Question
Dear Mr Hyland,

I just purchased a 5 foot Japanese Maple for a 10' x 12' planting area in front of my house located in Charlotte, NC. The gentleman it was purchased from said he had just transplanted it from a 3 gallon container to a 7 gallon one.

He suggested I not plant it until March but leave it in the current container through the winter. Planting it now could shock the small root ball and the tree would not be likely to survive the winter.

I was instructed to put pine straw around the container and water the tree about twice a week. Do you agree or is there a safe way to go ahead and plant the tree without too much trauma?

Many thanks!
Sherri

Answer
In NC I would go ahead and plant it now. It really does not matter but it will be easier to take care of in the ground than in a pot.
Make sure you dig the new hole twice the size of the container and as deep and fill with good top soil or potting soil.  Apply organic mulch around the tree not more than 3 inches deep (pine straw is a good mulch) and not piled up on the trunk. This will help hold moisture around the tree roots. Water every third day fro the first couple of weeks then once a week if it does not rain. Water with 1 inch of water--place a pan under the tree and turn the sprinkler on and when the pan has 1 inch of water in it stop.