Hi Holly!
I donno very much about japanese maples, but i'll give ya all the information i can ^.^

Okie dokie, from what i've gathered over the years (from 5th grade on lol) is that a sappling is a lil tree that is just emerging from a seed. So ya, in order to get a sappling, you'll have to get one of the seeds from the tree. Those are those lil helecoptor things that you find flying around ^.^ I donno much about care for the seed while its germinating, or how to get it to germinate or anything like that though >.< so ya maybe someone else here can help with that.

Lets seeeeeeee, all i know about the soil is what i've gotten from trying to grow a japanese maple cutting as a bonsai. So far, its in a shotglass with a 1/3 sphagnum moss, 1/3 long fibered sphagnum, and 1/3 sand ratio. I donno how its doing right now though, but its still alive from what i can tell ^.^ So ya, i read that they like gritty well draining soil.

Now, as for the twirly stem. That comes from a process involving wrapping the trunk of the tree in wires and bending it into the shape that you want it to be in until it actually will stay in that shape and continue to grow like that. There's lotsa other shapes you can do too I've seen a neat-o one that looks like a weaved living tube trashcan! it was so neat-o looking There's also taking about 3 of them and braiding, or using 4 of them for brade, etc.

^.^ hopefully someone else will come along with more stuff. good luck!

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Nako's Webshots!

my neighbor has one and brought me a sapling that was about 5 inches tall last fall. i kept it alive over winter in the house, and in spring put it outside in the sun. it has a ton of new leaves and lots of new braches! before she gave me one i was just sorta looking underneath other japanese maples in the neighborhood for little saplings to grab. so i'm not real sure about how to do it from seed. i would guess it shouldn't be too hard though if they seem to drop the seeds themselves and then just grow without any help from us!