Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Group/Class:  Coral Bark Japanese Maple

Description:

This selection presents bright green new leaves in spring that darken in summer, turning a vivid golden yellow in fall; beautiful bright red stems glow in the winter landscape, and persist for years; a stunning accent tree for all seasons

Ornamental Features

Red Wood Japanese Maple is primarily valued in the landscape for its ornamental upright and spreading habit of growth. It has attractive green foliage with hints of chartreuse which emerges light green in spring. The lobed palmate leaves are highly ornamental and turn outstanding shades of yellow and in the fall. The red branches are extremely showy and add significant winter interest.

Landscape Attributes

Red Wood Japanese Maple is a dense deciduous tree with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other landscape plants with less refined foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and should only be pruned in summer after the leaves have fully developed, as it may 'bleed' sap if pruned in late winter or early spring. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Red Wood Japanese Maple is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Shade
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening

Planting & Growing

Red Wood Japanese Maple will grow to be about 15 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 15 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 2 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 60 years or more.

This tree does best in full sun to partial shade. You may want to keep it away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

This plant is not reliably hardy in our region, and certain restrictions may apply; contact the store for more information.