Japanese Maple advice

darrenheaphy

Hello. I'd really appreciate some advice (and any suggestions). This year we created a couple of sweet pea frames, which looked gorgeous. We're not sure what to do with the space left behind.

Initially I was thinking of some form of miniature apple trees but we love the Japanese Maple.

Soil is good, exposure is reasonable. It's NE facing, can get rather windy in the winter.

Our preference is to have Maples that don't go bigger than 8ft or so in a large circle surrounded by pretty flowers. What do you think? Good idea?

macraignil

I like the Japanese maples also but I have read they do not like exposed conditions and I'm not sure your garden would be sheltered enough for them to do well. Be careful when picking variety as some are probably hardier than others. The Japanese Maple Bloodgood I bought last year is supposed to get to 4 metres, when fully grown, so you will have to select a small variety also, if you want them lower than eight feet. I would choose pieris forest flame or photinia red robin to fit in where the sweet pea are in the photos. Most trees will get to more than eight feet and many will not look their best if they need too much pruning. I am not sure I have seen Japanese Maples planted in a ring before. They seem to be used in formal gardens more as a single centrepiece to a flower bed and their irregular shade may make group planting in a circle look a bit odd.

darrenheaphy

That's great advice, thank you for that and for the recommendations.

darrenheaphy

For what it's worth when I referred to planting in a circle I meant a single tree within an exposed circle of earth (in which I can put some tulips etc)! I like your idea of the photinia, I have that elsewhere in the garden though!

pwurple

The garden looks great, really excellent job on the sweet pea teepees, they must have had fantastic scent too!

I'm confused by what you mean by planting in a circle... Do you mean where the sweet peas have died back? To replace them? Or in between, or somewhere else?

The acers are subshrubs really. They get all dried out and die with even moderate wind.

If it's the sweetpea gap you want to fill, maybe follow the peas up with nastursium on the same frame. They are flowering now in my garden, absolute riot of yellow/orange/red colour.

darrenheaphy

pwurple wrote: »

The garden looks great, really excellent job on the sweet pea teepees, they must have had fantastic scent too!

I'm confused by what you mean by planting in a circle... Do you mean where the sweet peas have died back? To replace them? Or in between, or somewhere else?

The acers are subshrubs really. They get all dried out and die with even moderate wind.

If it's the sweetpea gap you want to fill, maybe follow the peas up with nastursium on the same frame. They are flowering now in my garden, absolute riot of yellow/orange/red colour.

Thanks! The sweet pea was great! I'd like to put something permanent there though, one challenge we have is the time we can spend on the garden (new born & long working hours)! I thought about apple trees but thought they'd be too big and too oppressive in winter.

I like the photonia idea but have loads elsewhere

When talking about planting in a circle I simply meant a single tree or shrub in an exposed circle of earth (as it is now when sweet pea removed)!

pwurple

I get you, something similar size/shape to replace those.

Well, for low maintenance I would skip apple trees anyway. There's a lot of work in those. They can get disease easily, which means spraying. Then there is pruning and looking after the fruit, windfalls on the ground etc.

Specimen plants... I'd pick one and repeat it like you did with the pea.

Maybe the Corylus contorta... Twisted hazel? It comes in either green or red/purple. Great looking plant, drops leaves in winter leaving catkins and the stunning looking twisty stems.

For movement in the garden, a classic is Stipa gigantea, golden oat grass. The seed heads have lovely movement, are a good backdrop to other plants, don't obscure any views.

For the same shape, you could go for something like a mini christmas tree? You could even light them up for christmas time. Try Abies Koreana. Very slow growing, nice shape.

Also could do any of the holly family and clip it into that shape. They are natives, so do great in our climate. Slow growing as well. Silver queen is a nice one.

looksee

Dierama - angels fishing rods - are lovely too, combined with small bulbs or ground cover they would make a nice show.

darrenheaphy

Some great feedback, thank you. So Maple is out in any event. I quite like the idea of Dierama surrounded by something else and the Corylus contorta is something I'll look into Will let y'all know what I end up doing