What role do your JMs play in your landscape?

I am very curious to read about how different people use Japanese Maples in their landscape. I've seen a lot of pictures in this forum and it looks like most people tend to plant them under eaves for the shade and protection from the wind, but I've also seen people plant them on slopes, in raised planters, etc. For those of you that have multiple JMs where do you put them all? Do you have very large yards? Do you keep them in pots? Have you done anything to make your yard more JM friendly than it was?

I live in a suburban neighborhood and my lot size is only about .20/acre and most of it is full sun. I have 6 JMs right now and only one of them is actually in the ground (under one of those handy, shady eaves). The rest are in pots where they will stay until some of my other trees have matured to the point of providing significant shelter.

hi sox - i have all of mine in the ground except for one just purchased - it is supposedly NE grown so it will go in the ground although not till next year. most of mine are in raised beds or slopes because of the clay/rock soil I have and later found that it served jm's well. i do have just under 2 acres. i have 16 or 17 jm's although doubles of 4. most of the ones bought this year are smaller 3 ft jm's just beginning and purchased on line. not much help for your situation.

I have about half an acre and I do grow a lot of trees but found that I overplanted and had to give some of them away. I grow several of my trees in full sun but Sacramento's summers are so much hotter than mine. What cultivars do you have?

JM's play a monetarily expensive role in my modest sized yard. I have only nine. However it seems that I usually have one that is not doing as well as I'd like, what with droughts, 90 degree temps and prolonged hard freezes after Easter. Still, I seek them out, place them anywhere I can fit them in and drool over the ones in the catalogs that I know won't survive here. In short, acerage is the only thing stopping me from collecting them by the oodles, until my husband takes away the credit card that is.

Mine are placed anywhere I can squeeze them in. I toss stuff to make room. Somehow it works out. Most of the backdrop is high oak and mature hemlocks. They are all inter- planted with an evergrowing collection of conifers. I also use boulders and granite Japanese lanterns.

I keep mine in pots (so far at least) so that I can get them in an area that doesn't get too much sun and too much wind. Most of my garden beds get too much of both of those to really make the JM's happy. Once some of my other trees grow a bit more I'll have some other options, but for now the pots work best

Thanks for the responses so far everyone!

Doss, the 6 that I have are Oisami, Burgundy Lace, 2 Beni Shichihenges, Crimson Queen, and a Bloodgood. My Crimson Queen is the only one I've planted.

My Crimson Queen is in full sun and does nicely there. My Bloodgood is in almost complete shade except for the very early morning hours and does fine there. I think that Beni Shichihenge will appreciate afternoon shade but I don't know about the others. I have had Beni Fushigi, Sherwood Flame, Suminagashi, Villa Taranto, Gernaine's Gyration and Tsukushi gata all growing in full sun. Beni Fushigi actually requires it or it will mildew.

Be aware Garden Sox that your trees will probably grow larger than the standards say so give them some room. I have tried to sqeeze some of them in and while it works with some with constant pruning, it would be much better to have them where they could spread their wings.

I guess we are lucky in the Pacific Northwest. Japanese maples grow just about anywhere you put them. Most of my JM's are in full sun and they do great, but it is all relative....how much sun do we really get??

I'm dripping with jealousy marymyers.

Well I am dripping most of the time!!! It is called RAIN. We don't even have umbrella's here, we are so used to the stuff.

I have 5 large JM's - all of them are planted in the ground in my 0.4 acre yard. I have many mature trees on my property as well, so my yard is fairly sheltered and shaded. I have the tendency to cram things so I have planted JM's in areas where there is not a whole lot of room, but they seem to be doing fine and, so far, do not look like they've outgrown the space.

Here's one of mine tucked in a little corner by my stream and surrounded by tall pines.

What a beautiful garden! The jm certainly seems happy there. And a lovely water feature. You sure have some nice hostas too.

SongsofJoy: I want to live in your garden! How lovely it is. Your JM is thriving, obviously, and so are the hostas. It's perfect.

It's very wet most of the time here, so they need to be in a raised, well-drained bed. I also have several in bonsai pots, which seems to work great here. They get water every day, but it drains and dries quickly, and that's what they need. It's very humid here also, and they don't really like that. But, I have several in pots and several also in the ground.

I have some in pots too happytail. I hate to handwater but I've managed to put them under a tree where the sprinklers are and they are very happy. They get very little light - just dappled shade but they do fine. I wouldn't have imagined that they would take so much shade. Of course we have the opposite problem that you do. No rain all summer long.

ok i need some advice from some of the jm experts here - i'm looking to add several new ones this spring and would like some comments on the choices.
.
Koto-no-ito, shigitatsu sawa, villa taranto, aconitifulum, shishigashira, peaches and cream, koto mara, asahizuru, and giesha.

i have a list of thirty or so and have picked these out from the list. if there are some here that have been problems or you know of one similar that would be a better choice please let me know.

thx!

Nice list!! I'm all eyes here 'cause I got a gift certificate to Rare Find Nursery for Christmas. Ohhh Boy!

I have villa taranto, aconitifolium and koto no ito and all three are favorites. Aconitifolium and koto no ito do have the drawback of holding onto their leaves to next season but I still would hate to be without them. All three of them are distinctive enough that you woulldn't mistake them for any other tree. Koto no Ito and Villa Taranto are supposed to be 10 foot trees but aconitifolium will grow larger and needs more space. Villa Taranto is supposed to be OK in full sun here but mine grows in afternoon shade.

doss thanks for the input - i have heard nothing but good things about all three. i deal with the dead leaves on crimson queen and viridis - does not take long to clean them up. any suggestions on variegated varieties or other jm's that would be a good choice?

david (man of 300 jm's) any thoughts?

snapple check out the zenobra woodlanders on rarefind. they look to be an interesting filler shrub with good all season interest - i plan to get a few.

wha - That's a great tip. You must really know your stuff. This is definitely on the list.

snapple i just know what i like. credit for this goes to victorgardener on the ne forum - they guy has (claims) to have only a 1/4 acre yard and has possibly every worthwhile shrub, tree, plant that will live in his zone. i was showing him the last batch of jm's i got their on sale(including the beni hime i picked up because of you) and he showed me these.

Wha, what is your space like? It would be easier to help you with trees if we knew what size you had room for or if you are putting them in pots.

I thought I'd share my JM, this is Crimson Queen planted to frame my Koi Pond, the crimson red foliage is striking in late Autumn days before these go dormant in our zone. These tolerate our hot and humid weather quite well.

Pretty little tree Lily. Crimson Queen sure does put on a wonderful fall display and is beautiful the rest of the year too.

my yard is just under two acres. with the ice storm we had here a few weeks back i lost a lot of tall (+100 ft.) hickory and oak that lined the back property and i'll be cutting down three large maples that are 50-60 ft. tall so morning sun will be more although still broken up by trees. space is not a problem. i will be putting some into pots like the bene hime i recently purchased (all four were somehow spared by falling white pine branches where i have them over wintering and now fully protected by a wooden frame). most will go into the ground. i do plan to build a brick patio in the back and would want to plant some at the edges. they would receive morning and early afternoon sun with some interruption from trees as the sun passes. others would only receive morning sun in back. in the front they would receive heavy afternoon sun where i have a crimson queen, viridis, bloodgood, and coral bark that all do fine with no leaf burn. along the driveway (150 ft) they would not have some sun - nothing real strong. and most would be in raised beds or on a slope. hope this helps.

i looked to see if i had recent landscape pictures but everything was of individual plants/trees or beds.

The cultivar is grafted to have a weeping umbralla shape which enhences small landscape area. Thanks for the compliment doss.

hi lilly very nice! it will get better as it gets older too - before you know it in fact.

So you really are open to whatever you feel like growing! How wonderful to have so much room. I really like Germaine's Gyration. It's not much for color but the shape of it is really fun and it will take full sun. For vivid color through the whole growing season, my favorite is Suminagashi which will also take full sun here. It's a larger tree.

i will have to check them both out thanks!

wha, I've planted one C.Q. back in 2001. It's now a beautiful sizeable weeping tree. Since then I've moved, the tree above is roughly 5 years old now. It's filling out nicely, but remains compact and beautiful.

editted for spelling error.

This message was edited Dec 27, 2008 6:42 PM

wha and doss - how do you make up your JM container mix? I use 1/4 peat, 1/4 fine pine bark, 1/4 oak leaf compost and 1/4 sandy garden soil. I'm always looking for a better 'recipe'. I'm thinking of adding a little "Soil Moist" water holding gel to the next ones I pot up. Any thoughts?

good question = i'm new for pots and just use good soil.

hi doss - saw both your suggestions and your DG plant file photo's. nice looking trees! your right about suminagashi, intersting leaf shape as well. will have to think my decision through carefully.

I just use potting mix that I buy from the garden center. Seems to work fine.

placed my large "gift certificate" order with greer gardens - JM's asashi zuru, koto-no-ito, peaches & cream, shishigashira, and giesha. another acer species eskimo sunset. can not wait for May!

I'll bet that you can't wait Wha. Why are they waiting until May to ship? Is the weather too unpredictable before that?
Nice list

yeah - it was a date i picked. could have them shipped in April. need to see where i am with the spring clean-up. i already have them set aside and had pic's sent to me. last year i almost lost a ugi because i let it sit too long in the sun while on a business trip. it survived barely. just being cautious.

Cautious is good ;-)

Just moved the Beni Fushigi :-( and replaced it with the Aratama :-) which hopefully will fit in the space alloted. It looks like alittle stick right now. I will miss the Beni Fushigi and it's bright spring color but it's moved on to a neighbor's much bigger space. I sure wish that it had been a 9 foot tree the way it was described.

Doss - that's sad. How long had you had the Beni Fushigi? I bet you made your neighbor's day though!