Thread originally started by Gomero, but it was deleted by the software when I removed the original post. This seems like a bug with the software. -- Daniel Well now that we have more time I'll start this thread again. Companion plants for young maples may not be the same as for adult maples. I personally do not like ground covers since they interfere with the yearly mulching. I tend to look for bushes and large perennials that display their raison d'être when maples are 'dormant' (i.e.: mostly summer). Small to medium Hydrangeas provide a large pool of choices. Some grasses bring interesting contrast to japanese maples. What are your choices? Kind regards, Gomero
Depends on the maple. For Acer circinnatum, old growth Picea sitchensis, and everything draped in Usnea For Acer palmatum, mature Cryptomeria japonica and Abies firma, etc.
I believe that plant combinations is a matter of personal taste. It is true that there are choices that are regarded by many people as 'correct', and those can be found in the books. The reason why I started the thread is to know of different experiences from other people. I really meant companion plants to Japanese maples, and more particularly those that are smaller than 3-4 m. Dwarf conifers, as Michael F. points out, are widely used with them but that requires a kind of setting where sunshine abounds. My Japanese maples form the understory of large oaks and, with some exceptions (like for example Cephalotaxus harringtonii ' Prostrata' or the Tsuga cultivars) conifers do not like the shade. I have tried, to my satisfaction, small hydrangeas, like the 'You and Me' series which are very floriferous and long-blooming. The shrub reaches just 2 ft high and 3 feet wide. Or the H.Macrophylla ‘Setsuka gae’ (less than 3 ft high.). They combine well with maples that, after a fiery spring display, arer kind of a dull green during the summer Regards Gomero
I was actually meaning non-dwarf conifers, like 80m tall, 4m diameter Picea sitchensis, with some maples in the understorey . . . :-)
Under some of our Japanese maples we grow a variety of dwarf rhododendrons, some shade tolerant dwarf conifers, and perennials like Hellebores, mianthemum (false lily of the valley- pretty aggressive...) evergreen ferns (polysticum) and trilliums. We also have one large Maple, Inazuma, which is underplanted with Cornus canadensis and erythroniums, which bloom just as the maple is leafing out.
Gomero, The list is long, but where there is dappled light or half day sun, we have found the dwarf hemlocks work well; also if it is not too shady, dwarf balsam fir and some of the white variegated cedars are good. In deep shade, some of the taxus cultivars should work, though I haven't tried them. Here are a few pics from a conifer talk I did-
Take a look at hollies for use in areas with shade. I like using evergreens as a back drop for maples and am using hollies in areas that have too much shade for most of the conifers. An advantage is that they add color from the berries after the maple leaves are gone. Dale
Japanese hollies work well, but many of the English hollies are now considered pests here in the Pacific Northwest as the birds spread their seed into the lowland forests. In shadier areas of our garden we use evergreen ferns and dwarf and semi-dwarf rhododendrons; we especially like rhodies with silvery new growth like 'Golfer'. I have to admit that many of the shadier areas under our maples are reserved for trilliums and erythroniums.
This is not the best quality photo taken on November 29, 2005 but it serves to show what not to do and what can be done with a few Maples being the primary landscape plants along with some companion plants. I used several Maples to be accent plants in this setting with the 'Sherwood Flame' being the focal point. The 'Kocho nishiki', aka the 'Oregon Butterfly' I referenced in the 'Butterfly' thread in the Maple photo gallery, is only seen as green trunks but it does have enough room for it planted against the North wall. My mistake was working in the Pink Dogwood that had to grow up taller than it and I wanted it to for it to get ample light. It gets chewed up in the Summer but it "sets flower buds like it is going out of style". Along the West wall is a 'Shibori Egao' Camellia flanked by a 'Polo', 'Chojuho', ' Kinpai' and 'Kimi no hana' Azaleas. Not pictured along the West wall is a 'Double Rainbow' Camellia. To the center right next to the 'Jiro shidare' Maple is a Nandina filamentosa (Nandina domestica 'Filamentosa') and next to the Nandina is one of two clumps of Black Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Arabicus'). The 'Storm Cloud' and the 'Ella Mae' Agapanthus along the North wall next to the 'Otto's Dissectum' are not shown in the photo. The Gardenia is the 'Kleim's Hardy' and there are two of them in this setting, only one is visible and a volunteer Privet that will be coming out of the ground soon. For this setting morning light is ample for these plants. The only harm done other than to the Dogwood is the lack of morning light for the 'Ornatum' which can show what happens to this red dissectum in the Fall color when it gets too shaded. What not to do is real simple, this setting is planted too heavy, way too cluttered but the Maples for the most part are doing what I wanted from them. Jim
Jim, Thank you for sharing your experiences. When a setting gets cluttered, which inevitably happens to me all the time, I simply move some of the plants to another location or I make friends happy. Silver Creek, great pictures!. I really like your erythroniums. Is your Cedrus deodara 'Silver mist' in shade? I fully agree that hollies are definitely an option in deep shade, I am already using them. Another plants I like in shady spots under acers are the helleborus and skimmias. I find the variegated cultivars tough to combine, my preference in this case is for only green plants with off season interest, like for example the skimmias, hollies and, of course, ferns. Regards, Gomero
Gomero- the photo I posted of Cedrus deodara 'Silver Mist' is a plant that is in part shade, perhaps 4-5 hours in summer but less in winter. We have a younger plant of Cedrus deodara 'White Imp' and one of 'Snow Sprite' in deeper shade (still gets some direct sun-2-3 hours in summer), but had to move a 'Snow Sprite' from a no sun site as it began to get open and lose needles. We do have an old Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Nestoides' and several Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Minima' in a site that gets no direct sun ever and it does quite well. I also like Pachystima mersinites as a small evergreen in deep shade.
I really like using dwarf hemlocks with maples, but I sure can't find a source for anything but the most common ones. Anyone have any sources they use for hemlocks?
Hello kaydye, I'd prefer that discussions about sourcing plants take place in the Sourcing Plants forum - you can start a new discussion there and then post a link to it from this thread, if you like.
Gomero, Interesting, do you have to water the hydrangeas much or use a heavy mulch? The maple leaves need to be removed from dwarf conifers or they suffer. The dwarf maples and dwarf conifers seem best suited for companion planting here.
In my climate in summertime I have to water all my plants and not only hydrangeas. And yes the whole garden is heavily mulched to save water and improve the (heavy clay) soil. Since you pulled up this interesting thread, I'd like to share a bold combination: A. palmatum 'Yezo Nishiki' and Miscanthus sinensis 'Variegatus'. The picture was taken today at 20:30 with the setting sun behind. Gomero
Gomero, Beautiful combination...especially with the backlighting. I am currently in love with the Hakonachloa sp. It's a lovely, wispy small (one foot) grass for shady areas and is available in variegated green with white, variegated green with yellow and a fantastic solid chartreuse which is a knockout planted under red varieties. Some of the Carex are nice too...'Island Brocade' or maybe 'Sparkler' with the larger leafed cultivars. I also like the Ligularias which provide a magnificent bold contrast to the finer maples. Ginger
Very nice pic and very nice maple. Like the leaf and stem colours and habit, will keep that one in mind and hope to see it available in the nurseries here sometime. Generally high rainfall area here, so no watering is done once the plants are established, some mulching. Like the combination idea of hydrangeas and maples, will try a few to experiment.. Have been growing the hydrangeas in the wetter areas here. Some interesting new introductions, to us, of hydrangeas originating in France and Japan are becoming available here recently. Have seen patches of the little hardy, fall, winter, and spring blooming cyclamen growing well under small leaved upright Japanese maples. Seemed to work well with the cyclamen not minding root competition, being summer dormant, receiving a mulch from the falling maple leaves and subsequently more moisture when coming out of dormancy to grow in the cooler temperatures. One combination of a clematis, a young 'Polish Spirit', growing over a 7' A. p. 'Ukigumo' comes to mind. Actually a C.viticella type growing over a Hydrangea paniculata 'Brussels Lace' looked alright, too.
