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Planting and Transplanting
Timing
You should consider planting maples in the fall when the summer temperatures have cooled but before the leaves change color or in the later winter or early spring before bud-swell when the ground can be broken with a spade. Transplanting maples is best done in later winter or early spring before bud break, but can be done in the fall also.
By planting maples in fall you will get new root growth to help the plant establish for next year. Even after the plant has shed its leaves the roots will continue to grow as long as the soil temperature remain above 50F. I think this is the best time to plant containerized stock and I enjoy looking forward to the spring when the maple can take advantage of its new home. If you are ordering maples when they are dormant in the winter, planting them bare-root or partially bare-root before they break dormancy in the spring works very well. Repotting or potting containerized stock should and can follow the same guidelines with regard to timing.
The two times you should probably not be disturbing the root system of the plants is in the spring while the tree is leafing out and in the heat of summer when the tree is under the most stress. Cutting off roots and water supply in the hot summer puts a great deal of stress on the plant. If you have to plant or repot at either of these undesirable times do your best to retain and protect as much of the root mass as possible and expedite the process moving the plant from one place to another with careful protection to make sure the roots do not dry out.
Process
Maples are planted and potted like any other woody ornamental and do respond well to root pruning and trimming as long as the plant is not under any existing stress. If the soil type you are planting into is very similar to the soil in the root-ball then simply gently loosen the outer part of the root-ball and plant using standard planting techniques. If the soil is much different than the soil you will be planting into then you should (if it is feasible and does not create a great deal of damage) remove as much of the existing soil as possible and plant in partial bare-root fashion.
Sometimes maples come to us with very porous soils like a bark-only mix or with bark and pumice. These soils shake off or can be removed very easily. We recommend you removing these types of soils so that the roots can be seen and then even up and trim any damage, long, or undesirable roots. After you have cleaned up the root-ball then you can simply plant with a bare-root planting technique.
We generally keep a pair of pruners or bonsai shears with us when we are planting and repotting to trim roots and usually use our hands to manipulate the root-ball. On occasion you will receive or get a maple that is very root-bound and tightly crammed into the container. With some shrubs and landscape plants the recommendation would be to slice into the root-ball with a knife at given intervals around the root-ball as a means of loosening the root mass but that is generally not recommend with maples. You can use you fingers to loosen the mass and then use the pruners or a knife to cut away any very woody roots. Also work from the bottom to loosen any roots growing up into the root-ball and then cut them off once loosened. This should be enough to allow the tree to begin growing in the ground.
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