My Colorful Japanese Maple Woodland
This time of year, my grove of Japanese maple trees is aglow with autumn color - I hope you saw the video on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48.
Many of my Japanese maples are varieties of Acer palmatum - trees that have been cultivated in Japanese gardens for centuries. Over the last several years, I’ve planted many of these trees in one section of a shade garden not far from my chicken coops and vegetable garden. I just love them and always look forward to their gorgeous display every fall. These specimens provide countless variations in size, leaf shape, and color, creating a landscape of beauty and texture.
Enjoy these photos.
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- What a difference a couple of weeks make. This was my Japanese Maple Woodland earlier this month. The trees were still shades of green and purple-brown.
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- And this is my woodland now – filled with gorgeous, bright gold, orange, and red. During the active growing season, the maple tree produces large quantities of chlorophyll. Toward the end of the growing season, chlorophyll production slows and then stops all together. Without the active chlorophyll production, the red pigment in the leaves is exposed. Sunny days and chilly nights along with plenty of sun during summer and fall are the best combination for a good show of fall colors.
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- But those brilliant fall colors aren’t a guarantee. It really depends on the weather. Here in the Northeast, fall weather usually arrives in September, with temperatures cooling off rapidly at night even when the days are still warm. These cool nighttime temperatures trigger the leaf-changing process. Unusually warm early fall weather may even prevent the leaves from turning red. This is because the color changes occur with gradually cooling temperatures – not cold snaps.
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- Japanese maples are native to areas of Japan, Korea, China and Russia. In Japan, the maple is called the “autumn welcoming tree” and is planted in the western portion of gardens – the direction from which fall arrives there.
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- Japanese maples prefer dappled sun or part shade. I purposely planted them beneath larger trees in this area of the farm. The varying heights of these trees add a nice texture to the grove.
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- The best location is a sunny spot with afternoon shade. Red and variegated leaves need relief from the hot afternoon sun, but need the light to attain full color. Golden leaves reach this striking hue with dappled sun, and remain green in deep shade.
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- Japanese maples typically grow about one-foot per year for the first 50-years, but they can live to be more than a hundred.
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- Their forms can be weeping, rounded, dwarf, mounding, upright, or cascading. I have included as many different forms as possible in this grove.
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- Japanese maple trees are particularly suitable for borders and ornamental paths because their root systems are compact and not invasive. Through this woodland grove, they line both sides of the carriage road.
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- Any heavy pruning should be done in late winter before leaf buds begin to open. I prefer to prune all the Japanese maples myself. I cut out scraggly interior twigs and branches and leave the structural branches alone. Small, corrective cuts can be made any time of year.
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- Red leafed cultivars are the most popular, followed by green shrubs with deeply dissected leaves. The leaves in the Palmatum Group are most typical of the wild species. The leaf lobes are more divided, nearly to the leaf base.
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- Japanese maple leaves range from about an inch-and-a-half to four-inches long and wide with five, seven, or nine acutely pointed lobes.
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- Acer palmatum ‘Tamukeyama’ is a graceful, mounding, dwarf maple tree with waxy, deep red bark, and beautiful cascading branches. The foliage is deeply lobed with a beautiful purple-red color throughout the summer. The color turns a bright showy red in the fall.
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- Acer palmatum ‘Red Pygmy’ is a semi dwarf ribbon-leaf Acer palmatum. It has leaves that emerge vivid red and turn to dark red to purple in the summer, and returning to brilliant shades of red and orange in autumn.
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- This is ‘Emerald Lace’ – a fast-growing, deciduous small tree with deep emerald green, lacy foliage. ‘Emerald Lace’ features finely dissected leaves that emerge bright green in spring with red petioles that remain red throughout the season. Summer color lightens to light green with red highlights. ‘Emerald Lace’ has great fall colors that run yellow to orange and finish up with fiery red. Here, one can clearly see the changing leaf hues.
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- I love the bright yellow-gold color of this lace-leaf variety.
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- Acer palmatum ‘Winter Flame’ takes on a yellow, orange in autumn and then a fiery bright coral red in winter.
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- Acer palmatum ‘Hogyoku’ is rounded to broad-rounded, often with low branches. In autumn, colors include shades of yellow, bold red-purple and bronze.
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- Acer palmatum ‘Osakazuki’ is an excellent small specimen tree with gracefully branched stems and lovely, deeply lobed, bright green leaves that emerge olive-orange in spring, and turn a brilliant crimson red in the fall, holding the color for several weeks. This variety thrives in dappled shade of woodland settings.
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- Few trees are as beautiful as the Japanese maple. With more than a thousand varieties and cultivars including hybrids, the iconic Japanese maple tree is among the most versatile small trees for use in the landscape.
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- I love the contrast between the bright reds, yellows, and greens in this grove. The heavy leaf cover on the ground also enriches the soil and adds even more fall color. I know my dear baby sister, Laura, would have loved this grove – it is absolutely stunning during this time of year.
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