Arakawa airlayer

[cottie]

A couple of weeks before Christmas I set an airlayer on my recently purchased Arakawa maple, and today I was surprised when I unwrapped it to find that it has rooted quite well already. I think I will give I a couple of weeks before I seperate it though.

[shibui]

Nice result and quite quickly too. It would probably survive with that many roots but leaving for another few weeks will be even better. Well done.

[Max]

Can you air layer the bark or does it still have to have a little green? I have a massive one out the front which has been pruned to keep it low. The main trunk is about 400mm wide and there are many options to layer.

[TimS]

Can you air layer the bark or does it still have to have a little green? I have a massive one out the front which has been pruned to keep it low. The main trunk is about 400mm wide and there are many options to layer.

You can air layer either, but the bark needs to be removed down to the cambium layer to force the tree to grow roots in response. My best results have been air layering branches between thumb thickness and about 1 inch diameter but you can do thicker and thinner too. The only times i've had one fail is on a very skinny young branch less than a pencil thickness.