Hi. Thanks in advance to anyone who has a moment to lend an opinion. I have a site on my property on which I would like to install a new JM. Ideally the tree would grow to be 15-20 feet in height and not much more than 10-12 feet in width. I would really like a showy orange fall display, but am more interested in year-round appeal. The tree should be upright in form as well. The site is south-east facing and receives approx. 7 hours of sun in mid-summer (morning to early afternoon), it is a sheltered site with a fence behind as well as an exterior wall of the house. The site has slightly acidic soil and is on a small "hill" with good drainage. I want to install a 7-8' high tree as it is needed to provide some screening. I have 3 JM at the moment in my garden and they are all doing very well. Currently I am considering one of 2 cultivars and would like opinions on these or any other suggestions/experiences. Also, for anyone living in the Vancouver area, where is a good place to buy JMs? The 2 I am considering are: A. palmatum Irido Nishiki (versicolor) and A. palmatum Sanko Kaku.
A. palmatum Sango Kaku would look quite striking if u have a charcoal house or a contemporary house. In winter the bark will turn red and if u install a spotlight at the base of this tree, the bark will be an artichectural feature. I love the light green leaves in spring-time, so i would say, this is the short of tree that would give u a all-year round appeal. if i have the time, i will take a photo my neighbor's two sangokaku tree growing in full sun. my s.kaku tree is growing in a pot and the leaves always scroatches..whereas my neighbor one is growing in the ground and is able to tolerate the heat...i suppose it could be the wind condition and that he has a water system installed.
You might want to consider Eddisbury, which is rumored to tolerate sun (and wind) a little better than Sango kaku, It is also a tad smaller I believe. I don't have much experience with it yet as I've only just planted. What I can say is that the central lobe of the leaves is a bit more pronounced as are the slightly rounded serrations, which gives it a bit of a different look from SK. The winter wood appears a bit paler than SK but there is a fair deal of variation within SK specimens, so it's hard to say. I have been otherwise told that the winter wood of the two cultivars is identical. -E
For my experencie I vote for acer palmatum Fire Glow (a good selection of Giordano Girardelli ) with the good colors leaves ,dark red during in summer I have in my garden this acer and is very beautiful every seasons alex
'Oridono Nishiki' can be quite upright growing, at least when young. 'Sango Kaku' seems to have some problems with wilt, a nurserylady said it's particularly susceptible to root problems and poor drainage. If you like good orange fall colour you may want to consider Japanese maples 'Omurayama' or 'Hogyoku' .
