My gosh that's a bunch

With two gorgeous dissectums, and one trying hard to grow up,I started looking for 'just one more' to fill a soon to be empty spot. What a surprise when I googled and found Woods Creek Wholesale Nursery in Monroe, a mere 20 minute drive away. They list 58 varieties of JM. Sure beats the local Lowe's and Home Depot ! Also got lucky and found a copy of Vertree's 2nd edition on-line. Who knows, maybe someday I can identify the ones that grace our humble little patch of overtaxed ground. The new one(s) will have their full names when they come to live here. This is "Miss Green", as I am wont to call her since she was unnamed at the nursery.

Miss Green is certainly a nice specimen. I know that you'll enjoy her. Is she in a pot right now or is that photo in the ground?

Oooh, my fingers and pruner are itching for that one. She is lovely, but I think she would benefit from a haircut. If you are afraid, (I might be or I might not, lol!) you may wish to have someone who knows maples do it for you.

Laura

OH, no Laura. Why do you want to do that to that tree? Do you mean the little branch at the top?

OOPS! the little branch "at the top" is, in reality, the tip of a Blueberry growing behind her and will be moving to a new location amongst its comrades this Fall. Hope that salves your desire to offer her a haircut Laura.lol

She is, along with the other two, in the ground and seemingly quite happy. I would like to have one (or more) in nice big glazed pots. That will have to wait till I become more familiar with the different varieties and their individual requirements.

Next time, with a plant that big, you might want to build a mound for it. Japanese Maples like to be in well draining soil. A blueberry! Yum. :-) You can have your a. palmatum and eat it too.

Luckily, I guess, our soil here is very sandy. Nary a pebble it seems. The forthcoming guest(s) will be in a raised bed 20" high and composed for the most part of our sandy soil as well as some added organics. Many years ago while relocating a septic drain line I got carried away and dug down a good 6 feet through clean blue sand. Glacial out-wash and elevation of a couple yards above sea-level help.(and the blueberries are excellent)

I don't know anything about gardening in sand. I'd never be able to dig 6 feet down in my clay. Be sure that your organics are well aged. JM's aren't crazy about a lot of nitrogen.

What a wonderful trip to the Woods Creek Nursery. Saw too many 'have to have's ' and ended up bringing home a dwarf Gingko along with a lovely Sango Kaku ( coral bark) that my wife picked out. Have to go back again, several times, with a lunch too. The coral bark will go in the raised bed as the focal point after the new footing and walls are finished.

One of the many JM's I'd like to have, and the one which I am sure will be next is Koto No Ito, they also had called 'harpstrings'. It took my breath away, but the pocketbook had already been emptied.

I have a Koto no Ito and you will love it. Just know that it can get quite wide. Reports of it being an upright tree are not true. Of course this can take many years, but JM's can live a very long time.

Love the pics, especially Koto No Ito which I really want one day.

LOL, I would like to prune that dissectum a bit to open it up and show off the structure of the tree. I really prefer the lacy flow, but not the solid "mushroom" that they tend to get to without a bit of pruning. I like the dissectums where the inner branches have been layered a bit.

See the before and after photos here and you will see what I mean.

http://www.wayofmaple.com/photos.html

Laura

I agree with you Laura, that the Japanese tendency toward open structure can create a beautiful tree. In the case of the two backyard trees I prefer a mounded appearance. The new Coral Bark with its vertical structure will, in time, have a more open structure, as will the little one that moves from frontyard to backyard this Fall. The link you provided has some interesting information. We are fortunate in that the local Community College has a big Japanese program called the Nippon Business Institute, complete with tea House and a wonderful Japanese Garden. Someone there will surely be able to help me with an "authentic" style of pruning. After all, this is only the beginning. The red one under the Gingko is a nice adjunct to the arbor gate but I don't think she would look as good in the Japanese style.
robert

Sounds like you have a good idea of what style you like, and what shapes you are looking for, wonderful! I look forward to seeing more pics of your lovely maples.

Laura