Japanese Maples! in Colorado!
coloradobird
17 years ago
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shudavies
17 years agobpgreen
17 years agoRelated Discussions
Japanese maple under red maple?
Comments (8)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...See MoreJapanese Red Maple or Red Select Japanese Maple?
Comments (3)Hmmm...where to start. First of all, there are nearly a thousand different cultivars of Japanese maples. About a third (or maybe more) of them have red leaves at least a portion of the year. Secondly, japanese red maple would be a misleading name since a red maple is a native maple to the US that has green leaves and red flowers. Red japanese maple would make more sense. So, "Japanese red maple" could refer to one of hundreds of cultivars that have been reproduced by grafting, or it could be a red seedling that shows good red characteristics. This would mean that 'red select' is a specific cultivar of a red japanese maple. You must also consider whether or not it is a weeping red dissectum (fine lacy leaves) or an upright palmatum (star shaped leaves). 'Red select' is one of many red dissectum cultivars (lacy and weeping). I think 'red select' is a seedling from 'inaba shidare' (guys I know Vertrees claims that they are one in the same, but I have convincing information that says otherwise). They are similar, but some claim there are distinct differences (and by distinct I mean practically with a magnifying glass). Other similar common cultivars include 'crimson queen', 'tamukeyama', 'garnet', and the newer 'red dragon'. A couple of good red upright cultivars include 'bloodgood' and 'fireglow'. Search these names and this should shed some light on what the differences are....See MoreOnce again...Japanese Maples in Colorado??
Comments (17)Well, darn. I like the lacy-leafed varieties. I guess I won't waste my money. Or rather, if I do plant one, I'll have it in a large container and wheel it indoors over the winter. Or plant it somewhere very protected and realize that I may not have it for a long time. Another really interesting maple I saw at the Denver Botanic Garden is the paperbark maple (Acer griseum). I'm definitely going to include that for my gardening project whether or not I try any Japanese maples. The leaf shapes aren't as attractive to me as the Japanese maples. But the bark is very cool and they do seem to have colorful leaves in the fall. Also, they are more cold hardy than Japanese maples. It looks like they too might need some protection from wind and some attention to their moisture requirements. Since we had an extended period of temps below -15F this winter with under -20F overnight, I definitely consider us to be a solid zone 5....See MoreWhere Are the Gardens?
Comments (17)TWO relatives in Crystal Lake, Westy! A brother with a big greenhouse on Oak Street (he sells bedding plants in spring--used to sell poinsettias at X-mas) and a Wild Bird business, and a nephew & his wife right across the street from him! His wife lived out here in Denver many years ago---and still misses it! A couple things! There are some really, really cool houses in the older areas of Denver, but when you get into the "Bungalow Era," 20's, 30's, 40's kind of things, a lot of them have really tiny yards, leaving you with very little room for gardening. And then there's the prices like you found in Wash Park! There are more of that era houses on the west side out around Sloan's Lake (on Sheridan), and I'm not sure, but I'm guessin' they're pretty pricy too. Then there are older bungalow areas out along Federal on the west side that would be pretty cheap--but you probably wouldn't want to live there! The older bungalow areas I'm talking about are also all IN Denver---talking about possible watering restrictions again. Since you're gonna be out here for so long, check out all the "burbs" on the west side of Denver. Closest to Boulder would be Westminster and Broomfield on the north end, then Arvada and Wheat Ridge. Pretty much everything west of Sheridan is out of Denver proper. Lakewood is below that, but that's all the way south of 6th Avenue, so getting a ways south for going up to Boulder without getting on I25 and taking it past downtown--most often NOT a fun thing to do! You could also have a drive around over here in Thornton. Some pretty nice areas north of 120th and east of I25. With 400K to spend you should easily be able to find something you're really, really happy with in the Burbs! (I think you're used to thinking in Illinois Terms!) I closed on my house (128th & Colorado Blvd.) in early '04, it has four bedrooms and three baths, and it was under 250K---and that was before the crash! (Wish the backyard was bigger, but I decided I really liked the house!) I go up to Boulder fairly often--was just up there tonite--and it's easy for me to "cross over" to Wadsworth on 128th and then hop on 36 straight up to Boulder. It's about 20 miles from me (up to the Foothills exit). The other areas just outside of Boulder, like Louisville and Superior would be worth checking out too--not sure what's up there or what the prices are. And I agree with Dsieber--just go online and google houses for sale and look at all the pics you can find of things that are in any of the places you're willing to move to. I did that when I was looking for this place, and I'd print stuff out and then have my realtor find out the things I didn't find answers for online. And she recommended a lot more that I didn't run into--and sometimes we both came up with the same ones! There are a lot of good pics and virtual tours online now, and once you find the MLS number for something, you can look it up on other realtor sites and sometimes find more pics or info about a specific house. And what you find can help you eliminate a lot of them too, saving you Looking Time! BTW, I'll be 68 in a couple week--at least that's what my birth certificate would tend to imply! :-) Gardening is a great way to stay young! I think you're gonna love living out here! When it snows in winter, it almost always melts in 2 days--maybe 3 or 4 if we get a real blizzard! Well, except for the winter of '06--when we got a new blizzard every week for a couple months--and there was somebody on eBay selling Genuine Colorado Snow! Only time since '64 that I've ever seen anything like that! Don't panic! This past winter I think I only ever shoveled snow twice! (Front of the house faces south! That helps!) Let us all know before you sign a contract---and we all get to vote on if it's the right house/yard! Skybird P.S. We have two swaps out here every year too, spring and fall, and if you decide to come you can pick up some free plants! P.P.S. Just for fun! A March '10 snowstorm! The week before this past Christmas, when we hadn't had any snow at all yet and it was so warm I was gardening in shorts some days, I decided it didn't FEEL like Christmas at all, so I made a screen saver with some past snow pics, including this one, and I had been sitting here one nite with the snow pics on the screen, and when I got up to do something one time and walked past a window, I was surprised to see it wasn't snowing outside! At least it did make it feel like Christmas! The morning after the nite before...See Moreshudavies
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