Hopefully, you have found some inspiration for planting your own Japanese Maples. Point an uplight along the stem and into the canopy, and you are pretty much guaranteed to have a stunning lighting effect. They Look Really Good With Landscape Lightingīecause Japanese Maples often have interesting trunk structures and lacy leaves, they make really good focal points at night with some landscape lighting. Or if you happen to have a coral bark maple, the bright red stems will stand out against the winter backdrop. In the summer, the shape of the leaves and the tree is a focal point in the garden.īy David Eickhoff from Pearl City, Hawaii, USA (Japanese maple Uploaded by Tim1357), via Wikimedia CommonsIn the fall, the bright red leaves are a show stopper.ĬORAL BARK JAPANESE MAPLE Acer palmatum ‘Sango Kaku’, via *Īnd in the winter, the interesting shape of the trunk will provide some structure. The variety in the picture above starts out with white leaves that turn to pink and then red before going green. In the spring, the leaves come out…often in a different color than the mature leaves. Japanese Maples are a great addition to your garden because they can add interest all year long. Who needs flowers when you can have such interesting leaves? They Can Provide All-Season Interest Acer Palamtum ‘Toyama Nishiki’ It’s actually pretty amazing how many different colors you can find in Japanese Maple leaves…pretty much all of them except blue. The Leaves Come In A Variety Of Colors Acer Palmatum ‘Oridono Nishiki’ And they actually seem to flourish in smaller containers better than larger ones.įor the best success, try to use a planter that is no more than twice the width of the rootball.

Japanese Maples Grow Well In Small Containers Acer Palmatum ‘Toyama Nishiki’ in containerīecause they are slow growing, a lot of Japanese Maples do quite well in containers. You can see this easily in established trees (like the one in the picture), where the leaves on the top (that are exposed to more sun) are red, while the ones underneath are green. Having just said that Japanese Maples prefer the shade, this sounds a bit odd…but if you have a Japanese Maple that has red, purple or variegated leaf colors, you will see more of that color if the tree has a little more sun. However, The Leaf Color Is Better In Some Sun Acer Palmatum ‘Scarlet Princess’ Too much sun will cause the leaves to burn and can cause the roots to get too hot. But if you can’t give them that, they will generally do better with more shade than more sun (especially if you have really hot summers like we do in South Carolina).

The ideal condition for Japanese Maples is morning sun and afternoon shade. They Like Shade More Than Sun Japanese maples like shade more than sun However, mine do really well without any fertilizer at all…the thick layer of mulch decomposes into the soil and provides enough organic material to keep the plants healthy. Once it has become established, you can add some Japanese Maple fertilizer if you are so inclined. Too much can actually weaken the plant, cause the stems to die back and invite disease. When you first plant a Japanese Maple, resist the urge to add fertilizer. Japanese Maples Don’t Need Too Much Fertilizer Just keep it away from the trunk of the tree to prevent it from rotting. Too much sun puts the whole plant under stress and weakens it.Ī 6″ thick layer of mulch makes sure this doesn’t happen. Japanese Maples have a shallow root system, so it gets overheated easily. They Like A Lot Of Mulch Japanese Maples like a lot of mulch The best time to prune them is in July and August. Maple sap runs in the winter, so pruning at that time can cause the wound to ooze sap, which weakens the tree. When your Japanese Maple gets old enough to need some shaping, it shouldn’t be pruned in the early spring. Prune Established Maples In The Summer Acer Palmatum ‘Viridis’, 7 years after planting If you let the suckers grow, they will probably end up taking over the whole plant. There is one exception: If you see suckers growing from the root stalk (they will have different shaped leaves than the rest of the plant), you do want to remove those. Pruning young Japanese Maples can lead to poor root development.Įven if you plan to remove some of the lower branches at some point, leave them in place for the first couple of years until the plant is stronger. Young Japanese Maples Should Not Be Pruned Acer Palmatum ‘Viridis’ as a young plant Keep reading to find my tips for growing beautiful Japanese Maples. You Might Also Like: Best Trees For A Small Backyard

Maple tree sprout