How to grow Japanese Maple

As small trees go, the Japanese maple is a winner, offering intricately shaped, colourful foliage and luminous autumn tints as well as clusters of small purplish red flowers and winged seeds. These elegant Orientals grow well in containers and can transform a small plot.

However, while not exactly difficult to grow, they do need some understanding.

Being fussy about picking the right spot for them can make the difference between a thriving, long-lived tree and a poor specimen that’s constantly at risk of die-back.

There are two species commonly known as ‘Japanese maples’ but we will put A. japonicum to one side and concentrate here on A. palmatum.

This variable, somewhat rounded tree reaches up to 20ft (6m) high in cultivation but it can be twice this in the wild.

Leaves are lobed into five or seven sections and can be intricately subdivided and almost fern-like, or coloured orange, gold or red throughout the growing season. The Japanese have enjoyed this and its many variants in their gardens for centuries and it was introduced to the UK in 1820.

In their natural woodland habitat, Japanese maples are understorey trees, enjoying dappled shade, well-drained but moist soil deep with leaf litter and shelter from winds and frost.

Happy in containers 

Somehow, we have to replicate this in our gardens but if you can’t find a bed in the right spot, most maples are happy in containers.

 These potted trees can stand on a driveway under the branches of a magnolia, in the shade and protection of a hedge or in among other pots on the cool, shady side of a house.

In borders, they look comfortable rubbing shoulders with other woodland style plants such as camellias, tree peonies and witch hazels.

Tips on Keeping Acer Palmatum Happy

1. Keep roots cool and moist but never waterlogged. 
2. Avoid frost pockets, as late spring frosts cause dieback or even death. 
3. Choose a sheltered site away from cold winds. 
4. These are not lime-hating plants but they don’t like thin, dry soils over chalk.
5. Soak the rootball before planting. On heavy soil, use a slightly raised bed for improved winter drainage. 
6. Water during droughts while plants establish. Feed every spring with a fertiliser for trees and shrubs. Mulch over roots with well-rotted compost or soil conditioner.
7. If you have a sheltered site but soil is dry and poor, grow a maple in a container of 50:50 soil-less multipurpose and John Innes No 2 compost with added grit. 
8. Raise containers slightly from the ground for freedrainage in winter.

My Favourite Japanese Maples

‘Butterfly’ 

Five-lobed, toothed leaves are grey-green, irregularly margined with cream and suffused with pink. Grows to 8ft (2.5m) in 20 years. 

‘Katsura’ 

Lobed leaves open to goldorange tones; mature to green with orange margins and then turn bonfire red and yellow before falling.

‘Osakazuki’ 

Hailed as the best Japanese maple for autumn colour, this reaches 15ft (4.5m). Leaves turn brilliant red in early autumn. 

‘Red Pygmy’ 

Narrow leaves of this vase-shaped tree are a filigree dark-red in spring, mellowing to golden yellow in autumn.