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Welcome to M& M Maples!
We have been visited by an early fall this year. As we near the holiday season, we receive respite from many of the chores that haunt us the rest of the year. With all of the pots cleaned of debris and pre-winter fertilization complete we let the unusually frequent rains do the rest. With a few leaves left hanging on, the glory of fall has past us by until next year, with the exception of our little dynamo, Yuri hime, just now showing fall color amidst the bare branches of the many other maples.
Now is the time to reflect and plan. For us, much was left to pass with regard to maples this past growing season, as we welcomed our new son into the world. The labor of love that is parenthood is not that much different than our relationship with plants except that the need to attend to parenthood is much more urgent. In that vein, our maples and plant projects have been gently placed to the side for now. Summer watering and some occasional pinching and pruning on last years grafts sum up the extent of our efforts this year. No trips on the road and very few if any additions to the collection. Much of the repotting that we had hoped to do this year will be put off until next. The nice thing is that all of it will wait for us--at least for now.
For many of you in temperate areas that have not seen freezes yet, you can still do a little fertilization to protect the plant over the winter by applying a granular calcium-rich fertilizer like 0-10-10. Sanitation is also critical, so clean out the pots and pick up the leaves and debris. If you find some samaras in good condition, you might want to cold stratify them and sow them in the coming months. Cleaning out the pots and under your planted maples can be a methodical process in which you inspect the trunks and limbs of the maple for damage from disease and sun. Bacterial canker low on the trunks of maples ( in other words on the rootstocks) is common these days so look for blackened or discolored areas or areas that are cracked or split. Treating these areas with a topical copper-based fungicide on a sunny day, letting them dry thoroughly, and sealing them over with a tree sealer will do wonders to improve the health an longevity of the plant and prevent further damage from freezing, pathogens, and insects.
This message is the first update to this site in quite a while and we hope that it will not be the last. We have many photos left to add (we did manage to take a fair number this year, especially this fall) and would love to add more documentation in answer to any of your questions. Also, we hope to continue to add descriptions of plants and rework the photo galleries, updating them all with new photos and the flash-type galleries.
Enjoy your holidays and check back often. We are always available by e-mail and would love to hear from you, seasoned collector or novice!
All our best,
Michael & Meggan
Message last updated: 17 November 2007
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