5 Japanese Maples, some questions!

Hello Folks,

Yesterday, I was able to get 5 Japanese Maples, 2 Beni Otake's, 1 Saoshika, 1 Kihachijo, and another unidentified. This JM came from a friend of mine, that cannot longer take care of them due to an illness, best thing of all, all for free!

As you can see they are on wooden containers (4 of 5), and if you look closely, they have a lot of leaf burn, all over around. My theory, no sun protection and the current soil its just too compact/dense tho allowing a lot of water retention.

This is my plan, I will plant them on the ground next spring, but I'm afraid their health can decrease if I leave them on that soil. How risky will be to repot them now?

Also, the trunk it's on average 1.25~1.5 inches diameter, with no movement or taper. When I plant them on the ground to fatten up, will be also a good idea to chop them down hard, leave a leader and start building some movement and taper?

Will also be a good idea to add a tile under the roots, at the time of plating them on the ground?

Japanese Maples don't do well in our Florida climate. Depending upon you altitude above sea level and distance from the coast, they may or may not like your climate.

why not put them into the ground now, and in the dappled shade/light? 12x12 tile or the like is a good idea when you plant them.

I planted about 18 of my potted trees last summer (late summer, planted mostly in are of morning sun, afternoon shade). All of them are very happy. I also planted about a dozen Japanese Red Maples at the same time. Half are at one end of the bed which get afternoon shade, and the other half get some afternoon sun. The ones that get afternoon sun are looking a lot less happy than the others. However all have at least doubled in size. The non-maples are growing an amazing amount. Chinese elms that were 12-16" tall now have shoots well above 6 feet tall.