B & J wrote:
"Jean B." wrote in message
...

To the first, oh sigh. I'd better not get my hopes up. I
thought I had read that Japanese maple seeds did not guarantee a
tree like the parent.

I read that too, but the lady doing the presentation said that was
not true. Anyway, the seedling that I collected around the tree
this past spring are now about 4" tall and have the same wine-red
leaf color as the parent tree. Another seedling from that tree that
I gave to a neighbor two years ago is now about three feet tall and
I would have difficulty distinguishing it from the parent as for as
leaf color and growing habits go. Perhaps this is working because I
only have two maples in the yard and both are bloodgoods.
At least one of my trees would lend itself to layering, since it
has low branches. Or are you doing air layering? I have such a
black thumb--but I would love to propagate some of my maples.

No, I am no air layering. I removed the mulch until I reached soil
underneath, dug a shallow trench, scraped the bottom of the branch
where is came in contact with the soil (The irritation seems to
promote rooting.), covered the bottom of the branch with soil,
replaced the mulch, and anchored the branch with a rock. Now I'm
keeping my fingers crossed.

What you are doing is called "ground layering".

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5