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Japanese Maple
Japanese maple planting
The Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) is native to Japanese, Chinese and Korean woodlands where it grows in the shadow of higher trees. The Japanese maple will therefore appreciate to be planted in a shaded part of your garden. Direct sunlight is unadvisable, partial or filtered shade is ideal.
The USDA hardiness zones for the Japanese maple are 5B through 8 and in the southernmost parts of its range (USDA hardiness zones 7b and 8) the Japanese maple sometimes suffers from scorched leaves during the hot summer. The risk is especially high if the three is also subjected to strong winds.
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This makes a shaded spot even more imperative, and you should also be prepared to keep your tree well watered throughout heat spells. Scorching will cause tan coloured dead foliage. In the more northern parts of the range, this problem is less occurring. Since the Japanese maple leaf out early, it can however be sensible to spring frosts in the northernmost parts of its range.
Japanese maple soil
Well drained soil that is acid and rich in organic matter is recommended for the Japanese maple, but it can adapt to slightly alkaline conditions. This maple will not be able to cope well with water that stands around its roots. If you want to plant a Japanese maple in clay soil, it is therefore recommended to plant it in a slope where water can not accumulate around the roots.
Japanese maple leaves
The Japanese maple is a popular ornamental plant and a wide range of cultivars have been created. If you plant ‘Elegans’ Japanese maple you will for instance be able to enjoy leaves that sport rose-colored margins when they first unfold. The new foliage of a ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese maple will instead be of a bright red colour before it darkens and turns green. ‘Atropurpureum’ Japanese maple and ‘Burgundy Lace’ Japanese maple both have reddish leaves, but the first cultivar features five-lobed leaves while the second one have cut leaves.
Japanese maple growing habit
The leaves are not the only thing that varies between different Japanese maple cultivars; their growing habits are also highly heterogeneous. Japanese maple cultivars can be everything from upright and vase-shaped to globerosed shrubs with branching to the ground. If you have a globerosed variant, it will usually look its best if you allow it to branch to the ground and refrain from interfering with this natural tendency. If you use a lawn mover, you may need to clear away the turf under the branches.
Japanese maple pruning
If you want an ornamental tree that is easy to care for and requires very little pruning, than the Japanese maple is a good choice. Unhealthy parts of the tree might of course have to be removed, and the same is true for parts that pose a risk to pedestrians, buildings or similar.
Pruning should never be carried out in spring, since this will cause the Japanese maple to bleed a lot and lose too much of sap. Late summer or early fall is recommended for pruning.
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japanese maple tree
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Copyright 2006 japanese-maple.info. Header picture of red maple trees in fall From http://www.landscaping.about.com , taken by David Beaulieu.
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