Japanese Maples

We had 3 or 4 of them in our yard, all different varieties. They all did fine in full sun. One was under the canopy of a trident maple for years, but we took the trident out and the Japanese maple under it did fine and got bigger with the increased space and sun.

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The most sun-tolerant cultivars are ‘Seiryu’ and ‘Sango Kaku,’ but the species Acer palmatum beats all the named cultivars for sun and heat tolerance.

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This grower has a lot of good info. He is in Dallas but his advice would apply to LA too.

LINK


You might also look at "Forest Pansy" Redbud for the maroon leaf color and it can take full sun or shade.

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Bloodgood is a pretty bulletproof variety for full sun in south louisiana.

I love the green variety, but those need filtered sun and shade.

I'm not a free form pool fan, but i like what you have going on. You must not have kids that will be chunking those rocks in your pool

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I do like the Bloodgood. I was admiring one at Clegg's over the weekend. I like the somewhat weeping form of it. There's a ton of varieties and I love almost all of them.

As far as kids and rocks. I already have rocked areas in the yard and those little bastards love throwing rocks. I occupied my eldest by giving him a hammer to sit behind my shed and crush rocks. He was in 8 year old heaven back there.

I took a trip a few weeks ago to All Seasons Nursery in Lafayette. They weren't leafed out yet, but they stock at least 20 varieties. I went specifically to buy a Thunderhead Japanese Black Pine they had in stock. (again part of the overall Japanese garden goal)



It won't be right up on the pool, but in the general vicinity to help privatize the pool area a bit.

got 8 in pots and another 7 in the ground around my house...my advice is as follows:

Bloodgood and Emporer 1 if upright, edge goes to bloodgood for South LA

Tamukeyama or Orangeola for weeping style...here is a tamukeyama:



If you have morning sun and afternoon shade, you should be fine. If blazing afternoon sun, you can try but leaves will probably fry in July/Aug.

Standard planting goes (1.5 times as wide as root ball) use acidic soil and add a shitload of half decomposted leaves/coffee grounds from under a low lying live oak.

Would not recommend putting it in the ground next to a pool, one cannonball and chlorine inundates and kills your tree.

If thats the case, use a planter - I recommend whiskey barrel with casters screwed in so you can move it around like this coral bark Ive got on my back porch now: :



Drill 6 1inch holes in the bottom, line with mesh then gravel about 1/2-3/4 high, then add the soil. Mulch 1 inch on the top with wood mulch.

Of them all, recommend in this order - bloodgood, tamukeyama, emperor, orangeola.

Beautiful trees with alot of character...all the best in your search.

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I do like the Bloodgood. I was admiring one at Clegg's over the weekend. I like the somewhat weeping form of it. There's a ton of varieties and I love almost all of them.

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think you might have the wrong one in mind, bloodgood is an upright tree, like a red maple.

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it was not the bloodgood, but one called Red Dragon

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Red dragon is another recommendation I was going to make

It will have the same form if you trim it...it may even be the one in the pick.

Plant it on the north or east side of your house...shade from noon on and you should be ok.

edit: I have one in a pot facing south and its done great the last 4 years...just dont want to give you bad advice. Leave it in the spot you want to plant it in the pot until this winter; that way youll know how its going to do

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My question is regarding potting it. Am I better served leaving it in the black plastic nursery pot until winter, or can I repot it into a slightly larger (and nicer) pot? I mulched it and it gets several deep waterings each week as needed. This is really about aesthetics.

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Sure you can do that this time of the year - you might want to score the outer edges of the rootball lightly before transferring it to the newer, slight larger pot if you find the rootball to be rootbound.

Though I didn’t post in your original thread, I wanted to alert you, and others, to a relatively new cultivar of Japanese maple named “Baton Rouge” that is very sun and heat tolerant. It was discovered near Houston. Difficult to find, mail order only. I have 1, a couple years old, it by far has the least amount of leaf scorching in summer of the sun and heat tolerant varieties I have. I’m trying to get a couple more when they become available. Attractive red bark, that stands out in winter.

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Thanks for costing me $150

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That was for a 5 gal size from Mr. Maples - the 1 gal size which is pretty much the majority of what they sell, are usually $35 + shipping. They’ll let you know when the 1 gal are available.

Pro tip: If and when you get the email of availability, don’t hesitate, and order it immediately, they might have only a dozen or so available, and I can guarantee you they’ll be sold out within a hour - I’ve learned that the hard way. All that said, knowing what I know now about “Baton Rouge”, I would pay $150 for a 5 gal size if it was available.

A couple others to look for from Mr. Maples that have good heat/sun tolerance when they become available are “Summer Gold” and “Hot Blonde”. Summer Gold will get a little leaf scorch in extreme heat of late summer (here in south LA), I have 2, can’t say that about “Hot Blonde” as I got it last fall and it hasn’t gone though a summer yet.

Planted a few this year in Texas, will see how they fare. Gorgeous trees.