Fundamental Facts
HARDINESS: Zones 5 to 8
PREFERRED SOIL pH: Slightly acid
PREFERRED SOIL TYPE: Fertile
PREFERRED LIGHT: Partial shade
ATTRIBUTES: Deciduous trees with graceful form and leaves; for specimens, beds
SEASON OF INTEREST: Year-round
FAVORITES: 'Ornatum', 'Bloodgood', 'Atropurpureum', 'Sango Kaku', 'Butterfly'
QUIRKS: Branches on some varieties form attractive contorted shapes
GOOD NEIGHBORS: Birches and other, taller trees; bulbs; perennials; groundcovers
WHERE IT GROWS BEST: Organically rich soil in partial shade
LONGEVITY: Lives many decades
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS: Rare; con suffer in prolonged droughts
SOURCE: Nursery plants
DIMENSIONS: 6-25 ft (1.8-7.6 m) tall and equally wide
Japanese Maple in the Landscape
Delicate in appearance and artistic in habit. Japanese maples offer a range of attractive features for the landscape. Most have smooth, grayish brown bark and branches that naturally form graceful layers or interesting, contorted shapes. Some grow into fluffy, billowing mounds, while others shoot asymmetrically into the air. The leaves are beautifully shaped and may be green, bronze, red, purple, or bicolored. In fall, the foliage is burnished in gold, russet, orange, and crimson.
Japanese maples quickly become focal points in the landscape and are often the tree of choice for small yards, because they seldom grow taller than 25 ft (7.6 m).They do best with a few hours of shade daily, so feel free to plant them at an entryway or near the house foundation. Their well-behaved roots make them suitable for including in flower beds or underplanting with bulbs, ground-covers, or shallow-rooted annuals. Dwarf cultivars, which grow to 6 ft (1.8 m), can edge patios and walkways but give the trees room to spread as wide as their mature height. The green-leaf types are easy to blend with other plants; those with colored leaves make striking specimens.
Many Choices and Virtues
The best way to choose a Japanese maple is to visit a nursery and select a plant personally. Check plant tags for mature size and wait until the trees leaf out so that you can see the foliage shape or color before buying.
There are two main leaf forms: divided and lobed. Varieties labeled cut-leaf or thread-leaf maple (A. palmatum var. dissectum) have very lacy, finely divided leaves and gracefully drooping branches. While some have green leaves that turn yellow or red in autumn, 'Ornatum' is one of several Japanese maples with bronze-red foliage that turns crimson in fall.
Among trees whose leaves have 5 or 7 lobes, a favorite is the red-leaved 'Atropurpureum', which retains its wine color during most of the growing season. 'Bloodgood' is reddish purple in summer, then turns bright red in fall. Several unusual cultivars boast variegated leaves. 'Butterfly' has
green leaves rimmed in pink and cream, while 'Shigitatsu Sawa' has yellow-green leaves veined in dark green. 'Sango Kaku' has coral young branches, which glow against its yellow and orange fall foliage.
Growing Japanese Maple
Plant Japanese maples in spring except in warm climates, where fall planting gives them a head start before the following summer's heat. These trees have shallow roots that benefit from good soil, so enrich a very broad planting hole with organic matter before setting in the tree. Keep the soil moist the first year and fertilize young trees each spring with an organic or controlled-release, balanced fertilizer according to package directions. A 3 in (7.6 cm) layer of organic mulch over the root zone year-round helps retain moisture and discourage weeds. Aside from the risk of drought stress, this tree is virtually trouble-free.
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