Japanese maple trees will astonish you with their presence and with more than one hundred varieties to choose from. Japanese maples are easily available in different trunk forms, ranging from single to multiple. The former are the best match for formal office building ambiance or Hotel and Resort surroundings. The later balance their looks to an informal setting.

Single trunked are known for their sober and mature looks for which you will find them in most office buildings while multi trunked are best suited for the home and casual environment. Undersized maples can become handy in the places where you are running out of space. If you want to purchase them, then you must consider factors like, the available space, and the nature of the site where you intend to place them including the desired color scheme when their colors change with the season.

These trees have height from 3 to 30 feet, which is enough range to accommodate them in many different places. The overall structures show mesmerizing harmony as the branches flow outward and remarkably bring to mind a semblance of clouds.

Japanese maples are a favorite among gardeners who practice the ancient art of Bonsai (pronounced: bones-eye) growing because of their natural adaptability to climate and environment.

Japanese maples otherwise known as Acer Palmatum are the local breed of China, Korea and obviously of Japan, from where these charming maples get part of their name because the leaves resemble the shape of the human palm and fingers.

Japanese maples proudly lie in the category of plants known for their seasons. How do we know the winter? By its chilling snow, by its icy landscapes, well winter is just not about the white color, it is about orange, red and yellow as well the elegant green flora exhibits the mentioned color changes in full vivid outburst.

On a chilling autumn evening a visit to a garden having these beautiful plants will amaze you at the fact that its sophisticated flowing leaves bear a resemblance to whirling flames.

Lush soil of acid or neutral nature is the most favored place where they like to bloom. Don’t worry if you have alkaline soil in your area; growing them in large pots will let you enjoy the enriched experience. As these plants have shallow root system, for this reason moisture gets top priority in their daily watering needs. This might sound like the plant cannot endure the dry soil which is not exactly the case. It can grow in un-favored conditions, but the downside is that it may not provide the same color changes for which it is known.

You should avoid planting these delicate trees in areas where they have to face the sun. It cannot stand the direct hot sunshine, and in many cases turns the foliage into green. If the sun is unavoidable in your area a shady spot can solve this problem and you can save this exotic and exciting species from burning. There are levels of burning, initially the color of leaves start to fade, this is the first indication that something is wrong with the plant. If this is ignored, the plant will get severely damaged over time.

As with every planting project, you should establish whether your location will satisfy the growing requirements of the desired plant. Climate and weather conditions may be a determining growth factor in your choice of plants.


 

Planting a Japanese maple tree requires the same steps you should take when embarking on any other project have chosen.

Get all the information you can about the item you’re going to be working on. In this case it’s a particular tree which may require certain cautionary procedures. You must determine whether your location and climate will support it.

The initial stage of planting a Japanese maple tree, whether individually or on a commercial scale, is a decisive moment for the life of plant. The chosen site for the plant either indoors or outside should be selected keeping in mind the sunlight, the flow of air and the condition of soil.

Assemble all of the tools you will need before starting. The digging of the site is the first step when you have made sure that the site is fulfilling all the necessary elements.

Digging involves certain steps that should be flowed in order to get the desirable results. Take the soil out of the ground noticing its condition and whether it will need to be fortified by adding materials to stimulate growth. The amount of soil to be removed from the ground usually depends upon the size and spread of the roots. But the hole you dig should be 2 to 3 times larger than the size of the root system. This is to accommodate the future expansion of the roots which need extra space. If this proportion is ignored at this stage then it is possible that the root system may die from being too compressed and/ or, if it survives, may intermingle with the neighboring trees.

If you are planting the tree indoors then you will need to go shopping for a pot or container large enough to accommodate the structure of roots that should be spread across the whole container, so that the plant will be able to easily manage its roots over the period of time. The roots are most sensitive part of the pant and need extra care and attention.

Think of the roots as a human brain, they control all the major functions of the plant including transportation of water throughout the plant so too much expansion of roots at this stage can cause them to lose control of the different sections of the plant.

Always try to place the plant in a container in the best possible way which usually means in the center of the container, this is a reminder because at this stage you can easily adjust the position of the plant which becomes quite difficult once the plant is fully established. (Note: Zen Buddhists consider the center of the container to be where God lives.) After doing this you can fill the rest of the container with the suitable soil.

The tree, most of the time comes in a bag made up of jute fabric, there is no need to remove it before putting the tree into the soil, and the reason behind this suggestion is that the jute fabric will disintegrate by itself. But to ensure that the roots will spread across easily you can remove the bag. If the bag is made up of any other un-dissolvable material then it should be certainly be removed.

Some of the larger trees are mostly available with baskets. Before planting the larger trees you must remove all the metallic objects attached with the baskets, but it is suggested not to remove the basket as this action can damage the root system that is securely placed inside the basket. One thing that should be taken in account at this stage is to ensure that the roots get easy access to the soil and this can be achieved by drilling or cutting some openings into the basket.

After planting the tree make sure to water the plant immediately so that it can recover all the moisture that is lost during the planting phase. You can also try making a hoop-ring around the tree in order to limit the supply of water only to the single tree, in most cases, without this hoop-ring the water will not reach properly to all areas of the tree’s root system.

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Lawrence Hoyle, CEO - Senior Landscape Designer

lhoyle@web-landscape-design-ideas.com

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