How to make a Japanese maple look like this?
Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
7 years ago
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Jean
7 years agocearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)
7 years agoRelated Discussions
My Japanese maple looks dishelveled?
Comments (9)Mike makes a really good point about shading the trunk, though. If you suddenly expose a previously shaded bare trunk to the sun in the middle of summer it is not gonna be happy. That kind of pruning should be done in winter or early spring. It is easier to prune deciduous trees when the branches are bare as it is easier to see them. However, you get a much more vigorous response as when they're dormant, all of the carbs are in the roots and then they push spring growth and go nuts at the wounds. In this area, the Japanese maple experts prune in May, well after the tree has leafed out. They get a lot of sap flow, which makes the homeowners nuts, but it is not harmful. By doing this they avoid the aggressive growth response to the pruning. Japanese maples have enormous redundant growth already, so it is generally easier to try not to get even more. And Mike, I totally agree on the trunks! At the ACS National meeting last week we toured a property that claimed to have the largest private Japanese maple collection in the country. They had over 400 and there was some really gorgeous wood on a lot of those trees. Sara...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 MorePlease help! Japanese Maple looked very dull and died(?)
Comments (9)Nice house, nice tree. Congrats. The lower leaves should not be touching the ground, leave half a foot or however much more you want between the leaves and the ground; prune each branch that carries leaves that are touching the ground, don't just cut tree until it doesn't touch the ground like when they use shears to shape shrubs, but grab each branch that does, follow its stem until a node (the "Y"), and cut above the node. By "above" I mean farthest away from the trunk/center of tree, so between you and the node if you're looking directly at the trunk, I mean otherwise you'd be cutting the whole Y off and that makes no sense... Cut very close to the node, like a quarter inch. There may be dead wood on tree. Look for it and remove all of it. Deadwood is grey and very brittle. All of it will be inside tree, behind the leaves and on the trunk and branches. Deadwood invites bugs and diseases into tree. For timing, sure you could do this over the winter in two or three months from now after the leaves have fallen off and tree doesn't bleed sap as much but then you wouldn't be able to see what tree's normal appearance is like if it doesn't have leaves on it, you may think then that it doesn't need pruning... When you get to the part of "separating the layers" to give tree more transparency, in my opinion it is a matter of choice and taste whether you do it or not, and how far you go with it; I mean I really like foliage and separating layers is done by removing it, so maybe it's a necessary evil, don't know. Nice tutorial on how to prune the laceleaf maple: Japanese pruning (part 3 of 4) Shell Pruning of Japanese laceleaf maples...See MoreHow should a pruned Japanese Maple look, branches exposed or not?
Comments (8)With that much experience, I am surprised your guy suggested October. Especially in some place like CT that can experience sudden and sharp cold spells in winter. Even the ISA recommends dormant season pruning. In addition to other reasons, it makes it far easier to see what and where to prune to get the best aesthetic results when the tree is out of leaf. This link on pruning Japanese maples has some excellent and well-illustrated advice on how to prune to accent/enhance structure or growth habit and how to thin out a congested or too dense canopy. I'm not sure I understand the concept of 'exposing branches' outside of the context of canopy thinning, but perhaps the link will provide sufficient visuals on how a well pruned tree should look....See Moregardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years agoHeruga (7a Northern NJ)
7 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agohemlock140 Zone 8B
7 years agoHeruga (7a Northern NJ)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoMike McGarvey
7 years agoHeruga (7a Northern NJ)
7 years agoMike McGarvey
7 years agoHeruga (7a Northern NJ)
7 years agoMike McGarvey
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agojosh_ky
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years agoTodd C
7 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years agoMike McGarvey
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years agoHeruga (7a Northern NJ)
7 years agoMike McGarvey
7 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoMike McGarvey
7 years agogaryz8bpnw
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years agosleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
7 years agoHU-90722366
3 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years agoHU-90722366
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years agoJulie Staub
3 years agocarnina123
2 years ago
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