Winter care for Japanese Maple

[barney-mcd]

We just planted a 4'-5' Japanese Maple at the end of August and were wondering what would be a good watering schedule to keep through the winter months? We currently water it twice a day and it seems to be doing pretty good. Lastly, are there any other steps we should take to insure we don't lose it over it's first winter. Thanks!

[Jay Banks]

How much, twice a day? If you have heavy clay soils that would be to much water. Since your maple will be going dormant soon 5-10 gallons a week should be fine.
During the fall you can water less because there is more soil moisture from rain in the fall.
Once your tree is dormant the only moisture your tree will need is to keep the roots moist and you can do that with a good 3inch layer of mulch.