I have a beautiful Shin deshojo and am looking for a dwarf (3-4') to plant next to it, a maple that will complement Shin deshojo in the spring. Behind the dwarf is the climbing rose 'New Dawn' with light pink flowers.The space is quite sunny with a bit of late afternoon shade. I'd appreciate any suggestions.
If you are open to pruning to keep it your desired size of 3-4', consider something yellow like Acer shirasawanum 'Jordan' or Acer palmatum 'Summer Gold'. I think yellow goes well with the Spring color of Shin deshojo and will allow the color of the rose to pop out. Consider placing a blue evergreen with the combination like Abies koreana 'Horstmann's Silberlocke' or Abies pinsapo 'Horstmann'. If you need something lower or smaller in the blue family then look at juniperus horizontalis blue pygmy. If the two Acer's I suggested are too big, then consider something very small like Acer palmatum 'Kiyo hime'. The mounding form of Kiyo hime may compliment Shin deshojo well. I think the two above will give a longer lasting yellow color, but the size may become an issue in the very long term depending on the site constraints. Hope this helps. Take care, JT
Thanks, JT. I really like your suggestion of Kiyohime. It would look better with the climbing rose, at least through my eyes, and I was imagining something with green summer foliage. I'm not as crazy about the yellow cultivars. Thanks again.
Here are some of my photos of the spring leaves emerging from last year. http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=65934757@N06&q=hime It still has a hint of soft yellow /green, but it will be more green next month. Mine is kind of pathetic, it's a small young graft in a pot, but I have seen some beautiful mounding forms that would be perfect for the landscape. Here is a photo of it from today.
Kiyohime is a beautiful maple but may need some pruning to achieve the desired form, depending on what the desired form is. It seems to totally lack any apical dominance, even more so than the dissectums, and in-ground examples I have seen in arboreta, which are likely unpruned, reach a width of more than six feet by the time they are two feet tall.
Thanks, Maf. The more I read about Kiyohime the more I realize it may not be the right choice for this spot because of its width. I saw one yesterday at a local nursery. It was about 4' tall with a wider spread and had clearly been carefully trained. The growth was nearly horizontal. It was way beyond my budget, but beautiful nonetheless. I'm looking for a dwarf 3-4' tall and not more than 3' in width. Thanks again for your reply.
It would take a very long time for Acer palmatum 'Kiyo hime' to get that large in our area (I have seen the pictures of the rare wide monster online). The one you found at the nursery was probably very old or it was grown in Oregon for a while before making it to NJ. Another possibility would be Acer palmatum 'Koto maru'. Here is a nice picture of one online that shows how well it would pair with a combination (like Shin deshojo) and a blue colored evergreen. http://s47.photobucket.com/user/Silentthundr/media/Conifers C/DSCN7468_zps9966052e.jpg.html Here is the same tree from a different angle that shows a rose bush too (just not quite the same color as yours). http://s479.photobucket.com/user/Silentthundr/media/Conifers C/DSCN7466_zpscf27aeb1.jpg.html It's not going to be a true yellow, but it maybe close enough. Here is a chart that you may find helpful, it gives an estimated size, spring, summer, and fall color. It may help in narrowing down the possibilities. http://www.maplestoneornamentals.com/reference_chart.cfm I think most of what's out there will take some regular maintenance pruning to keep it under 3 to 4 feet long term.
JT, Thanks for all the suggestions and for the chart. Koto maru sounds like a good possibility. Have you ever grown Caperci Dwarf? Thanks also for the chart and for your helpful suggestions on another thread about keeping trees from growing too large for a given space: "One is to allow a couple leaf pairs to develop in the spring and then pinch out the leaf embryo as it develops between the second leaf pair. This stops growth, without promoting new growth like pruning. Another technique is to plan a couple seasons ahead and remove one out of two leaf pairs (on every pair) on a branch that is destin to outgrow the space. By doing this a couple seasons before the branch is a problem, allows more lite into the branch. The idea is to promote back budding and new branching closer to the trunk. As those branches develop, the original branch can be cut back without creating a big void in the tree. The new branches will have developed enough to keep balance in the tree."
