Plant Guide

Group/Class:  Dissectum

Description:

This wonderful small feature tree has fine ferny foliage which emerges a hot reddish purple turning deep purple in summer, finally blazing orange-red in fall; a great choice for a solitary accent in the garden, one of the hardiest Japanese maples

Ornamental Features

Purple-Leaf Threadleaf Japanese Maple is primarily valued in the landscape or garden for its cascading habit of growth. It has attractive dark red deciduous foliage which emerges burgundy in spring. The small deeply cut ferny palmate leaves are highly ornamental and turn outstanding shades of orange, scarlet and crimson in the fall.

Landscape Attributes

Purple-Leaf Threadleaf Japanese Maple is a dense multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with a shapely form and gracefully arching branches. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which can make it a great accent feature on this basis alone.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned in summer after the leaves have fully developed, as it may 'bleed' sap if pruned in late winter or early spring. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Purple-Leaf Threadleaf Japanese Maple is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Purple-Leaf Threadleaf Japanese Maple will grow to be about 8 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 8 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 60 years or more.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. You may want to keep it away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Purple-Leaf Threadleaf Japanese Maple makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.