Hi,

First time post so be gentle. I inherited two trees from my late father, one acer and one Wisteria. They haven’t been repotted in at least three years. I realise it’s late in the year but should I go ahead and repot anyway as the soil is so compact and the roots look white (pics attached). I’ve ordered some soil mix and have the tools but will I permanently damage the trees if go ahead now? The Acer is in leaf but the Wisteria is looking very sorry for itself.

Thanks

I would say not.

Hey!
Please, holdon!

It seems like this Maple can wait the next repot window, so for that one, no... I always heard that it's not proper to repot maples with the leaves already out, nice tree I might add...

For the other one specially, I think that a full repot with root work wouldn't be good for a suffering tree, I don't know anything about the Wisteria cycles, so idk how "normal" is that aspect...

Last spring one of my Ficuses Organensis woke up really late from dormancy compared to others, and I just waited for it and it sprouted nicely, just late, but I knew it wasn't due to lack of repot, so...

If on a similar case, maybe (because we are never certain hahah) I would just slide it to a slightly bigger pot, with no rootwork at all (just putting the substrate into the new container, placing the rootball and fill it, just so it can breath not stressing it much more than it already is...

Maybe someone here can be more specific about the species

Three years is not that long, clean the surface of weeds and moss to about 20mm deep, push a skewer into the root base to allow water to penetrate if it is not running through. This goes for both plants. The Wisteria looks as if it has been dry for a while, the moss looks dry.

Thanks Albas. Sorry for late reply. That sounds like solid advice. I’ll definitely move the wisteria to a new larger pot for this year. I’ve managed to free it from its pot and can transplant it carefully without moving the roots. The Acer will get a good tidy up and I’ll set a reminder for next spring to repot it early