Root Pruning Potted Japanese Maples
I rarely remove a plant from a pot unless I'm transplanting but last year, I noticed that a few of our potted Japanese maples did not look as good as they have in the past. My first thought was root compaction. However, after sliding the tree out of the pot, I immediately saw something interesting. The obvious culprit was the hole in the bottom of the pot. It was stopped up by roots. Looking closer, I could also see an area that looked different. You can see a layer here that has a thinner, almost transparent quality - First, I sliced off the bottom fourth of the root ball, right below the layer that looked thin - Looking at it from the bottom, you can see that the roots are not that extensive. It certainly wasn't root bound. It shows why they are good candidates for containers. There is also a creeping wire vine ( Muehlenbeckia axillaris ) in the pot as well, and I suspected that it could have been causing problems. However, I didn't see any indication of that either. I th...
