Repotting of the big maple part 1

I believe that one should only repot when it is necessary. With many trees I feel it's necessary after a several years. Some old collected conifers I don't repot for almost ten years. I learned though that Japanese maples, even wehn they are quite old must be repotted frequently. This old maple is repotted every two years.

Most people repot too early in the year. They 'know' that one has to do it as soon as the buds begin to swell. This is usaulally the case around end of March in my area. While it is possible to repot then it is by no means the best time. I have learned to wait until the buds are pretty far. With some trees I wait until the foliage is almsot out. This is the best time. One can repot most deciduous trees even after that.

Deciduous trees (non-conifers) are repotted here from middle of April to beginning of May. Then come the conifers.

But for trees in a greenhouse everything is about three to four weeks earlier. This year we had the warmest winter ever. My Japanese maples are almost in foliage already, before the middle of March.

So today was the day. I am asked often how in the world I manage to reopt the huge maple. They usually don't believe me when I tell them that I do it in less than one hour all by myself. Yes, it is possible to repot this mosnter without help. But this does not mean that I don't take help when I get it. Like this time.

Fro some people it is also astounding how much of the root ball I remove.