Archive for the ‘Japanese maple’ Category

Pest Alert: Japanese Maple Scale Becoming A Serious Problem

  Japanese maple scale is a new pest in Tennessee and surrounding states. It infests many more plant species than just Japanese maple. The insect’s small size and ability to blend in naturally with tree bark makes it challenging to detect until populations are high and it has infested large landscape and neighborhoods. Japanese maple scale […]

‘Tamukeyama’ Japanese Maple One Of The Best

Tamukeyama Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Tamukeyama’) is a long-lived botanical treasure (USDA hardiness zones 5-8). Tamukeyama is a short 6-8 feet tall multi-stemmed deciduous tree. It grows slightly taller and its foliage tolerates hot summer sun better than ‘Crimson Queen’. Tamukeyama grows best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers moist well-drained soil and […]

Moving Large And Mature Trees

Perhaps tree lovers can’t plant wonderful trees such as shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), or white oak (Quercus alba). They can purchase property with the tree(s) growing on them. Most nurseries do not grow these difficult species or guarantee their success after planting. But, all is not lost! Modern nurseries, backed by […]

‘Shaina’ Japanese Maple

The foliage of ‘Shaina’ Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Shaina’) starts out hot red in early spring. The deeply cut leaves are bunched together for a tufted or layered look. From mid-spring thru summer, the foliage, now maroon red, holds its color. Shaina grows naturally as a shrub, 8 feet high and 4 to 5 feet […]

‘Beni kawa’ Japanese Maple for Winter Bark Color

Beni kawa Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Beni kawa’) is a smaller version of the popular coral bark maple ‘Sango kaku’. It was introduced by Greer Gardens Nursery in Oregon in 1987.  ‘Beni kawa’ matures to 12-15 feet tall and 8-10 feet wide, compared to 20-25 feet tall for ‘Sango kaku’. Both cultivars form a vase-shaped branched small […]

Full Moon Japanese Maple Is Very Popular

  The term “full moon Japanese maple” may be confusing. There are actually three species and cultivars of Asian maples that are referred to as “full moon”. The most popular full moon cultivar planted in the Northeast and Southern Appalachian regions (USDA zones 5 thru 7) is Acer japonicum ‘Acontifolium’. A. j. ‘Acontifolium’ is hardy […]

Formerly A Tree… Now A Hat Rack

Tree topping continues! The concern about a large tree falling on the house, garage, autos or pedestrians sends out calls to cut the tree back. If the tree in photo does recover (grow), the new branches will be mostly weak suckers. After 2-3 years, the sucker growth will be susceptible to high winds and snow/ice storms […]

Callaway Gardens

Perhaps, azaleas (Rhododendron spp.) offer the broadest color array of any shrub category in the spring garden. Very few public or private gardens display azaleas better than Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA. In late March, Jane and I enjoyed a 2-day visit at Callaway. We arrived to catch the early blooming azalea sequence and were not disappointed. […]

Better Choices for Golden Moon Maple

Photo credit: Mr. Brian Upchurch, Highland Creek Nursery, Fletcher, NC A few months back I asked Mr. Brian Upchurch, owner of Highland Creek Nursery*, his opinion of Golden Fullmoon Japanese maple (Acer shirasawanum ‘Aureum’) in our Southern Appalachian region (USDA zones 6 and 7).  He responded: “I have grown it in the past and it […]

Japanese Maple Selections for Mid-South

Photo: ‘Sango Kaku’ coral bark maple in November Japanese maple (A. palmatum) offers a vast array of shrub and tree forms of varying heights and leaf shapes. Spring and summer leaves vary from gold, to dark green, to deep red and some color variegation and either cutleaf or dissected forms. The dissected leaf forms of […]