Is this a sugar maple...?

bradleyheathhays

I'm trying to identify this 16" tall sapling and I believe it's a Sugar Maple as would be found here in Kentucky, US.





If it is, it is the soul surviving offspring of my beloved back yard Sugar Maple which passed away over last year and winter. Keeping in mind it's 16" tall, how should I go about transplanting this little thing to a better area? In other words, how should I go about digging the hole around it and how should I prepare the ground where it will go?

Possibly considering keeping it in a container for maybe up to a year while I decide where it should go.

Thanks so much!

Brent Ferris

pics didn't show, need to be posted to this server/

Generally I tell people to prepare a hole for the tree/shrub by digging it bit larger than necessary, and fill it with water 3 times, to fully soak the surrounding soil. And, presoak the soil around the sapling before you dig it up. No plant should really know it got moved, which also means marking north on the sapling in the original location, and planting it in the new location facing the same way. I would NOT keep it in a container for a year, the ground is a far better place for a tree to await its future. If you have frosts, the surrounding ground provides heat, extra water is available from surrounding soils, and the extra soils ameliorates the incoming radiation so the roots aren't fried. More nutrients are available to a plant in the ground, and the roots won't be disturbed until transplant time so it will be a hardier tree when the time comes., so its survival is more likely, and recovery time will be shorter.

There is a possibility that the tree grew from a seed, but for the height that it is in the time specified, it may also have sprouted from one of the roots. If this is the case, the tree will need to grow its own root system before it is moved to enhance its survival. Careful digging 8 inches out from the stem, and down about a foot, all around should ascertain how it grew.

Still need pics to identify the tree - leaves laid flat, preferably top and bottom with a ruler to show scale.

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