Japanese Acer/ Laceleaf maple care

[waya81]

I bought this tree at an auction, probably a bad choice but it was pretty, lol. It was labeled as a Laceleaf maple.

I googled how to take care of it, but couldnt find an exact match for this tree, it seems to be half laceleaf, and half acer. From the base it has a brown truck that the red laceleaf leaves growing from it, and 2 green trucks growing from the brown one with green acer leaves growing from it.

I decided not to put it in the ground since some sites said it was not wind tolerant. Instead I used a large tub with holes cut in the bottom for drainage.

Its not doing well, so any ideas on how I'm supposed to take care of it?

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[Raintree]

Prune out the root stock growth (green stems). Don't leave in tub too long. Plant in full sun in a sheltered area with good drainage. Fertilize & hope for the best, hopefully you didn't pay too much for it. How did it get trunk damaged?

 

[Urban Forester]

its a grafted tree. The suckers are producing "leads' from the root stock which has a different DNA than the tree. This suckering indicates that the graft is failing (graft incompatability) fairly common. The above advice is just about right, "prune out suckers, and hope for the best". There really isn't much you can do w/a failing graft.

 

[waya81]

Thank you for the info. I really liked it and wanted it because it was 2 trees in one. Thats what I get for an impulse buy though, specially when I know nothing about taking care of trees. I will trim the green branches off and try planting it inside my side fence. That will protect it from most of the wind.

I'm not sure how the trunk was damaged, I cant remember if I bought it that way (it was an auction, and I bought a lot of things) or if it occurred when the tree kept falling over in the wind.