Visualize It!

Landscaping in the South is as different as it is in the North, or the West, or Florida, or Hawaii. When it comes to shrubs and trees and flowers, we have our own ideas about what is appropriate and what blends into our way of life. Thank goodness.

In colonial times, one didn’t see many foundation plantings. As time went on, building foundations became more unsightly and homeowners wanted to hide them. And somewhere along the line, some misguided landscape architect, or probably more like it, a home builder who wanted to charge more for additional landscaping plants, decided that the stair-step three-layer plantings were the thing to do. You know, tall shrubs against the house, medium height plants in front of those and the short flowering plants at the front. All lined up like little soldiers. Bad idea. Maintenance nightmare.

Moving into an old house with existing plantings presents a problem all its own, however. What do you leave, what do you dig up, and do you even like any of what’s already there? Of course, you could just dig up everything and start all over, but there’s something to be said for established plants, including the expense involved in replacing everything.

Stand back and take a good look at your house: the shape, the colors, the lawn. Try to visualize plants that you particularly like in place in your yard.  The Neighbor is trying to do just that, having a corner to fill on the front of his house. This space is formed by the side wall of the front porch which meets the front wall of the house at a ninety-degree angle. The house is pale yellow with white trim, bright red Knock-Out roses march across the front of the porch with boxwoods in between, and the roof is dark green. His choice for that odd corner is a Dwarf Japanese maple. Good color, appropriate size, perfect shape with little or no pruning.

Dwarf Japanese maples are also known as Threadleaf or Cutleaf Japanese maples because of their feathery, fine-toothed leaves. Some varieties grow no more than five or six feet tall, and some are even small enough to grow in containers on the patio.

Because of their weeping habit and lush colors, dwarf Japanese maples make an eye-catching statement. The leaves are long and slender, and separated into feathery pointed lobes. Colors vary among cultivars, but may be gold, pale green, deep red or burgundy. In the autumn, this tree puts on a spectacular show – red leaves turn a more brilliant red, green-leafed varieties turn gold, and gold types turn orange or yellow. The branches of dwarf maples add color to the show as well, being deep purple, red or green.

These trees form a mounding, cascading sweep of branches and can have a spread of up to 20 feet wide depending on which cultivar you buy. Sounds perfect for that corner in front of The Neighbor’s house. Hopefully, however, being on the east side of the house, the red-leafed type would be happy with full morning sun and afternoon shade.

A strict watering schedule is necessary for Japanese maples. Deep watering twice a week is recommended for the first couple of years. Periods of excessive heat or drought will require further watering and a good layer of mulch. In the fall, watering should be decreased, which will encourage more dramatic colors in the changing leaves. Mulch heavily in the late fall and during the winter. Dwarf Japanese maples require little to no annual pruning except to remove dead or damaged branches. In late summer or early fall, the tree can be pruned for shape.

I’m looking forward to seeing a Dwarf Japanese maple in place in the yard next door. I can’t remember seeing another one anywhere in town, so it will be an eye-catcher for sure.