Japanese Maples (Acer palmatum)
- Fabulous long-lasting red and yellow Fall colors
- Graceful tree forms from dwarf, weeping, mounding, and tall
- Delicate, serrated leaves in versatile styles and colors
- Beautiful Winter silhouettes
- Even young trees make an impact
Local Advice for Local Gardeners
Few trees provide such an extraordinary range of ornamental interest as the Japanese maples. In Spring, their exquisitely toothed leaves emerge in shades of rose, cream, orange or red, then turn green or bronze-red in Summer, and then blaze away in Fall in showy yellow, gold, purple, orange and/or scarlet. When leaves fall, the tree form and bark are revealed, etched in grace when dusted with snow. Although relatively small in stature, the variety range is vast, with heights from 2ft to as high as 30ft, and leaf shapes from classic maple-like to lacy or spidery. They may look fragile and delicate, but Japanese maples are pest-resistant and durable. They deserve a place of honor in your garden.
Choose from these types
- Cutleaf Maples (A. palmatum var. dissectum varieties), shrub-like, mounding or weeping. 6-12ft
- Dwarf, dense, slow-growing and compact, 2-6ft
- Upright and tall palmates for bolder looks
- Variegated, in pink, green, cream, red, yellow combinations
- Fullmoon Maples (A. japonicum, A. shirasawanum), with exceptional Fall color
Japanese maples like
- Soil - Best in sandy loam, but they do well in many soils of good fertility
- Light - Most enjoy open shade or full sun with afternoon shade. Too much shade tends to encourage greener leaves
- Moisture - Happiest in well-drained soil, well mulched to keep roots evenly moist. Limited water produces shrubbier growth
- Remember when planting, avoid exposed sites with damaging winds, or where snow can crash down from roofs
- Also - Trunks are easily damaged, so mow carefully around them
Where to grow Japanese maples
- Specimens - Perfect as an all-season specimen, a front lawn tree, or within view of a picture window
- Containers - Dwarf forms are splendid in beautiful pots, such as a red-leafed variety in a blue ceramic pot
- Patios - Plant close to where you sit and admire the changeable leaves at close range
- Accents - Dwarf weeping varieties can feature in nearly any partially shaded spot
- Understory - Site them under much taller trees to add dimension and levels
- Mixed borders - Many look great underplanted with ferns and dwarf woodland flowers in a shady border; taller types make excellent back of the border focal points
Seasonal care
- Spring - Protect the new young leaves from frost. Plant after the danger of frost has passed. Their shape is often best with no fertilizing, unless in pots when 10:10:10 slow-release is ideal. Do not prune.
- Summer - Keep watered. Add 3in of mulch.
- Fall - Plant at least a month before the ground freezes. If desired, prune carefully for form and to remove dead wood. Water thoroughly and add more mulch.
- Winter - Don’t allow to snow force the branches down to the ground. Iced branches are brittle; avoid touching them.
Terrain’s Top Ten Japanese Maples
Cutleaf (var. dissectum):
- ‘Filigree’ (finest lacy, 6ft)
- ‘Tamukeyama’* (summer red, 6ft)
- ‘Waterfall’* (weeping green, very slow to 12ft)
Broader leaved, palmatum types:
- ‘Butterfly’ (variegated, 9ft)
- ‘Fireglow’ (summer purple-red, 30ft)
- ‘Katsura’ (spring orange & red, 18ft)
- 'Okushimo' (fluted green, slow to 12ft)
- 'Osakazuki' (best red fall color, 20ft)
Fullmoon maples:
- A. japonicum ‘Aconitifolium’ (fall pure scarlet, 10ft)
- A. shirasawanum ‘Aureum’ (summer gold-green, 20ft)
Also, look for new varieties including ‘Peaches & Cream’ (variegated green, white and pink leaves) and ‘Glowing Embers’ which takes full sun and drought.
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Gold Medal Plant (www.goldmedalplants.org)
If all else fails,if you need a lace-leaved maple in a very exposed place? Try Sambucus nigra ‘Black Lace’ instead.
Did you know… Japanese maples have been prized for centuries as bonsai, since most of them make good candidates for dwarfing and training.
Written by Graham Rice