Well the wife talked me into ordering a plant before I figured out where to plant it. Now the lil fella has shown up and I'm still debating. About my best idea of a planting spot so far: Its about 15 feet (5 meters) off my driveway (for scale in the pic its 211 feet (70 meters) from the street to my house). I will build a small wire fence around it to keep the rabbits and mower away for a year or two. The hill continues behind my house for some distance causing the lowest part of the yard to retain some moisture. Where I'm planning on planting the Higasayama is out of the damp spot. The soil in my front yard is fairly deep with clay underneath. My septic field is probably 40 - 50 feet (15 meters) uphill from the spot. The big oak is almost directly east of the planting spot. I'm thinking the Higasayama will be in sun between 11am and 6pm most of the summer when shade from a line of trees across the street comes over it. I've read everything from sun to part shade for Higasayama depending on location. MOBOT says I should be careful in St. Louis if I put it in full sun if I let it dry out. Any personal experience? Do I need to hide it next to my house someplace? Will this dainty leafed little fella just scorch? About the tree Its a 3ft potted fella from a fairly large mail order nursery in Oregon. Its partially leafed out, I'd guess a week or two ahead of maples I have in the ground. Is this cause for concern this year if temperatures are staying above freezing right now? The latest I recall a frost is Apr6. I will have that 2 foot wire fence up which allows me to cover the fella with only a little bending. Think it would be happier in its pot for two weeks just in case? Thanks in advance for reading all this.
With this cultivar I strongly recommend keeping it in its pot and moving it around until you find a spot that works. I've had my own Higasayama in 5 locations so far. The best coloring it showed was in the second location - it looked great. But it was in a view line and had to be moved. In the Pacific Northwest we don't get the unrelenting sun others get. Further, my property has a lot of shade. So I don't know if my locations will translate. But, for me, the best coloring I got from this plant was when it was in bright morning to mid-day full sun and then filtered light and then full shade for the afternoon. The leaves were almost crispy but looked beautiful. So far, no other location has worked.
