All About Japanese Maples - Weeping and Upright Varieties, Heights, Leaf Color Information

Summary

In this engaging video, Jim Putnam from HortTube delves into the enchanting world of Japanese Maples, highlighting both weeping and upright varieties. He describes the various heights, foliage colors, and growth habits, offering planting and care tips. Japanese Maples are versatile ornamental trees, thriving in different climates despite their slow growth. They are perfect for adding color and unique texture to gardens and are primarily known for their vibrant fall foliage. Jim emphasizes the importance of proper planting techniques, avoiding root rot, and managing pests and deer. With these insights, you’ll be ready to cultivate these beautiful, low-maintenance trees in your garden.

Highlights

• Discover the stunning variety of Japanese Maples with Jim! 🌿
• From purple to lime green leaves, these trees offer a spectrum of colors ✨
• Learn how to properly plant and care for these enchanting trees! 🌱
• Jim shares tips on avoiding root rot and managing pesky deer 🦌
• These maples boast beautiful foliage and require minimal pruning ✂️

Key Takeaways

• Japanese Maples come in diverse forms - from towering uprights to graceful weepers 🌳
• Foliage colors range from purple to lime green, with stunning fall displays 🍂
• Suitable for zones 5 to 8, but be cautious with certain varieties in zone 5 🌐
• Uprights can grow a foot yearly; Weeping types grow about 6 inches annually 📏
• Thriving best with some direct sunlight, Japanese Maples prefer partial shade ☀️

Overview

In the beautiful world of Japanese Maples, variety is the spice of life! Jim Putnam walks us through the charming differences between weeping and upright types, each with their own distinct height, foliage color, and growth rate. Whether you're drawn to the towering grandeur of an upright Maple or the delicate grace of a weeper, there's something for everyone.

These trees, revered for their ornamental value, also boast a palette of vivid foliage colors that vary from season to season. Jim highlights some captivating varieties, like the purple-leaved 'Crimson Queen' and the striking 'Peaches and Cream'. It's easy to lose yourself among the diversity and beauty these trees bring to a garden.

Keeping Japanese Maples thriving requires just a bit of know-how. Jim advises on suitable planting conditions, such as zone compatibility and sunlight preferences, while also highlighting essential care practices. With minimal pruning needed and a resilience to many pests, these stunning trees are a low-maintenance treasure for any garden enthusiast.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Japanese Maples The chapter 'Introduction to Japanese Maples' by Jim Putnam, introduces various types of Japanese maples, noting their diversity in shape, size, and foliage color. It mentions upright varieties that can grow 20 to 25 feet tall, exhibiting a range of foliage colors including purple, green, and lime green. Additionally, the chapter acknowledges the existence of weeping varieties.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Types and Varieties of Japanese Maples This chapter discusses the different types and varieties of Japanese Maples, including cut leaf or lace leaf varieties, which weep down to the ground, as well as gold, green, and purple foliage varieties. It also mentions the hardiness zones for Japanese Maples, which are typically zones 5 to 8, with some exceptions, such as certain gold foliage varieties that do better in zones 6A to 8B. Additionally, the chapter notes that Japanese Maples generally grow slowly, with upright varieties having slightly more growth.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Growing Conditions and Care This chapter discusses the growing conditions and care required for Japanese maples, focusing on their light and space preferences. The Weeping variety grows about 6 inches or less in a season, while other types grow up to a foot. These trees thrive best in part shade but require some direct sunlight for optimal leaf coloration. In zones closer to five, they can handle more sun, while in zones eight and nine, they need more shade with some direct light exposure. Primarily used as ornamental trees, the chapter emphasizes their aesthetic role in gardens.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Ornamental and Practical Uses The chapter discusses the ornamental and practical uses of certain types of trees, particularly focusing on their potential to become small shade trees over time. These trees are typically grown for their aesthetic qualities, such as foliage, bark color, or their weeping habit, and are noted for having significant winter interest. However, the chapter also cautions against using these trees as container plants in colder zones (like zones 5 or 6A) where prolonged freezing can occur, as this poses a risk to the trees.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Container Growing and Varieties This chapter discusses the hardiness of Japanese maples in containers and highlights the variety in foliage colors, heights, and sizes among different types. It introduces some popular varieties including 'Blood Good' known for its upright growth and purple foliage, and 'Coral Bark' and 'Seru', which feature unique characteristics like gold foliage with red edges.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Fall Foliage and Grafting The chapter discusses various varieties of Japanese maples, noting that there are numerous choices of Weeping varieties with different foliage colors such as green, purple (like Crimson Queen), and variegated types (like Peaches and Creams). These varieties also vary in foliage size and the ultimate size of the plant, providing a wide range of options for different needs.
• 03:30 - 04:30: Planting and Maintenance Tips The chapter titled 'Planting and Maintenance Tips' provides insights into the fall foliage characteristics of different plants, such as yellow, orange, and bright red foliage. It mentions the availability of instructional videos for planting shrubs and trees. The chapter highlights the simplicity of planting grafted trees, specifically Japanese maples, and shows a close-up example where the top of the tree is grafted onto a rootstock with a superior root system.
• 04:30 - 05:30: Watering and Fertilization This chapter discusses the proper techniques for planting and caring for Japanese maples. It emphasizes the importance of not covering the graft area with mulch when planting. The transcript explains that after planting, mulch should be pulled back from the base of the plant. It also mentions that Japanese maples become drought-tolerant once they are established.
• 05:30 - 06:30: Pruning and Pest Management The chapter discusses the importance of monitoring moisture levels when planting and maintaining plants. Specifically, it advises on watering techniques, such as letting the ground dry out between waterings and checking soil moisture by inserting a finger a couple of inches into the ground. Automated irrigation is not necessary. Additionally, it mentions that the best foliage typically appears on the newest growth of plants, regardless of their color variety.
• 06:30 - 07:00: Conclusion and Call to Action The chapter provides guidance on promoting growth in Japanese maples, specifically advising on the use of slow-release fertilizers for optimal development. It suggests minimal pruning for small, upright Japanese maples, only recommending the removal of any excessively long or unruly branches. For weeping varieties that tend to grow wide, selective limb trimming is advised to control their spread.

All About Japanese Maples - Weeping and Upright Varieties, Heights, Leaf Color Information Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 welcome to Hort tube my name is Jim putam and this is all about Japanese [Music] maples these are different varieties of weeping and upright Japanese maples Japanese maples come in all shapes and sizes we have upright varieties that can get 20 to 25 ft in height some of which have purple foliage some of them have green foliage some of them have pale green foliage or lime green foliage and then there's all the Weeping variety or
• 00:30 - 01:00 the cut leaf or lace Leaf varieties that weep down to the ground and then those you also have gold foliage varieties and green foliage varieties and purple foliage varieties Most Japanese maples are considered Hardy in zones 5 to8 there are some exceptions to that there are some gold foliage varieties that from what I understand do not do very well in zone 5 so they're going to be like 6A to 8B Japanese maples are all pretty much slow growing the upright ones will put on a little more grow in
• 01:00 - 01:30 time after they've been in the ground for a little while maybe a foot a year the Weeping variety is definitely 6 in or less in a single season Japanese maples would prefer part shade they do need some direct sun to keep the best coloration on the leaves the further north you live the further toward zone five you live the more sun they can tolerate as you get to zone eight and especially if you're trying them in zone 9 they're going to need to be in more shade but they are going to need some direct light to keep these foliage colors Japanese maples are primarily used as ornamental trees the larger
• 01:30 - 02:00 growing ones might turn into small shade trees over a very long period of time but most of them are just going to be used as ornamental trees grown for their foliage or the bark color or the Weeping habit uh most of them are also have a lot of winter interest so that's one of the other reasons that we use them they're great as container plants but probably not in zone five or 6A uh if the pots freeze solid for a prolonged period of time that would be an issue so
• 02:00 - 02:30 6B to 9A probably they're all going to be Hardy in containers there are lots of different types of Japanese maples different foliage colors different heights and sizes that the plants get uh this is blood good it's an upright variety with purple foliage very very common there's a lot of other upright purple varieties though that are worth taking a look at this is a coral bark Japanese maple here's an upright gold foliage variety that has red edges on the leaves called seru it's a very nice
• 02:30 - 03:00 variety then in the Weeping varieties we have green foliage ones like this VIIs the purple foliage like this Crimson Queen and then there's a variegated foliage one here called peaches and creams they're just dozens and dozens of varieties of Japanese maples in all different types of combinations of foliage color and foliage size and the ultimate size that the plant gets as well so just a lot to choose from in that regard and they
• 03:00 - 03:30 almost all get some sort of fantastic Fall Foliage some of them have yellow Fall Foliage some of them have orange Fall Foliage and some of them have bright red Fall Foliage I've included videos with planting instructions for shrubs and trees in the description of this video really not a lot to keep in mind with these in terms of planting they are grafted trees and I'll show you a closeup of that the top of the Japanese maple is actually attached to a variety that has a better root system
• 03:30 - 04:00 this variety was cut off and the top desirable piece was attached to that when you're planting we definitely want to make sure we never cover up this area where the graft is we don't want to mulch we don't want to cover anything that's not covered when you purchase it you can see on all of these it's fairly easy to make out where the graft is on these and just don't cover anything that's not covered when you purchase it Mount them up a little bit and after you mulch come back and pull the mulch away from the base of it Japanese maples are reasonably drought tolerant once they're established when you initially put them
• 04:00 - 04:30 in the ground you're going to want to keep a close eye on them drown the space around them and then let them dry out between waterings and that'll also be the case in the future you can check these in the late spring or early summer if you're in an area that gets normal rainfall and you haven't had rain for a little while and if if you put your finger down a couple inches and it's dry drown the space around it and then let it dry out again these don't need any kind of automated irrigation the best foliage on all these varieties whether it be a gold one or a burgundy colored one or a green one is on the newest
• 04:30 - 05:00 growth and you get more of that by fertilizing them in the spring any slow release fertilizer for trees or shrubs that'll last three to four months would be ideal on these since these Japanese maples are so slow growing there's not really a lot of pruning that needs to be done on them while they're small especially the upright ones if you get any crazy limbs that take off Above the Rest You might want to go ahead and remove those and if you're trying to control the width cuz some of these weeping varieties can get very wide over time you can take some of the limbs that kind of get out further away from the
• 05:00 - 05:30 plant than the rest off pretty much anytime you'd want to any general pruning you do on it probably right before they wake up in the spring uh but it's really no big deal to walk around and just take a limb off here or there anytime they're not a lot of pest on Japanese maples we'll get the occasional chewing insect they are susceptible to root rot if you put them in a space that stays wet between rains especially in the winter time while they're dormant if it's an area that stays very wet you could have that problem deer do love Maples of all types and they will do some damage to these they'll even rub on
• 05:30 - 06:00 them uh certain times of the year so keep that in mind if you have deer issue so what are you waiting for even you can grow the low maintenance upright or weeping Japanese maples thank you for watching my video and if it was helpful please hit the like button and subscribe to my channel for future videos also comment below with any questions you have about Japanese maples thanks for watching I