My Japanese Maples in Spring
As you know, I absolutely love trees and have planted hundreds of them, of all types and sizes, here at my Bedford, New York farm. Among my favorites are the Japanese maples. And this time of year, mine are showing-off some beautiful spring color.
Many of my Japanese maples are varieties of Acer palmatum - trees that have been cultivated in Japanese gardens for centuries. Over the last several years, I’ve planted many of these trees in one section of a shade garden I call the Japanese Maple Woodland - not far from my chicken coops and stable barn. I just love them and always look forward to their gorgeous displays in spring and fall. These specimens provide countless variations in size, leaf shape, and color, creating a landscape of beauty and texture.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Over the years, I’ve planted hundreds of Japanese maples in this area. My first Japanese maples, 117 of them to be exact, were planted 2009. In 2014, we planted 150 more. And since then, I’ve continued to add rare and unusual varieties. I named this woodland ‘The Laura Plimpton Japanese Maple Grove,” in memory of my dear sister who loved these beautiful trees.
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- Japanese maples prefer dappled sun or part shade. I purposely planted them beneath these larger trees. The varying heights add a nice texture to the grove.
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- A Japanese maple is a small tree or large shrub in the Maple family that is native to the Asian countries of China, Korea and Japan. It is highly prized as a garden tree for its great ornamental beauty.
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- With more than a thousand varieties and cultivars including hybrids, the iconic Japanese maple tree is among the most versatile small trees for use in the landscape. In fact, it is the highlight of every Japanese garden.
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- Japanese maples grow well in moist, organically rich, well-drained soil. Their forms can be weeping, rounded, dwarf, mounding, upright, or cascading.
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- Japanese maples are relatively small trees and when many are planted together, they make an extraordinary grove. Japanese maples typically grow about one-foot per year for the first 50-years, but they can live to be more than a hundred.
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- They grow 10 to 15 feet high, with a spread of 10 to 15 feet.
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- Red leafed cultivars are the most popular, followed by green shrubs with deeply dissected leaves. The leaves in the Palmatum Group are most typical of the wild species. The leaf lobes are more divided, nearly to the leaf base.
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- I also have more rare varieties. These leaves are deeply divided, but each lobe is also dissected, giving them a lacy effect.
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- ‘Emerald Lace’ is a green maple variety. ‘Emerald Lace’ is a fast-growing, deciduous small tree with deep emerald green, lacy foliage in spring.
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- This variety has feather-soft green foliage that cascades to the ground.
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- Here is a Japanese maple leaf showing how it looks like the palm of a hand with its fingers open.
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- And here is a green leafed version, ‘Osaka Suki.’ Japanese maple trees are particularly suitable for borders and ornamental paths because their root systems are compact and not invasive. Through this woodland grove, they line both sides of the carriage road.
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- Here is an interesting maple. ‘Golden Full Moon’ maple is a bushy, medium-sized deciduous shrub or small tree noted for its spectacular foliage. It shows intensely bright yellow-green leaves in spring. They are also rounded with seven to nine sharply pointed lobes that gradually turn pale chartreuse as the season progresses.
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- The foliage on this maple is deeply lobed with a beautiful red color throughout the summer. The color turns bright red in the fall. The palmate leaves have lobes cut to the base of the leaf.
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- Japanese maples are hardy in zones 5 through 8. A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined to encompass a certain range of climatic conditions relevant to plant growth and survival. My farm is in zone 6.
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- Young trees should be kept moist to prevent their shallow root structures from drying out and weakening, particularly during the hot summer months.
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- Any heavy pruning should be done in late winter before leaf buds begin to open. Cut out scraggly interior twigs and branches, but leave the structural branches alone. Small, corrective cuts can be made any time of year.
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- I’ve also planted some beautiful rhododendrons in this garden. This is ‘Yaku Princess’ with unique, bushy, compactly branched low growth. In mid spring spheres of pinkish-white blooms with deeper pink and green spotting on the florets appear, and trusses of apple-blossom pink buds open to white.
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- And the mayapples are growing so wonderfully. Mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum, is a native perennial found in either moist or dry woods in Virginia and most of eastern North America. The leaves — which look like tiny umbrellas — unfold from a single stem. I grow many of these in my shade gardens.
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- This maple grove grows more beautifully every season. Few trees are as stunning as the Japanese maple. What is your favorite Japanese maple tree? Share your comments with me below.
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