Does anyone know of any Japanese maples that have a large leaf but stay fairly small? I love the Japonicums and already have Vitifolium which I think has one of the larger leaves but it grows pretty large. I'd love to add some more large leave trees to contrast with all the tiny leaved cultivars I have but it doesn't seem like there is too many options. I was going to maybe try O'isami but would like some more choices to look into. I'm looking for red or green, color doesn't matter, just leaf form. If you have any ideas please share.
Don't know that it's as large as you might want, but Iijima sunago seems to have larger leaves than a lot of palmatums, and I think it's supposed to stay on the smaller size. Also, Esk Sunset (or Eskimo Sunset), at least from pictures, has larger leaves I think, and I'm pretty sure it tops out around 8' or so. Plus, you can't beat the colors.
I actually have both of those already but I have not seen Iijima sunago leaved out yet so now I'm even more excited to see it this spring. I didn't realize it had any larger leaf than the rest of the palmatums. I love my Esk Sunset and it does have a larger leaf but for some reason I don't consider it a "japanese maple" lol. I do have it planted next to a garnet for the nice color & leaf contrast though. It does work nice in my opinion. Thanks for the suggestions!
Acer palmatum 'Osakazuki' has a large leaf and it's a very slow grower in my area. It takes a very long time to reach 8' here and is easily kept under control. Yes, it's capable of growing beyond 8' but in the grand scheme of things, very few AP will stay under 8' over the life of the tree. Acer palmatum 'Iijima sunago' has large chocolate-purple leaves and it is very dense, which in my book means it's easy to keep it the size you want without destroying the natural appearance of the tree. Since you have it already, you many consider using it once you see it in spring. Here is a link to some pics: http://www.buchholznursery.com/plant_page.html?id=bf287
My Osakazuki only had 1 or 2 larger leaves this year so I was a little dissapointed but it's a young tree so maybe once it establishes a little more it will add a better effect. I was thinking it was going to get pretty large though but I'm sure it won't get as large as I was thinking because like you, I'm not in the most Japanese maple friendly area so I'm sure it will be a slow grower here as well. Does anyone have experience with 'Giant moon"? Based off the name I'm assuming it should have some pretty large leaves but I'm having a hard time finding much info on it. Another one I need to research a little more is 'Ed Woods 1'. I've noticed there seems to be a 'Woods 2' as well, anyone know which one has larger leaves?
It's a Buchholz introduction. I saw a large one (aprox 7') a couple years ago and I remember the leaves being large for a japonicum (which is a leaf that is usually on the larger size to begin with). Here is a link to Buchholz if you didn't already check it out. http://www.buchholznursery.com/plant_page.html?id=d8904
Forgot to add to my last post above, but here is a link to the floral wonder blog. It features Acer japonicum 'Giant Moon' and Acer japonicum 'Aki hi' both have very large leaves. http://florawonder.blogspot.com/sea...00-07:00&max-results=7&start=14&by-date=false
Great link JT, two new ones for me. It's always hard to tell the leaf size in pictures but that hand comparison of 'Aki hi' is perfect. That leaf is awesome! I'm going to look into 'Yama kage' as well. Thank you!
I know this tree gets a little larger but do any of you have 'Utsu semi'? How large are the leaves? It looks to have a nice size leaf and a really cool form from the pictures I've seen.
Love the Flora Wonder blog! I have had Giant Moon for about 3-4 years and it has been a slow grower. It's under a meter, kind of spread out, however its first year deer ate it, then something broke off the leader the second year. Amazingly, it is looking pretty good this winter and since we cut two hickory trees near it this fall, it will get a lot more sun in 2013. It should make some good growth this year. I loved the picture of it, as far as the size of the leaf. My leaves haven't been as large, but it's probably maturity and/or stress.
Ah, the deer ate it. Sorry to hear this sad tale, which sounds horribly familiar... I discovered just yesterday a Saoshika that has had lots of bud ends clipped off by a Roe deer. I grow Ustu semi. It's been in the ground for 4 years so is maybe not fully established. It did well last year but suffered from some drought stress the previous year (usually a sign of a poorly established root system in my garden). Anyway I'd describe the leaves as medium, not comparable with the larger leafed Japonicums or Shirasasawanums. It certainly is slow growing for now.
It wouldn't be so bad if they knew a little something about pruning. Like, don't "prune" a newly planted tree, don't prune all on one side, don't rub your antlers on the tree when you're pruning, stuff like that:) Kay
They do all that here too; it must be an international conspiracy! Maybe we should just put up some signs with instructions? ;)
I've been worried about this too. I regularly spot deer at the back of my property but so far they have not come near the house lately. They did a couple times when we first moved in but now I think my 3 Boxers scare them back a little. Good thing too because I was ready to have bambi for dinner when I found half the bark rubbed off a newly planted snake bark maple. I can't imagine how mad I'd be if they ate one of my JMs. I'm pretty sure the rifle would be comming out. I like having them around because I love nature and wildlife but I also love venison meat for the year so it wouldn't take much to push me over the edge lol.
I feel your pain when it comes to the deer! I am always fighting that battle. Almost makes me glad for the blizzard we just had because the deer tend to hide out out until the snow melts down a good bit. Still haven't seen any footprints on the property since last week, but I'm not holding my breath.
