weeping japanese maple for sun in z5?

18 years ago

Erosion of the soil around the edge or the top pool on the waterfall hill for my pond lowered the edge of the liner enough that I had a trickle of water over the edge. I didn't know what was happening until one of my bristlecone pines suddenly turned brown from being too wet. Now that the problem is corrected I am thinking of putting a Japanese maple in that spot. I am looking for suggestions on weeping/cascading maples that will take full sun in zone 5. I would like one that would stay rather small or could be kept small with judicious pruning. Would Garnet fit this spot? Red or green though I would lean towards red.

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Comments (3)

Ron_B
18 years ago
Do other Japanese maples grow well there? Laceleaf forms are more delicate than those with normally shaped leaves; none appreciate mineral salts and low humidity, although they can be grown in arid parts of California if shaded and soil is flushed with occasional heavy watering.

General hardiness cutoff is USDA 6, although some posting here report at least a few kinds being grown in USDA 5. If you have been looking at any of these threads, try to discover any mention of how long this has been done. Not a few posting about other kinds of plants being grown outside of their conventional hardiness ranges appear to think survival for comparatively short periods establishes full hardiness.
kvolk
Original Author
18 years ago
Yes, I have a number of Japanese maples that have been in my yard for 15-18 years, though in protected sites. I am expanding out away from the house now so I am primarily looking at the Japonicums and Shirawasanums for increased hardiness. I also put in a Mandshuricum and Pseudosieboldianum. I just got three Robinson REd seedlings. All are protected from wind. I put in an Orangiola this fall that I am going to try to protect through the winter. A real hard winter could cause mourning but it has been a long time since I saw -20 here. In general Japanese maples do not do well here in most yards. They are about a 5 year tree. But I also think that they are hard to get established in many climates by people who just dig a hole in the yard and stick them in there without considering sun and protection.
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I don't think you have to move right to questioning his competence. I would check first what assumptions each of you is operating under. If you have given him instructions to produce a certain kind of environment in the yard, shade may be an essential part of that and perhaps he can't produce any other source of shade in the short term and is concerned you'll not be happy with the outcome if there isn't enough shade. Or something. He may also be making some assumptions about how much you want to water your plants. I de-shaded the north side of my house with the removal of a tree and it does get sunny as the sun veers around in the afternoon. New trees are just growing in enough to make an impact 4 years later. If there is a chance you will be removing the big tree at some point within 5 years, the pot is a very good idea for another reason - you'll have to get the little maple out of the way of falling tree parts. They do grow well in pots, especially if the pots are big enough. KarinL
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YIKES that worse than my ponds which have the pines (autumn needle fall is horrible) with oaks near by that blow in on occasion but not the horrible gums....one of my least fav ...or should I say most hated trees and around ponds with their acidic leaves and gum balls YIKES!!!!!! I would still go with dissectums cause of your other upright trees...I think the weeping nature would look best and always looks good around ponds and many ...I might say most.... dissectums will stay within your parameters although MANY , NOT ALL, will spread out and be as wide as tall in many cases ... over many years of course...( which shouldn't matter since you've got them potted and can somewhat move 'em if necessary) I think the idea of asking the local nurseries is a good one but i have a feeling many will work there especially if your potting them anyway. I would expect crimson queens tamukeyama and virdris amoung many others should work there but as I said local experts are your best bet or someone here from your area ...David
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Dax, thank you for all your suggestions. I like the idea of layering the conifers into 3 rows from the tallest in the back to the slower grower up front. This will add more depth to the privacy screen. And why do I have to choose between 'Goldilocks' and ‘Taylor’s Sunburst’ when I can have them both ? The concept sketch is a quick draft front view drawing of the screen and obviouly it's not to scale. The pool will be removed and also the second maple (the one in the middle). With the latter maple removed the site will get full sun. The 50 ft. bed will start from the first maple and will be extended to the last maple (in the corner of the yard). My previous idea was that specimen conifers will be forward of the maples. The yews and arborvitaes will be more in the back on the same row as the maples - up against the fence. That will put the yews right under the maples. But now I'm considering to bring the whole bed forward the maples. They are just some thoughts for the future: if golden arborvitaes lose their color in too much shade with time, I will enjoy them as long as I can. I may then replace them with columnar pines as suggested. I was also thinking about replacing the 2 remaining maples with Korean maples. They are hardier than Japanese maples and smaller than existing maples which I think are freemanii. Instead of arborvitaes, my first choice was junipers. Their upright needles would make a great contrast to the weeping Picea glauca 'Pendula'. But the nursery I'm doing business with didn't want to sell me any junipers stating rust and tip blight problems and Juniperus virginiana seems to be highly susceptible in our climate. Hope someone in the Montreal region has some experience to share on that matter.
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myersphcf
18 years ago
I think the other writers are correct ...with proper planting in a protected place you should be ok with several differnt dissectums but NOT all. Most nuseries carry crimson queens in my area and they wouldn't if they were taboo for this 5b area cause they have 1 year guarentees. I have a ten year old cut leaf dissectum that's about 6 ft yall and wide weeping nicely with no winter dieback even though we've had several -20 degree winter spells. I don't remember it's name so I can't help you there . I do know the green dissectums seem to be hardier although this one is a red one ...at least til this year when the trees around it shaded it too much ( if you want color you'd better put it in a protecterd area with at leas 6-8 hours of summer sun )I've since trimed back the sorounding vegitation so next year it will be RED.If you are interested try www.davesgarden.com and search japanese maples for your zone under plants,japanese maples the site has many knowlegable folks and a forum specifically for JM's David

weeping japanese maple for sun in z5?

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Ron_B

kvolk
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weeping japanese maple for sun in z5?

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Ron_B

kvolkOriginal Author

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kvolk
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