I always start blue, hit wolves, then red. After red, I gank the nearest lane, then head back in to the jungle. Clear creeps on your way to another lane. Basically, creeps are killed on the way to a lane but not made the primary focus. He is fast at clearing camps, but his early ganks make the most impact on the game. There is no escaping his root slow combo.

I usually toss a tree, being careful to lead the champ, then root him or her, then slow him or her. This way you guarantee max damage by making sure the sapling hits. Its second hit is the one that deals the most damage anyway.

Although Maokai can quickly get in and out, ensuring his opponent cannot, that extra damage from the laner is usually necessary. Also, the point of jungling is to feed your lanes. Make sure the lane knows you are coming, and where you are coming from before diving in head first.

His ult is special in that it does not deal a great amount of damage unless placed perfectly. It also does not have to be used to deal damage, you can focus on its damage reduction. If your team is getting slapped, drop it and don't pop it. Just soak up damage and pop it if you are certain you are going to win the fight. It is mostly used in my play style to buy time. However if you have them against the ropes, lead it just like the saplings. It won't reach its full potential while they are running, because it gains damage from soaking up damage, but it can often be enough to blow up their last little bit of health.

Sorry for making this guide so short, there just honestly isn't that much to Maokai. He's tanky, he has amazing CC, and he hits fairly hard for a tank. That's about all there is to him. Good luck!