AusBonsai

Just trying to identify this one, sorry for the phone pics...
And as an added bonus, is this self-seeded seedling the same tree? It's about 3 foot high but the leaves are much larger than the 'parent' tree and not serrated.
Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Solved

By SteveW - Big tree = Acer palmatum = Japanese maple
Little tree = liquidambar

Big tree = Acer palmatum = Japanese maple
Little tree = liquidambar

SteveW wrote:Big tree = Acer palmatum = Japanese maple
Little tree = liquidambar

Got it in one SteveW.

DracO, its not a seedling from the main tree. It'll will be a seedling from a tree near by. It could even be a sucker from a tree that was removed from that spot quite some time ago. If a tree was removed and any root left it will sucker.
I dug some Liquid Ambers recently that were suckers from a tree that had been removed years before. They were 2-3 feet high but had a single root that was about 10 cm thick and went on forever, very few feeder roots. You could see where the roots were cut originally and then reshot.

Josh.

Thanks guys, now I know what a full sized japanese maple looks like, learning more each day! At least I knew it was a maple...

As for the liquidamber, looks like another dig coming up to see where it's coming from & hopefully be able to salvage it. Save me waiting for the seeds I have in the fridge to grow.

If it is a sucker, is it likely to survive if I cut it straight off or will I need to encourage it to grow some extra roots of it's own? The lovely old lady who's backyard it's in 'may' let me leave it there for a while if I really need to. But from your description Josh they sound like they are tough enough to survive.

Cheers

The liquid amber really should be dug in winter/spring when dormant or just coming into bud. The ones I dug I treated like big cuttings as they didn't really have roots as such. They are tough buggers though. Have a bit of a scratch around and see what the roots are like underneath. That will tell you what your in for. After digging lots of seasol and mist the leaves and trunk with seasol as well every few days. Good luck with it and let us know how u go.
If the owner will let you, you could air layer a chunky branch off the maple, a lot quicker the growing from seed.

Josh.

I repotted a liquidambar in June this year before consulting with anyone. It sulked and didn't get much autumn coloration, it just dropped its leaves slowly and the remaining leaf tips scorched. It's fine now though, cops a lot of butchering from me. But yes, wrong time of year. On the other hand I think I read that they have invasive root systems? Don't let it get too big in the ground. Of course that shouldn't be a problem yet.


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