Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku'

Greetings fellow AP lovers.

Considering that we have had the worst weather this summer (weeks of plus 90 degrees F temps and even still quite warm for Mid Autumn), I am surprised that one of my beloved Coral barks has survived and coloured up like this. Enjoy a couple of pics I took this weekend.

Excuse the names but I could not be bothered changing them. The come direct from my camera.

Stephen

 

I have been growing one in a container for about 5 years in partial shade.I find it's spring leaf color and its red bark to be it's best time of show.I am getting ready to plant it in to the garden in full sun,I hope the sun won't hurt it's coloration.How dose your tree handle the sun and heat of you climate?

 

In No. Carolina, mine gets sun for about 2/3 of the day and is doing great!

 

Re: Sango Kaku pics.

My Acer Palmatum 'Sango kaku' this spring.

 

Re: Sango Kaku pics.

Hi MtnGato,

Your pictures has been taken one year ago.

Could you send some recent pictures to see the growth of young Sango kaku in one year ?

I have one that seems to be a slow grower and would like to compare to others.

Thank you

 

Well, in June, my Sango kaku looked like a slow grower (I think it was because I repotted it in March).

Now it seems it's really a fast grower since the new growth takes one meter in 6 month !

I like the golden fall leaves of this cultivar.

 

We usually don't get much of anything for fall colors. It's been a lot better this year.

This was a 10-gallon potted tree has now been in the ground for two summers. Even on the north side of this building, it burns some in the summer heat, especially those branches that get sun exposure. Never the less, the tree (and the roses) seem to like this particular site.

 

My Sango kaku one month later

 

sango kaku in falll

 

Here is one of my Sango kakus this fall. Leaf colors have not been great.
Regards,
Gomero

 

Hi, this is a five year old sangu that I have under a magnolia grandiflora, it has taken two nasty summers where the heat index was over 110! Had a showy crown of cherry-red leaves before it dropped them and left this.

 

Here are a few photos of my Sango Kaku budding

shiroi oni

 

The Sango Kaku has leafed out abit... here's an image.

 

hello,

this is my first spring with this sango kaku and it's a lot different than the one i had last year, which i've recently entrusted to friend.

i got it in early march because the color of the bark was so very vibrant, despite knowing it was probably because it had just arrived with a shipment of plants from further north where cooler temperatures had everything to do with it's hue.

it began leafing out in the prettiest shade of light green, and remained that way for nearly a month, before temperatures began rising into the 70's and the sunlight became far less obscured by the heavy marine layer that we've been plagued with for the majority of this year.

the edges then began turning a bright red and have remained this way for the past couple of weeks.

the leaves have also begun to orient themselves to point downward, which reminds me a lot of another tree i got last fall, which i'm still studying with anxious diligence as i suspect it has either verticillium or tight bark ( judging from how gray some portions of the bark are, and how accomplished an alarmist i am ).

i'm wondering if any one else's sango kaku is doing this. mine gets sun all day until 2 pm, and temperatures are just now remaining steadily in the mid to upper 70's during the day.

thanks for looking ! ^_^

n. musume

 

Center of the pictures is my big ole Sango kaku in late June this year. It receives full sun most of the day & is 25+ years old. What a delight to see it from the kitchen window all year! Note it's bigger than the dogwoods & taller than the 2 story house next door. Will try later for a photo showing glowing fall color but it's been so dry t may not "glow"
ginger

 

Hello all,
In spite of an abnormally hot & dry summer, this big guy is still the MOST glorious tree in the neighborhood...always is come fall.
Ginger

 

Here are some pictures of the young stems just before leaf-out here in the UK, March 2010. The twig colour at this time of year might be considered the defining feature of 'Sango kaku':

Here is the autumn colour I get here:

 

So the lady who owned the house before me bought a Sangu kaku from Home Depot. It was located in a raised bed near where they are currently replacing the septic drainfield. Although the tree's winter red isn't that spectacular for this cultivar, the tree is big enough and I like the shape well enough that I couldn't stand the idea of letting hubby cut it down. So I dug it up when he was at work. But I had to be really, really careful to not dig too deep as that could have damaged the eventual septic field. Even so, hubby about throttled me for risking the future drainfield site.

Anyway, the tree got transplanted last spring with a very shallow and not very wide root ball. We're talking maybe two feet deep by four feet wide. I've been keeping it watered (not too challenging considering the wet season) and happily, it is alive. Interestingly, it has been almost yellow the whole year. And now that the days have been sunnier it's really yellow. I'm going to anticipate this is from the stress. Or maybe it's from the mulch with bat guano. But if the tree happened to have this pretty coloration in future years, I would be a very happy camper.

Now for some comparisons. The Beni kawa I acquired in Spring has a true green leaf. But it has branches that are still a clear red. The limbs on this Sangu kaku have greened up almost entirely (as in 99%) for the growing season. And branches on my Japanese Sunrise have also faded (but not quite to green) for the growing season. So, too, have my yellow and red barked dogwoods. Which is consistent with my expectations.

 

I stumbled across an old photo from year's past in which this tree was in the distant background. I could tell from the surrounding plants that the picture was taken in summer. And the tree had a definite yellow/lime color. Don't know if I should expect that consistently into the future. But I would be very happy if that were to be the case.

Here is a photo taken today in sunshine.

 

Lovely tree there, winterhaven!

I'm glad you brought up the issue of notably yellower foliage than anticipated. I am a new and excited owner of a Sango Kaku I bought this past May. It was beautiful: lime green foliage contrasted against the bright coral bark. However sometime around July, the foliage started to get more yellow (still green though) and the tips of the leaves were getting burnt. Currently, my sango kaku has already started shedding a few leaves at the ends of the branches; I hope that isn't a sign of trouble as opposed to merely transplant stress. The colour of the foliage is similar to the one in your last year's photo. It's hard to tell from that photo, but did you similarily noticed any bare branches at the ends?

 

Thank you. And congratulations on your new baby, Squeezied.

This sounds troubling and a lot like sun/drought scorch. I'd make sure the tree is getting enough water.

As a matter of fact, my own tree shows burnt leaf edges and is dropping the occasional leaf. I have increased the frequency and depth of watering for it. And very shortly after the first deep watering I saw more lime tint in the center of the leaves as opposed to strict yellow.

For my tree, I felt it was important to increase the frequency as I know its root ball is miniscule and the deep roots are nonexistent (except for what may have grown between transplanting in March and now). I felt comfortable increasing both frequency and amount as I know the drainage in the spot is fantastic.

I also worry that perhaps my tree may be in soil that is too "hot." I've heard that slow release fertilizers increase their rate of release in warm weather (makes sense as heat generally increases the rate of chemical reactions). And I understand fertilizer burn can look similar to sun burn. I can't do much about what's already in the ground, so my thought is more water will create more dilution. So that's another incentive for me to increase the watering.

Of course, I still worry about over-watering and so I am alert for the shriveled, wrinkled leaves that I believe indicate oxygen starvation related to over-watering. If that were to happen, I would cut back on the amount of watering but increase the frequency and also augment the mycorrhiza population.

Good luck with your own tree. Let us know how

 

Just thought I'd give this cultivar some praise.Though mainly considered a winter attraction I've found it's autumn colours one of the most reliable,going from a nice bright orange into bright yellow....but also every year towards the end of summer my tree exhibits lovely pink/maroon hues long before the autumn change.Against the bright coral stems it truly glows at this time of year.I can only assume it's related to sun exposure as it's mainly on the most exposed leaves.

 

I'm 5b/borderline 6a (due to the lake effect as well as urbanization), but this last winter killed the Sango kaku down to the snow line. It was the only JM of several that suffered damage, despite the record-breaking cold.

On the chance that it wasn't truly dead, I potted it and let it sit for a while. Sure enough, it started sprouting about a month into summer. Lovely colors this fall.

 

I went to one of my local nurseries for some mulch and spied a beautiful 5' Sango Kaku on sale for half price. I couldn't resist.

 

my big ole Sango kaku in glowin fall color. It receives full sun most of the day & is 35+ years old & bigger than it was ever sposed to be:)