All About Japanese Maples - Weeping and Upright Varieties, Heights, Leaf Color Information

All About Japanese Maples - Different Varieties, Heights, Leaf Colors, and General Information. This video will help in deciding what Japanese Maple to purchase, where it should be placed, and how to care for them after they are planted. Japanese Maples come in lots of shapes and sizes with different leaf colors and textures. Includes Weeping Japanese Maples and Upright Japanese Maple varieties.

Japanese Maple
Acer palmatum

Jim has over 30 years experience in the green industry and is the current owner of Earthworks Nursery.

30 Allen Rd. Clayton, NC 27520

[jpallen]

I love people from the south, so mannered and kind. Thanks Jim, the gardening is a plus!

[Ezq]

My niece sent me a baby Japanese Maple from Oregon to Tampa fl. I just transferred it to better pot with the best soil available. I hope to see it grow to a big tree in 15 years.

[DC-ihbv]

Well done once again. I was once as passionate as you regarding plants. I got lost a bit but trying to locate that passion again. You are helping me.

[abydosianchulac]

For my 2¢, if anyone is more interested in getting a larger tree fast as opposed to what exactly that JM looks like, then honestly I'd recommend going with a base Acer palmatum and not one of the varietals (i.e. the JM your varietal is grafted onto). As many have learned from seeing below-the-graft shoots taking off, your basic palmatum is usually much more vigorous than any of its varietals, and once well established can add on 2-3 feet of growth per year easily. A good option if you're wanting to build up and develop your landscape in the shortest time possible.

[arghidontknow]

I just purchased an Acer Orangeola and found this video to be quite helpful. Thanks!

[NatureMan]

Absolutely love your videos, Jim! Very informative and have learned so many new plants! I do have a few points in your video. I live in Central Indiana (border on zone 5b and 6a) Japanese Maples do not tolerate full sun well here. In fact the thrive in near full shade or morning sun and afternoon shade. The leaves scorch in afternoon sun, and the color can completely bleach from the leaves by the end of Summer. While I do totally agree with you they do best with some direct sun, I always avoid full sun even in zone 5. Zone 5 summers are just as hot and humid as the Deep South.

[jasminelouisefarrall]

I love these little trees I have a few of them and they’re delightful
🪴🌺🪴

[user]

Living Los Angeles we have clay soil. I’ve had to plant all my Japanese Maples in compost. I basically created a cement large rectangular planter that I had to fill w lots of compost for my Sango kakus which seem to be the best for my small garden.

[giselleheroy]

Great information; love my Japanese Maples and didn't know about not mulching close to the trunk. Glad I watched your video...

[frogfanatic]

Thank you for this! I bought a maple last year and planted in the fall. It was simpled labeled 'Acer Palmatum' and I've been trying to figure out which cultivar. By watching this video I am fairly certain now that it is some variety of Coral Bark, which I am thrilled about! I can't wait for it to wake up this spring and mature!

[stephaniejohnson]

Glad to have more info about planting Japanese maples here in the south!!

[danmiller]

I have 15 of them in 13 different varieties. I love them all. Japanese maples are the Jennifer Aniston of the tree world.

[jameswilmot]

I took some JM cuttings on 30th March and got some lovely little plants now. I've even made a new video on their progress so far. I am now thinking about the coming winter and surviving the cold to then wake up in bud the following spring. I plan to keep them in my mini greenhouse which is in my old aviary with a vine plant growing over it. If it gets very cold, I'll cover them a little further within the greenhouse to be safe.

[rebeccawoods]

Excellent information, as always. Thank you.

[tammybarnes]

The Japanese beetles love my Japanese maple

[japanesemaplesbonsai]

Hi Jim, I LOVE MAPLES! ……… just subscribed and I’m hooked….great educational video, loved it … All the best from the UK 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[jlbf]

I am in the landscape business, and everyone goes for the weeping laceleaf varieties but I prefer the uprights myself

[roymundy]

What tree did you graft the Japanese Maple to? If you graft it to a quicker growing maple will that speed up the growth rate of the Japanese Maple, especially on some of the dwarf weeping like a Crimson Queen?

[nataliespencer]

My husband bought me the Bloodgood Japanese Maple for my birthday. I loved it but it didn't leaf out the next year. I did the "scratch test" and there was no green until a few inches above the ground. I took it back to where he bought it. How I wish it did well in my yard...love the color and the ornamental leaves.

[TheGuitarman]

We are growing Japanese Maples in zone 9b (Central Valley California). While Japanese maples can tolerate full-sun in cooler climates, they are very prone to "leaf-scorch" in zone 9b. Especially with the 115 degree temperatures we recently endured here this September. In order to prevent leaf-scorch, I had to build shade structures around the younger Japanese Maples for their first couple of years. Once their roots became established the Japanese Maples became much more tolerant of the very hot/dry summers in this area. However, I still have to keep an eye on them when it hits 115 degrees, and make sure they get plenty of water. I enjoy trying to grow plants in zones that the "professionals" say can't be done. Japanese Maples growing in Zone 9b happens to be one of those non-recommended plants for this area. I am also growing Colorado Blue Spruce (Hoopsii) trees in this oven of a valley, and they are doing great. It just takes a little more monitoring and TLC to grow these out-of-zone plants. This is the complete opposite of the many native plants that we have growing in our Xeriscaped yards. The hotter it gets the more those plants seem to thrive. Especially plants like Crape Mertles, Little Johns, Pomegranates, Texas Rangers, Lavender, Mexican Sage and Yuccas. They all love the heat, and requre very little water to keep alive. This is great considering the ongoing drought here in California. Now if more people would just get rid of those water-wasting green carpets in their yards, there would be much more water to go around for everyone. 🙂