Thanks to everyone who offered advice last year in planting our Japanese Maple. It survived the winter! Lynette Ottawa
Looks to be nestling quite nicely into your garden. Don't JMs play nicely with hostas? Thanks for the update.
Thank you, paxi & maf. The hostas are lovely. There's a woodland garden between the gazebo/deck and the forest. Filled with hostas and ghost ferns. The potentilla in front of the JM was given to me by my father and I rescued it from being munched up by a leggy birch-leaf spirea. It got twisty in the tussle so looks very bonsai-ish. Nice balance with the river pebbles etc. I pruned out dead branches on the JM. I'm assuming it will stay at this height but fill out? Lynette
If left unstaked, it will add some height but more fill out as you describe. I don't have this tree myself, but can say from viewing some very mature specimens at the missouri botanical garden, that the tree can get surprisingly large. Basically, I think you can stake and prune gently to whatever form you wish over the years (or just leave be!) I am not sure when you took your picture, but it seems to be retaining it color quite well.
This picture was taken last week. It's been wet and humid here. Last Wednesday it hit 34 C. Yes, the colour is beautiful. I was relieved because when we planted it, it was not looking well and some of the lower leaves turned green (not dried out). One rogue branch wasn't covered over th ewinter and it survived under the snow cover! Lynette
another update on my beloved JM: It waltzed through the winter and leafed out early May. Then we were hit with several evenings of frost and cold days. Covered it (and the magnolia) every evening but the damp and cold were worrisome! Lost a few leaves to frostbite and it drooped severely until last week. May 24, 2010: It's doing fine! Lynette
