Because of their small size and the reported local ravenous lawn mower, place a small stake (marker) beside each sapling.Add 3 – 4 cm of mulch to the soil surface around the sapling, extending the mulch to cover an area of 25 – 30 cm square to reduce moisture evaporation and weed growth.

Check that the sapling is in a vertical upright position before watering the sapling for the second time. If there is resistance, the sapling is planted properly and its roots are in contact with surrounding soil.

To check if the sapling is firmly set into place, grasp the stem and gently pulling upward.

Rainfall and water will collect in this saucer and soak into the soil to support tree growth.

Form a saucer shaped depression around the sapling by using the toe of your shoe to firm the soil around the sapling and in the hole.

Water the sapling/soil mass and the soil surface within the hole allow to drain before filling around the sapling with soil dug from the hole earlier.

Place a few cm of fertile soil in the bottom of the planting hole before centering the sapling/soil mass in the planting hole to a position that is level with the surrounding soil surface.

Wet the soil in the containers (pots) invert a pot and tap the bottom of the pot to release the small sapling from the pot.

At the selected planting site, remove any surface litter and dig a hole at least twice a wide and 1 1/2 times the depth of the pot.Maples grow best in a well drained loamy to sandy loam soil. Plant your maple saplings between now and mid-October.Here’s a “How to” for transplanting your small sugar maple saplings: Any advice you can give will be most helpful. I have become so protective of them as they are not 6 inches tall (most on average) and want them to flourish for next spring/summer. However as a novice I am not sure what to do! How should I care for them during the winter months as I live in Zone 6? I have heard to bring them inside or plant them. Hello, I discovered 16 saplings under my maple tree this spring and transplanted them into containers to protect and preserve them from meeting their demise due to my lawnmower. To plant or not plant saplings over their first winter? The following question came in to the MLF inbox, and we thought the answer might interest fellow maple advocates:

Maple tree seedlings