Hardiness is determined by where you live ;-) Mine have grown heartily
in outdoor beds for five years in Zone 9. We have had unseasonally mild
winters for most of that time. If we do get a hard frost I just mulch
the base heavily and take pot luck on what survives at the top. So far I
haven't lost more than twig ends.

They do heal very nicely but the real art is in making the cuts at the
correct angle and skilfully enough, so that once the cambium rolls over
the large scar it appears to be a natural wound that has healed. I'm
looking after an imported 6" trunk Trident 26" tall that has examples of
both good and bad trunk chops for taper.

Cheers

Kev Bailey
Vale Of Clwyd, North Wales


How winter hardy are they when planted in the ground? Any special
protection needed?

I have seen some incredible Trident Maples with 6" - 8" trunks that were
only 2' tall and almost perfect taper. Very few visible pruning scars.
How
is this achieved? The two I planted in the ground grew at an incredible
rate, so I can see how the caliper is achieved. But the taper? If they
are
cut back severly to keep them compact, how do you get the trunks to grow
so
big? I've read Brent's article on the subject, but always assumed I'd
be
hiding some pretty good sized scarring and still have some abrupt
changes in
size to achieve the taper. These maples were nearly perfect in the
uniformity of their taper.

Thanks,

Jeff Isom
Cleveland, OH / Sunset Zone 39

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