Acer palmatum 'Ukigumo'

I agree with you about pruning out the bad growth, I am just a reluctant pruner and wonder if I have anything to lose by observing this branch until fall and cutting it off then? I have already pinched out the growing tips of any shoots that are the reverted type, except for the ones like in my 5th photo where some new leaves at the end of the shoot look variegated.

 

You could have put it in a shady area and the white would have come back...

sun= pinkish green
shade=white

 

It is not only the loss of white but it is a change in shape of the leaf which was the problem. When the tree changes (reverts) whatever the leaf growth shape changes from being a leaf that curls downward to a flat type leaf which does not grow white in color. Vertually all of my trees are in pots and the one of the Ukigumo which completely changed was moved to full shade for a year and no white returned the next season. The largest of my ukigumos which changed leaves did get some new growth of white leaves near the main trunk but up at the top 10' tall it was all green leaves. STi, had you been my neighbor I would have gladly let you have these trees . It is not that they are not nice trees but they do not represent a quality example of a cultivar and I do not have the room for them. For this same reason many of the best growers have burn piles.

 

A few pictures of my Ukigumo, its only small but each year it looks better and better.

 

On the matter of cutting out green growth the tree above looked like this this before I cut it back.

 

Interesting D97x7, it looks like the pictures with the large green leaves are from a previous year and your pruning was entirely successful. What time of year did you trim out the reverted growth?

Btw, welcome to the forum, I enjoyed seeing your pictures.

 

Thanks for the welcome, I think it was about this time of the year, I'm not sure though. My main aim was to improve the shape as it was rather straggly. The green leaves from the year before were white when they grew back again but I thought it had been in the garden center for to long and was misshapen so I just went for it, I'm no expert.
Here's a pic march 2009 shortly before the chop, it seems I only took one last year so I don't have a before and after unfortunately
I am however very pleased with the result this year.

 

This tree was looking so wonderful (see the April pics). But then we trimmed a tree and whoops the spot got too much sun. I moved the tree into shade and it's coming back, SLOWLY. I should of moved it sooner. I just loved having that negative space behind it. Oh, well.

 

OK. So I blamed myself for my tree's ratty summer appearance. I assumed those white leaves were sensitive to sun and that was why they crisped. Since then, I have encountered conflicting information. First, Charlie mentioned his Ukigumo got more than a bit is sun and handled it fine. Further, I just saw an Oregon nursury growing a whole batch of mature Ukigumos in full, direct sun. I asked if this was their first year to have them in that location. Then I asked if they have ever had trouble with leaf burn. They answered no to both questions. Something to think about.

 

That's interesting winterhaven, I give mine lots of shade, perhaps it might grow a bit quicker if it had more sun?

5/1/2011

 

I just don't know. The batch I saw out in full OR sun were all six feet tall and above. So it may be that they are more sun tolerant with age. I'm thinking I will keep my little one in its protected location.

But the big one I got from Charlie (amazingmaples) I plan to put in a location where the top gets a shot of afternon sun. I'm not going to take it out of its pot and I will watch it closely. If it has a problem, I'll move it. If not I will plant it in the fall.

 

I think I'll leave mine where it is as I do like it there,I look forward to hearing from you again later in year to find out how it fared.

 

Well, my arborist advised me the spot we designated for the Ukigumo was not full sun at all, though I still think it gets a fair amount of light at different times during the day. So far, its going gangbusters. It seems like the happiest plant in the garden, and I don't see any signs of scorch (though maybe I just don't know what that looks like).

When we bought the tree, it was sitting in full sun at the nursery, so maybe its age (ten+ years) helps it withstand the light. As the other trees we planted around it mature, it should wind up more in the shade. The only thing is, it's definitely "greener" than whiter. But still very pretty. I will upload photo if I can figure out how,
Dabney

 

That certainly is green for an Ukigumo, nice looking tree though Dabney!

 

Thank you! I stare at it all the time and think the same!

 

I like the tre for its color but they do have an akward growing habit

 

i have a young Ukigumo on a path by my pond, planted in a small garden backing onto my deck. The spot is very sheltered and gets at best partial sun. All late day sun. It faces a sunnier spot ..,my pond whichh has a red dragon weaping over it. I have a butterfly around the side of my house, a waterfall maple in a small garden by the back dooor, an inaba shidare under a large maple in our front lawn garden and then out in the middle of the lawn a tamuke yama. Oh wait...an atropurpureum mixed in the woods beside my place. Owning a tree nursery has its benefits.....but alas no more room for anymore trees here. We plan on relocating so we have space to put up a large greenhouse, seedbeds, area for my young son, and many japanese gardens.

www.thehoneytreenursery.com

kev

 

Back to the sun shade exposure dilemma... Personally, I don't know how others put their Ukigumos in extended sun without killing them. I moved my large, potted one for TWO DAYS to a location where it got afternoon sun and the leaves crisped up horrifically. And the Ukigumo that almost died last year started having trouble after the spot started getting more sun. I'm discarding my hypothesis that it was an immature tree thing and going back to afternoon sun and Ukigumo (even in my northern climate) do not mix.

I have since given my large Ukigumo a thick layer of Booster Blend (compost + manure mixture) while simultaneously pulling the dirt away from the trunk flair. I have also moved it to a location in which it gets about four hours of morning sun and then ambient light. Now it has little pink baby leaves opening up. I'm crossing my fingers that it will be happy and healthy.

 

My Ukigumo is still my favorite, and my largest tree. When I first purchased it in summer of last year, I nearly killed it by setting it in the backyard in a spot with afternoon sun- I had to prune it quite a bit, and it looked like hell all summer. Needless to say, I am really pleased to see it flourishing. It gets morning sun until about 11 am, and light shade for the remainder of the day. It is even more beautiful then when I bought it. The individual variation in the leaves are just amazing.

 

Glad you were able to save this tree It's very interesting. I've had 3 Ukigumos for several years now and am impressed with their pattern of variegation. Most years each leaf is pretty uniformly white/cream background dotted with tiny green specks. But some years they look more like your tree with predominantly green lobes with a little white/cream while other lobes are mostly white/cream. Either way, it's a pretty special cultivar. My trees live in filtered sun and seem to do great in that sort of setting. At least in my garden, they do NOT seem to like a lot of direct sunlight. Best of luck.
mapledia

 

Thanks for the feedback Winterhaven, I'm definetley leaving mine in the dappled shade then.

 

keep mine in full shade...

 

Isn't this a great JM? Mine are in bright filtered light, and at least for me, they perform beautifully in my garden. Mine are all situated under a canopy of Madrones, and the white on the Ukigumos comes out beautifully and the green color splotches are brilliant. I especially like this tree when the sun is about to set, and with that angled light it does at that time look like its namesake: floating clouds.

 

I purchased an Ukigumo last fall and, while it seems to be growing well, I have yet to see much - if any - variegation on it. It is a young tree, a 1, maybe 2, year old graft at most. It was doing well this spring, so I decided to defoliate it to see if the new leaves would come in smaller. Some did, but others, as you can see from the picture, came in rather oddly to say the least. I know you can occasionally have leaves with fewer, or more, than the typical number of lobes for that particular cultivar, but only one???

It's currently receiving indirect sun until 10am, then mostly shade with some dappled sun the rest of the day. I know I also made the mistake(?) of fertilizing it regularly like I do with my other bonsai (relatively new to JM's so I'm learning as I go), so I'm hoping maybe next year I'll get some more/better variegation instead of just this green. Otherwise, to my untrained eye it does look like an Ukigumo... If anyone would care to chime in with suggestions, comments, etc, I'm all ears. :)

 

I have had trouble this year with the leaves burning off and some poor leaf growth while on other Ukigumo I have had no problems. I have had the problem on some of the tree but not all of the trees which came from the same grower.

The white coloration hass been good now some pink is showing up.