Hi everyone My kitchen and living room give out to a small recess where I think i could plant a maple. Or is it too tight ? Do you have any idea of which upright variety could be best in such a situation ( small recess, 3 walls around the maple, always shady place ) Regards, Fabrice
In terms of space, I don't think that will be a problem at all. Look around in vertrees and this site for a true dwarf species and you should find plenty that will never outgrow that space or be easily trimmed back to meet your requirements. Given the shade requirements though, I would choose a dwarf where the form is the best feature rather than color. I would imagine trees with color as their best feature may be more light dependent and finicky in that spot. A good example for me has been Hupp's Dwarf (see photo gallery for examples). This grows stiffly upright, a few inches a year at most. For me, this plant is in a shady spot close to the foundation. It may not be growing much at all which is fine by me. Good Luck
In my area Acer palmatum 'Koto no ito' and Acer palmatum 'Red pygmy' seem to be quite happy in shade. They are both very narrow.
Choose one with bright red winter stems as that would look well with the aucuba. If not a Japanese maple then maybe a red-stemmed dogwood.
Properties here have that one big enough to set a small table and chairs beneath, with the typical dome- or parasol-like crown of a non-dwarf Japanese maple cultivar. A place in Seattle near a restaurant I frequent has one that forms a sort of tent over the public sidewalk.
Very pretty Alex! Lets see some autumn pictures of your entire hillside aceretum please, not just close ups! :) I want to get a feel for this obviously beautiful place. But Seiyru would really get too big for this space. I like both of JT1s suggestions, Koto no ito and Red Pygmy, although that much shade will cause a little loss of interest for almost any maple... Here's "something completely different": Acer rubescens Yakushima nishiki. A beautiful small upright variegated snakebark maple. Very pretty light green stems, speckled variegation that is more laid back than something like Red Flamingo. Seems to be trouble free, I've had one in a pot for 2 years and just put it into ground, but it has had no dieback at all (rubescens cultivars usually die back quite a bit for me). Here's a link http://www.esveld.nl/htmldiaen/a/acryni.php but I must say the picture of the stems does not do it justice. -E
Thanks. I think i Will choose koto no ito or Butterfly that I already have in container. Variegation could do well in that pool of stade.
If you plant 'Butterfly' in that spot you will have two variegated plants together, plus the walls around will be of similar coloration. You'd be much better off with a red-twigged or otherwise contrasting plant there.
grazie Emery!:) in this link there are some pics of some part of my aceretum https://picasaweb.google.com/114379215008907725456/Autunno2011#5682722452378819890
Wow alex66, what an amazing property. You have some very beautiful specimens along with some new introductions to the garden with great potential. A beautiful garden that will only get better with age and I like how the distant hills make a great backdrop. You are blessed to wake up to that every morning. Thank you for sharing! I feel like I went on holiday without leaving my leather recliner.
For a shady location I'd say forget about red twig forms. In my experience you don't get decent twig/bark colour without a fair bit of sun. That said, I agree with Ron that you probably don't want two variegated plants in one small area. A plain red leafed upright maplewould pick up on the red colour in the berries, creating a harmonius effect.
You have some very pretty trees! Are those pictures labeled anywhere? I'd like to know what some of them are. Very nice either way ;-)
