I am expanding a garden bed which is located just beyond the front porch (approximately 4 hours of afternoon sun) (a very urban home in a zone 5b). Instead of just perennials for this expansion...for interesting variety and texture I am thinking of including a Japanese Maple. However given the garden's proximity to the front of the home I would need this maple to be less 4 feet or maybe 4.5 feet in height with hopefully with reddish foliage. And now I need your experience...can you suggest some varieties of JM that satisfy these requirements? Thank you for your advice. (Of course if more information is required...just ask).
Do you want it weeping or upright? Regular or dissected leaves. Brandt's Dwarf, Englishtown, Skeeter's Broom, Carlis Corner and Beni hime come to mind. For dissectums, I would try perhaps Ebony, Arto, or Watnong. A threadleaf called Beni ubi gohan is also a possibility.
Thanks Kaitain for the post. I will look up each on line but all of these are (very) compact in stature i.e. less than 4 to 4.5 feet in height? I think weeping and either leaf type would be fine.
They are all smaller. There are very few JMs that small, but these are either that small or can all be kept that small with pruning. Remember, a plant never really stops growing until its dead. Just sayin...
If you can find one I'd suggest red filigree lace. Mine grows with the speed of an arthritic snail and never waivers from a dark purple colour.
Sharp's Pygmy? While during the growing season it is green, it turns a beautiful orange to red in season. Another possibility is Murasaki kiyohime, which is one of my favorite dwarfs but it spreads quite a bit. Again, this is green with red rimmed leaves and a beautiful small plant. Villa Taranto also comes to mind, with some regular trimming you can keep the height down a bit. Sorry, I don't have a great deal of knowledge regarding red dwarf maples, but thought I would throw a couple of alternative choices out there for you to take a look at.
If columnar growth is OK then maybe 'Englishtown'. Also 'Fireball' comes to mind as small and red. Another possible red disectum would be 'Beni kumo no su' and finally my slowest grower is Acer shirawasawanum (sp?) 'Kawaii' by far. Like previously mentioned, they grow forever though and you can prune, but only for so long.... Justin
I am still undecided...w/o pruning does VT grow slowly? Do some on-line research it seems this particular JM can still grow quite tall but maybe it is a bit of a moot issue if I will be 6 feet under before it reaches more than 5 feet ;). And it looks like it has an easily accessible shape that it could be encouraged to stay smaller.
My VT is about 8 years old, 12 feet tall & grows quickly. It's as upright growing as Seiryu and would look awful if I pruned it. VT wouldn't be my choice. My neighbour has an Ornatum that is 30 years old, she never lays a finger on it and it's about 5 ft tall & the size of a small car.
Another very slow growing red, almost black, cultivar I thought of is Acer palmatum 'Sherwood Elfin'. I have seen one 15 years old only 4 feet x 4 feet. My 7 year old potted one is only 2 ft x 2 ft which helped me think of another trick to slow their growth; plant the maple in the ground still in pot. Only slows them for a while though. Justin
