I need some info on japanese red maples. What I am finding is that this is an ornamental garden tree. But I also read that it gets to 20 feet in height. I want to plant this tree in my front yard for shade. I live on 40 acres in Florida so space is not an issue. I just need to know if this tree will survive here and will it make a nice shade tree? Thank YOu
Hi KCQH03, Which Japanese maples, if any, you can grow will depend on your hardiness zone. Most do best in zones 5, 6, 7 and 8. Here's a zip code zone finder. http://www.garden.org/zipzone/ This site has all kinds of helpful info on Japanese maples. You can click on 'Trees' on the left and then search by hardiness zone as well as sun conditions, which for you would be very important if you are in zone 9. They even show the leaf shape next to the cultivar descriptions. Do read about high and low grafts and all the great info here. http://www.mountainmaples.com/WS4D_Cookie=1.22.05_11,26,34_8/index.html Since this site you have written to is in Canada, you might do better to ask questions at these sites. If you post the same question on more then one forum, be sure to change the title of your post or their computer will think you are spamming and block you. Also read the FAQ's and instructions. When you register be sure to include your hardiness zone in your profile. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/maple/ http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/flgard/ One of the most knowledgeable folks I know when it comes to Japanese maples, is Mapleman. He hangs around at the HGTV forums. He lives in zone 6, but might be able to answer your specific questions. Try the 'General Gardening' catagory if you want to post a question to him. You can tell him that Newt sent you. http://boards.hgtv.com/4/OpenTopic?a=cfrm&s=1084078532&f=9774011632 Hope you can find one you like! Newt
I would like to clarify for any forum participants and readers that although this site (and UBC Botanical Garden) is based in Canada, it has an international remit, and we welcome participation from around the world. The web is a global communal space, and it ought to be embraced as such.
Hi Newt: Most of the members in these UBC forums are from Canada but there are several of us from other countries as well. Knowledge of Maples takes a lot of adjustments on our part as we all have learned what we know more so based on our locations. It is not easy sometimes to equate what works for me or for us here and how things may be different elsewhere, even where you are. Still, the basics of Maples growing are pretty much the same wherever we are located. It is the physical aspects of what we see that can confuse us from one area to another. It is not that Canada has a monopoly on the thinking in these forums and what makes these forums so attractive is that more and more people are registering from outside of Canada. At present there is no plant related online entity that can match the UBC forums in its overall scope for better learning a wide variety of plants. You will find more of an international flavor to this forum than at first meets the eye as you read up on some of the older posts in this Maple forum. Keep up the good work. In regards to this thread if would be helpful to some of us to know which red Maple is to be planted. Ultimate size can vary from 2 feet tall to up to 25 feet tall upon maturity. Then again growing a Japanese Maple in Florida should not be nearly as difficult as other areas will be such as upper British Columbia which can have some real cold that can be more harmful to the plants than anything Florida will have other than a hurricane or perhaps a tornado. Generally it takes time for a Japanese Maple to get up to the 20-25 feet in height. As far as a shade tree, well, we usually do not equate a Japanese Maple as being a shade tree per say but depending on the variety we can get some shade from the round headed shaped trees. As a front yard tree there is no better plant in the world than a good colored red Japanese Maple in my opinion. Jim
To Jim and Daniel, I would like to clarify that I do realize that this site is located in Canada and that there are folks from all over the world who come for advice. I respond on several international forums and always try and give information relative to where a person lives since the growing conditions can vary greatly. In an place such as Florida, the hardiness zones can range from 8a to 10b. Since Japanese maples don't do well in zones 9 and 10, and KCQHO3 didn't give their hardiness zone, I suggested that they inquire locally for growing information for this specific tree since they wanted to know if it would survive there. Hopefully I haven't offended anyone. Newt
