on chalk, lime or clay soils; therefore it's the fault of the soil.The maple family in general and John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-18111733113692003602007-10-30T14:23:00.001-04:002008-11-13T05:41:34.644-05:00Death by watering Part 2As promised, here are some photos of Japanese maple seedlings growing in an extremely dry environment. The pictures are quite small so I've put a link to a page on my web site where you can see bigger images; just click on the first picture. The first picture shows a general view of the tunnel that was used to grow understock; you'll notice that all the plants are red maples; the reason being John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-54471985759788417132007-10-29T14:08:00.000-04:002007-11-06T14:31:08.776-05:00Death by wateringFirst, my apologies. The illustrations of Japanese maples growing without water will have to be postponed until later in the week. The raw pictures need to be processed before they can be uploaded but over the weekend I took advantage of the break in the weather to make a start on seed collection.When it comes to watering Japanese maples, particularly during late spring and summer, most people John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-89157539348955206022007-10-26T12:57:00.000-04:002007-10-28T21:46:52.681-04:00Some thoughts on planting Part 3So, did you see anybody in the woods wandering about with a watering can? Probably not! The reason why is nature provides the watering and plants growing naturally adapt to what they get from the existing rainfall or they die.In the garden environment the exact opposite happens and a plant that's conditioned by nature to behave in a certain way in the presence of moisture gets confused. The John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-67419461721393950352007-10-25T13:14:00.001-04:002007-10-25T13:54:06.941-04:00Some thoughts on planting Part 2Following on from yesterday, the plant will need watering! If the ground is particularly dry, the planting hole can be filled once or twice and allowed to drain prior to planting. Once planted, a further dose can be given but no further than the spread of the tree; watering any more of the ground is a waste of resources as it will be a long time before the roots reach out that far.Once that's John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-84378709117208263992007-10-24T14:21:00.001-04:002007-11-05T14:23:10.810-05:00Some thoughts on planting Japanese maplesLast week I put in a planting scheme for a customer that I'd dealt with before , about nine years ago. In fact, if you want to see some of the maples I put in originally have a look at this picture, taken a couple of years ago. The main plant in the foreground is Katsura, now about thirteen feet across. LinkWhile I was digging the planting holes, I was reminded of various articles I'd read in theJohn Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-74248723815162123812007-10-23T13:01:00.000-04:002007-11-01T14:42:21.603-04:00Cutting through the confusion of caring for Japanese maplesCutting through the confusion surrounding how to care for Japanese maples is the main theme of this site but I'll also be posting information on related topics as, in my experience, maple enthusiasts are also well-rounded and discerning gardeners (nod your head wisely here!). Examples off the top of my head are mycorrhiza and rock dust but many other subjects can be shared across the whole John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80282877502091787.post-461090604043910522007-10-22T08:33:00.001-04:002007-11-02T14:45:37.175-04:00All about Japanese maplesAll about Japanese maples does just that; advice, inspiration and tips on growing and caring for them. A one stop resource for the gardener who wants to know how to prune, where to plant, what's wrong with your Japanese maple and the hundred and one other things they never tell you on the label. Make the next Japanese maple you buy a wanted one and not because the previous one died!John Geraghtyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16833311650544311095noreply@blogger.com0