Questions about Japanese Maples

[archi1]

Hi,
I live in Texas and my wife wants to get a japanese maple. They are really beautiful trees and many people in my neighborhood have them. I just wanted to find out all the pros and cons of owning one. Also all the specifics about the best areas to plant and how to maintain the tree as well. Any help would be appreciated and if you live in the Dallas area, if you have any sources or pricing info., I'd like that too.
Thanks

 

[jimmyq]

Japanese Maple

A few tips, they don't like hot, windy, full sun or exposed sites and are somewhat prone to verticillium wilt ( in the PNW ). Watch for girdling roots in container grown specimens, graft condition and make sure you have a variety or a few varieties in mind before you go shopping. There are literally hundreds of them available commercially these days. a few I would recommend: Butterfly ( striped white/green leave), Floating Clouds (mottled green/white/pink leaves), Orido Nishiki (new leaves pink, white and green fading to green through summer), Sango Kaku ( AKA coral bark), Inabe Shidare (weeping red leaved), Waterfall (weeping green leaved), Bloodgood (very deep red/purple foliage), Ozakazuki ( orange leaved, red in fall) and Shiraswanum aurea ( golden full moon ).

 

[M.D. Vaden]

The heat and wind may be a bigger factor that full sun.

There is a beautiful 40' wide specimen I recall at the United States Capitol - saw it there in 1988.

In Beaverton, Oregon, most of ours do fine in full sun.

Since the verticillium disease is a possibility, we recommend to avoid planting those trees in groups larger than 3 - never plant any plant that has a common problem in large quantities.

Don't fertilize them unless they show nutrient deficiency.

Coral Bark Maple - 'Sangu Kaku' I think, has winter color of red stems and branches.

Some of them display characteristics beyond just summer leaf color.

The leaves tend to be larger in the shade.