How to Grow Japanese Maples
Japanese Maples are hardy to zones 5 to 9 and come in more than 100 varieties. A wide range of choices of foliage and bark colors, growth habits, shapes, and sizes are available. Suitable as small trees, shrubs, container plants or bonsai, versatile Japanese Maple trees add value and beauty to any home without much effort.
Things You Need:
- Japanese Maple Trees
- Gardening tools
- Organic matter
- Mulch
- Choose varieties native to your local climate conditions, according to your personal landscaping needs. Place Japanese Maple trees with adequate growing space between them and other trees and structures. Japanese Maples do well in areas sheltered from the wind with dappled sunlight and afternoon shade.
- Till the area in which you are planting your Japanese Maples and mix in organic matter composed of pine bark, leaf mold, or peat moss. Amend the soil as needed to assure it is rich and well-drained.
- Dig a hole twice size of the diameter of your Japanese Maple's root ball and the same depth. If you are planting your trees in containers, choose wide, instead of deep, pots.
- Place the Japanese Maple into the hole so the roots rest on solid ground with the base of the trunk above ground, level with the natural lay of the land. As you backfill the hole, water it down to help settle the soil completely over the roots.
- Pat the soil down firmly and smooth it out until it just covers the tree's roots but not the bark or the trunk.
- Mulch your trees with a 1-inch layer of pine bark mulch and water deeply.
- Keep an eye on your new Japanese Maples for the first three years after planting. Water as needed and fertilize yearly in the spring. Avoid limpness, drying leaves or wilting. This indicates insufficient watering, which is the most common killer of new Japanese Maples. Also avoid splashing water onto the trees leaves when it is hot outside to prevent scalding.
- Check Japanese Maples periodically, but keep in mind that they are not prone to serious insect or disease problems. Once established, Japanese Maples require little maintenance under proper growing conditions.
- Prune lightly, only to shape or remove dead or dying branches, in the late fall or early spring. Remove any suckers growing from around the base of your Japanese Maple's trunk.