How to Select Your Japanese Maple Tree

How to Select your Japanese Maple Tree

Selecting the proper Japanese maple Tree for your garden or landscape depends on 5 factors: hardiness, location sun or shade, mature size, type lace leaf or palmatum and preferred leaf color.

Tip 1 Choose a variety that is rated to be cold hardy in your zone. If you are planting it in a pot or container above ground choose a variety that is at least two cold zones hardier than your zone.

Tip 2 Determine how large you can allow your tree to grow. With a little pruning once or twice a year Japanese Maples are very easy to maintain a specific size. But if you prefer to not prune, you will want to choose a variety that will naturally only grow to the size that will work in the allotted space both height and width.

Tip 3 Where are going to plant it, sun or shade? Most Japanese Maples prefer morning sun and afternoon shade.  Planting on the east side of a fence or building provides the best environment for Japanese Maples. Avoid all day full sun locations especially in southern states. Japanese Maples can live in that environment, but usually leaf scorch will occur when temperatures rise above 90 degrees and the sun is shining directly on them.

Tip 4 Japanese Maples generally come in 2 types:
Dissectum (aka weeping or lace leaf) or Palmatum (aka upright or standard).
Most common to the trade are the lace leaf types, most have red or purple leaves with a few green leafed varieties. I'm not aware of any variegated lace leaf varieties.

Palmatum types are about 60% red or purple leafed, 30% green leafed and 10% other (variegated, gold, multi-colored) . Most lace leaf types are weeping varieties, although a few upright lace leafs do exist. Inaba Shidare is a good upright red lace leaf and Seiryu is a good green upright variety.

One of the most important factors when considering which type to grow is sun exposure. The lace leaf types typically cannot tolerate as much direct sun and wind as palmatum types. The leaves are much more delicate do to the thickness of the leaf and the width of the leaf lobes. Planting a lace leaf Japanese Maple in full sun is not advised and another selection should be considered.

The upright red type varieties that are well known for their ability to tolerate sunnier locations are Bloodgood and Emperor 1.
Osakazuki and Omure yama are good green uprights with great fall color. Red Select and Ever Red are said to be the more tolerant to direct sun and Virdis and Green Mist are good green varieties for sunnier locations. Please keep in mind the mentioned varieties are more tolerant of sunnier locations, but still may show burning on the leaf edges. 

Tip 5 What leaf color do you prefer? red, green or variegated. Green leafed varieties can tolerate sunnier and hotter exposure than red leafed or variegated varieties. Green leafed varieties grow faster and larger. Variegated varieties prefer shady locations.

Use the chart below to select a Japanese Maple Tree suited to your requirements.

If you would like to learn more or purchase a specific variety of Japanese maple click the variety link to our

Leaves and Petals Japanese Maple Collection

                                      JAPANESE  MAPLE SELECTION CHART

HARDINESS ZONE	LEAF COLOR	TYPE	VARIETY	HEIGHT FEET	SPREAD FEET
4-8	Red	dissectum (Laceleaf)	Inaba shidare	10	8
4-9	Red	dissectum (Laceleaf)	Tamukeyama	8	8
5-8	Green	dissectum (Laceleaf)	Waterfall	10	12
5-8	Green	dissectum (Laceleaf)	Virdis	10	12
5-8	Green	japonicum	Aconitifolium Maiku-jaku	10	5
5-8	Green	japonicum	Green Cascade	22	18
5-8	Green	palmatum	Shu Shidare	3	6
5-8	Green	palmatum	Green Mist	4	4
5-8	Green	palmatum	Murasaki Kiyohime	4	6
5-8	Green	palmatum	Green Hornet	5	5
5-8	Green	palmatum	Tiger Rose	6	4
5-8	Green	palmatum	Winter Flame	6	3
5-8	Green	palmatum	Rugose	7	4
5-8	Green	palmatum	Ao shime no uchi	8	4
5-8	Green	palmatum	Hogyoku	8	4
5-8	Green	palmatum	Kagiri Nishiki	8	4
5-8	Green	palmatum	Scolopendrifolium	8	4
5-8	Green	palmatum	Shigarami	8	4
5-8	Green	palmatum	Green Lace	12	4
5-8	Green	palmatum	Osakazuki	20	20
5-8	Green	palmatum	Sango Kaku	25	22
5-8	Green	palmatum	Green	25	25
5-8	Red	dissectum (Laceleaf)	Garnet	5	6
5-8	Red	dissectum (Laceleaf)	Crimson Queen	10	12
5-8	Red	dissectum (Laceleaf)	Red Dragon	10	12
5-8	Red	palmatum	Octopus	5	6
5-8	Red	palmatum	Skeeters Broom	5	3
5-8	Red	palmatum	Tsukushigata	6	4
5-8	Red	palmatum	Red Cloud	8	8
5-8	Red	palmatum	Pixie	8	4
5-8	Red	palmatum	Hubb's Red Willow	8	4
5-8	Red	palmatum	Iijima Sunago	8	4
5-8	Red	palmatum	Red Emperor	10	6
5-8	Red	palmatum	Beni Otake	12	8
5-8	Red	palmatum	Burgundy Lace	12	10
5-8	Red	palmatum	Hefner's Red	12	5
5-8	Red	palmatum	Trompenburg	15	15
5-8	Red	palmatum	Bloodgood	20	20
5-8	Red	palmatum	Oshio Bene	20	15
5-8	Red	palmatum	Atro-purpureum	25	25
5-8	Red	palmatum	atro-purpureum (Small Pots)	25	25
5-8	Red	palmatum	Atro-purpureum ((SEED))	25	25
5-8	Red	palmatum	Atro-purpureum	25	25
5-8	Variegated	palmatum	First Ghost	6	3
5-8	Variegated	palmatum	Peaches & Cream	6	6
5-8	Variegated	palmatum	Amber Ghost	8	8
5-8	Variegated	palmatum	Grandma Ghost	8	4
5-8	Variegated	palmatum	Sagara Nishiki	9	6
5-8	Variegated	palmatum	Butterfly	15	8
5-8	Variegated	palmatum	Shirazz	15	12
5-8	Variegated	palmatum	Sister Ghost	6	4
5-8	Variegated	palmatum	Geisha	2	3
5-9	Green	palmatum	Glowing Embers	20	20
5-9	Red	dissectum (Laceleaf)	Ever Red	6	10
5-9	Red	dissectum (Laceleaf)	Lion Heart	10	6
5-9	Red	palmatum	Ruby Stars	3	2
5-9	Red	palmatum	Red Sentinel	8	12
5-9	Red	palmatum	Purple Ghost	12	5
5-9	Red	palmatum	Twisted Japanese red maple Tree	15	12
6-8	Green	dissectum (Laceleaf)	Seiryu	12	6
6-8	Green	palmatum	Omure yama	10	15
6-8	Red	dissectum (Laceleaf)	Red Select	6	10
6-8	Red	dissectum (Laceleaf)	Orangeola	8	8
6-8	Red	palmatum	Shishigashira	6	4
6-8	Red	palmatum	Shaina	6	4
6-8	Red	palmatum	Shishio Improved	10	4
6-8	Red	palmatum	Fireglow	15	15
6-8	Red	palmatum	Emperor I	20	15
6-8	Red	palmatum	Boskoop Glory	15	10
6-8	Red	palmatum	Moonfire	14	15
6-8	Variegated	palmatum	Beni Schichihenge	8	5