[Yorky]

Could anyone tell me how to successfully take a cutting from a Field maple Acer campestre to give to someone to plant. As much information as possible would be appreciated.

[GPI]

you may not need to take a cutting if you instead hunt around at the base of a field maple first. they will often have tons of seedlings growing away there.
Dig good and wide around the young plant, pot it up ,pop on a bow, and there you go.

For as you cuttings as you mentioned, please follow verges advice here........ Cutting Cherry/Field Maple

[Yorky]

Thanks for the reply. I've had a look and there are seedlings at the base but these are literally all over the garden and I'm constantly having to weed them. Here are some pictures, the first two being the tree and foliage respectively and the latter two being the seedlings:

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/Kilnadrain/P1030301.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/Kilnadrain/P1030302.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/Kilnadrain/P1030305.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/Kilnadrain/P1030306.jpg

Are they Field Maple seedlings?

[GPI]

Yep that looks like them, time to set up a nursery.
could possibly be ash though, do you have an an ash tree nearby?
If you can wait, the best time to pot seedlings up would be late autumn.
But you can of course pot up a few now if you are careful and not disturb them too much.

[Yorky]

Thanks again.

The seedlings are shallow rooted in the bark mulch which has weed suppressant underneath - shall I take the seedling on its own and put it into a ot with some compost or take the bark surrounding it?

What size of pot should I use and should I put more than one seedling in the pot in the event of failure?

[GPI]

Take as much as you can, cut into the weed prevention fabric if you have to and take it with you.
Think of it like this, the spread of the leaves above ground is approximate to the spread of the roots.
Dig deep and wide and plonk it into a 2 litre pot (average size most shrubs come in).
Back fill if needed with compost, but do not raise the level above that which it was originally on the stem.
Keep well watered as pots dry out quickly.

[Yorky]

Thanks again.

Are you sure those seedlings are Field Maple? The ones to the left of the picture are just fallen leaves. Someone else thinks they are just common ash-a major pest in any garden.

[GPI]

One mans major pest is another mans......... and all that.
Good possibility that a lot are ash, will know better when and if the leaves develop the typical maple leaf look.
Do you have an an ash tree nearby?
Should be some field maple seedlings there, there usually are.
If you could take a few more pics of growths around and about the maple, there are sure to be a few definates we could locate.

[Yorky]

I've taken the following photographs - one from the front and one from the rear - of what appears to be a sapling. I'm almost sure that it isn't a branch.

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/Kilnadrain/P1040342.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/Kilnadrain/P1040341.jpg

Could someone possibly explain how to transfer this into a pot to give to someone to plant elsewhere?

Thanks in advance.

[verge]

Looks more like a sucker than a sapling to be honest. Suckers are vigorous shoots that grow from the roots that many garden centre bought trees are grafted onto. You can pull back the soil around the sucker and trace it back to the root it has grown from (not far in your case), cut it from the root with a secateurs or sharp knife and replace the soil. The sucker may have fine roots attached, if so pot it up or plant it to a naw area of your garden. Beware though, it may grow stronger and wilder than the trees upper growth as a graft root is usually from a stronger tree. Of course it may be useless as it is growing so close to the tree.

Whether what you have growing is a sucker or a sapling, follow this post as to transplanting Transplanting Small Trees & Shrubs
_________________
Q. What is the best soil for growing plants?
A. Your soil.

[Yorky]

[verge]

Grafting is the joining of two related trees (or plants), taking advantage of their best attributes.

Say for instance if the tree was an apple tree. These are commonly sold as dwarfing rootstock of an apple tree joined to a sweet apple producing upper part of the tree. This is a “scion”, a graft onto the rootstock. All done by the nursery man before it gets to you. If you just planted a normal sweet apple tree with no strong rootstock attached it may grow weakly, or too large, or too small.
With the rootstock controlling the growth, the grafted “scion” controls the type of apple produced. A similar type method is used to produce decorative trees for the garden market.
So if you replant a sucker from the root of a grafted tree, it may grow to look differently from the upper part of its parent, bigger, smaller, less flowers etc.

Here is a video showing more info on grafting Grafting Fruit Trees, How-to Video.
_________________
Q. What is the best soil for growing plants?
A. Your soil.

[cooler]

Extreme example of an aged graft. So cool.