Waterfall

Waterfall in spring 2012

Waterfall(pictured above) is a dwarf dissectum (weeping) japanese maple cultivar. This particular tree is around 14 years old and I think I put this in ground in 2005. I bought that at Fred Meyers in Tualatin, OR in 2002 for $5 (end of season clearance, 1 Gallon) and moved it with me to PA in 2004. It was in a pot till 2005. Its around 3 ft tall and I do prune it rather heavily in spring to get rid of the branches touching the ground. Unless this is pruned, the trunk isn't visible. It takes pruning well. It also has a reasonable July spurt. I have this at the entry of the house along with Viridis (shown below). Both trees are similar in nature. I think if you graft Waterfall at a good height it will be similar to Viridis. It could be age but I have noticed that Waterfall tends to have branches go up before drooping down, giving it more depth. Also, it does want to grow horizontally as well. I try to keep it around 6 ft wide. This tree gets around 2-3 hours of sun till mid summer and then its in shade and is doing well from color and leaf perspective. This cultivar is supposed to do well in full sun as well.

Waterfall and Viridis (right), Spring 2012

Waterfall, Spring 2012

Waterfall leafing out (Spring 2012).

Here is the tree from previous years showing growth:

Waterfall (2003)

Waterfall (2006)

Waterfall (Spring 2008)

Waterfall (Spring 2008) and other maples

Waterfall (Spring 2009)

Waterfall (Spring 2009), after pruning

Waterfall (Spring 2009)

Waterfall (Fall 2009)

Waterfall (Spring 2010)

Waterfall (Spring 2011)

Waterfall (2011)

Hostas

Here are some hostas which I have in my yard. All from Spring 2012:

Sum and Substance

Sum and Substance

Sum and Substance

Sum and Substance

Tom Schmidt

Wide Brim

Halcyon

Tom Schmidt

Francis Williams (also in pot) and 2 year Full Moon maple(pot)

Honeybells, Halcyon and ??

Ligularia Desdemona, Francee and Wide Brim hostas

Ukigumo

Ukigumo leafing out (Spring 2012)

Ukigumo(floating cloud maple) as pictured above, is a variegated Japanese maple. This particular tree is growing in partial shade and is around 12 years old. Its been in ground since 2006. I prune it annually to keep it around 6 to 7 ft tall. Its around 4 ft wide. I purchased this as a two (or 3) year graft at Hardy Plant sale at Hillsboro, OR in spring 2002 for $20. It was leafing out and it looked good. I moved this to PA in 2004 by shipping it bare root from OR where I had already planted this in ground. Once its established, it has very good growth rate (between 1 to 2 ft/year; I never fertilize maples) and I prune it heavily as needed (spring and summer). 

Overall, I found this tree to be kind of disappointing after early spring. I always think of chopping it down after all of leaves revert to dull green in couple of weeks after opening. I work in New York City and I have noticed this tree(15-20 years old, in shade) in some homes there. I observed same thing: leaves were all dull light green with a very small number of leaves showing variegation. This year I noticed that around 50% of leaves are variegated even after 6 weeks. I have read some accounts on the net that sometimes it takes years for leaves to stay variegated thru the season. Besides leaves, this tree has good bark as well as shown above.

I have seen this tree as listed as dwarf(meaning height is 8 ft or less) which I have found to be not true. Specimens I have seen are larger, easily 12-14 ft or more. If I don't prune, this tree will be 10ft easily. At the very least, this is a semi-dwarf Acer Palmatum.

Ukigumo, night shot (early spring 2012)

I planted an Inaba Shidare next to it, in case I decide to remove this tree(which I really doubt), I will have something to fill the void. Even if I dont remove it, they will look fine together with Inaba Shidare adding interest.

Inaba Shidare and Ukigumo(spring 2012)

Tsuchigumo

Tsuchigumo (Spring 2012)

Tsuchigumo, pictured above, is a semi-dwarf small leaf green upright Japanese maple. This tree was acquired in the annual spring Hardly Plant sale in 2002 at Hillsboro, OR. It was a 1 year graft in 4" pot($7) and it moved with me to PA in 2004(I fed-exd a box full of small bare-root maples and bunch of clematis in early spring of 2004).

I had to transplant it few times as I couldn't decide where it should go. It gets 3-4 hours of afternoon sun till mid summer and then its all shade. This variety seems comfortable in shade or sun. I probably should have planted this in full sun. Its growth rate is good. When I finally planted it at this location in 2007, it was around 3-4 ft tall but didnt have any major branches. It grew very well in couple of years. I observed that this variety does well in ground than being in a pot. Currently its around 8 ft tall and 4 ft wide. I will be pruning this shortly to give a more fuller look. This spring we had frost after most maples had leafed out. This tree didn't suffer any damage while other trees around it did show some damage.
 
Here is a shot from the other side with companion maples/plants. Ao Kanzashi (hidden in this shot by Tsuchigumo) is the last tree on the left.

Krossa Regal hosta(Left), Virdis, Tsuchigumo, Sango Kaku, Waterfall (Right) Spring 2012

Tsuchigumo Leaves (mid-spring)

Ao Kanzashi

Ao Kanzashi (Spring 2012)

Ao Kanzashi(pictured above) is 11 years old and is a small leaf upright slightly variegated maple. It tends to have a vase shape, especially in the formative years (look at 2009, 2010 pictures below) and is now becoming rounder(2011, 2012 pics). This was in a small pot till 2006. I bought it as a one year graft in a 4" pot ($7) in Spring 2002 from Hardy Plant sale in Hillsboro, OR. It moved with me to PA in 2004.

This gets fair bit of sun(full afternoon sun). It leafs out after Bloodgood/Sangu Kaku and other maples that I have(but not before Beni Schinchihenge). It therefore avoids frost little bit but this year, it did get mildly hit by frost as did other maples. It grows slowly as it did nothing in the pot for few years. After being in the ground for couple of years, it did well from growth perspective. Although now I hardly see any growth after seeing 8-10 inches per year for few years. Its current size is around 5 x 5 feet. When the tree was younger (perhaps till 3-4 years ago), I did notice some of the leaves(entire branch) were of bigger size than the rest of tree as if these leaves came from the root under-stock.  I did remove these branches immediately. However for last 3-4 years, I hardly see the big leaves. All leaves are small and tree gives kind of a bonsai look while in ground. I have hardly pruned this one. 

I do see the leaves get some mildew but it doesn't impact its look. If I had to do it again, I would plant this in part sun but it seems content at its current location. 

Ao Kanzashi Leaves

 Here are pictures from previous years showing its growth(I just noticed that it grew substantially between 2009 and 2011; requires 2-3 years in ground for growth):

Ao Kanzashi (Summer 2007)

Ao Kanzashi (Spring 2008)

Ao Kanzashi (Spring 2009)

Ao Kanzashi (Summer 2010)

Ao Kanzashi (Summer 2011)

Viridis

Waterfall(left) and Viridis (Spring 2012)

I have Waterfall and Viridis Japanese maples at the entry of our house. Viridis is probably around 10 years old. This was planted at this spot in 2007 as a 3 gallon tree($5 for a 3 gallon tree). I transplanted it few times as I couldnt decide where it should go. This is the only tree which I almost lost during transplanting in spring 2007. It wilted for couple of days but made it well afterwards. Both trees get some afternoon sun (2-3 hours) till mid summer. Viridis has dense growth. Other pictures:

Viridis (Spring 2012)

Shots from previous years:

Viridis (Spring 2008)

Viridis (Spring 2009)

Viridis (Summer 2009)

Viridis (Fall 2009)

Viridis (Spring 2010)

Viridis (2011)

Oshio Beni

Japanese Maple(Acer palmatum), Oshio Beni in spring 2012.

This one is around 12 years old, around 8ft tall/wide and very lightly pruned. It's growing in full sun in humid zone 6b. After mid summer the leaves do turn bronze but I think thats due to the nature of the tree and not the fact that its in full sun. If I had to plant again, I may go up to 4-5 hour sun as opposed to all day.

I bought this in 2006 in a 7(or 10?)G container from Lowes(shown below) for $20 as someone had returned it after digging it up and the root system was disturbed. I have transplanted relatively large maples (6-7 ft) after 1-2 year in ground without issues and this didn't look bad. I planted it in ground in Sept 2006. Shots from previous years showing yearly growth:

Oshio Beni (2006), note the missing root system

Oshio Beni (Spring 2007)

Oshio Beni (Spring 2008)

Oshio Beni (early spring 2009), leafing out

Oshio Beni (spring 2010)

Oshio Beni (Summer 2011)