Planning Next Year's Garden - The Tatar Maple

I like to plan next year's garden projects just now in the beginning of winter. Next year I hope to get a Tatar Maple growing in the back of my garden. Sometimes known as a Hot Wings maple!

I was browsing online for ornamental trees that were a bit hardy, I live in freezing winter Scotland after all. I came across the Tatar Maple. Being the chilli obsessed fool that I am when I saw it was sometimes called the Hot Wings maple I was sold! It's often grown as a bonsai but can grow to 15 to 18 feet tall. For the bit of my garden I am looking at that would be fine.

The Hot Wings reference comes from its bright red helicopter like seed pods contrasting with the dark green leaves in summer. In autumn the leaves turn orange red and apparently are quite the eye catcher

So I ordered some seeds online. When it comes to seeds that need cold stratification now is the perfect time to plant them!

Cold stratification is just fooling the plant into thinking that winter has been. What I prefer to do rather than having seeds lurking about my fridge for months is plant them in winter just like nature intended. I have done this before with many a seed and it has worked well.

The seeds need soaked in warm water for 24 hours. I put them in a jug on one of my radiators to keep them warm

The next day I plant them in little pots with only a shallow covering of soil and then water them

Then I put a zip bag round the pot to keep the seeds from drying out. In spring it will act as a mini greenhouse too

And that's it, leave them until the weather starts to improve and then start checking regularly for the seedlings to sprout. Hopefully I will have a few good looking little trees to plant!

I will report back when something sprouts!!

My chillis from a previous post have germinated successfully so will put a follow up post of them shortly!