Garnet Japanese Maple

Acer palmatum var. dissectum ‘Garnet’

Plant Details

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 5a-9a (9b in mostly shade?) Find Your Zone

Plant Type: Deciduous Tree

Height at Maturity: 6-8′

Width at Maturity: 8-10′
Spacing: 15’+ for space between plants

Growth Habit / Form: Upright Broad Cascading Rounded Mound

Growth Rate: Moderate

Foliage Color in Spring: Emerges Orange transitioning to Deep Maroon / Wine-Red

Foliage Color in Summer: Wine-Red to Bronze-Maroon in late summer

Foliage Color in Fall: Bright Red shades

Light Needs: Full Sun or Mostly Sun, Morning Sun with Dappled or Afternoon Shade, All Day Filtered Sun, Morning Shade with Evening Sun, Shade or Mostly Shade

Water Needs: Average, moderately drought tolerant when established

Soil Type: Clay (amend heavy clay to ensure good drainage), Loam, Sandy, Silt

Drainage: Moist But Well Drained – Does not like constantly soggy or wet soil

Soil pH: 5.0 – 7.0 is ideal

Maintenance: Low

Resistances: Deer, Heat Tolerant, Insect, Sun Tolerant

Description

The Garnet Laceleaf Japanese Maple is a very worthy recipient of the prestigious Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society and a top choice for veteran landscape architects, especially in the South, for good reasons. It is prized for its outstanding foliage colors and feathery, heavily dissected foliage on weeping branches providing lovely texture and form in the landscape. In spring the new leaves emerge orange transitioning to a wine-red to dark maroon in spring that holds well through most of the summer. With the arrival of cooler temperatures in fall the foliage takes on a striking display of scarlet shades. All grown up Garnet might reach 8 feet tall and 10 feet wide, making it a fine selection for smaller landscape spaces, but do allow it room to grow and avoid overcrowding this beauty with larger shrubs and trees. Instead, surround it with low growing shrubs and/or groundcover plants.

Landscape & Garden Uses

To showcase its magnificence and beauty, the Garnet Japanese Maple is best used in landscape design as a focal point specimen to draw attention to a specific area of the home or landscape. That said, you can plant them in groupings of three or use two to frame an entryway, just allow at least 10 feet of space for this one to grow. It can also be grown in containers. How to Plant A Japanese Maple Tree In A Pot

Suggested Spacing: At least 15 feet apart for space between trees and 6 feet from a walkway or other surface.

Note: One Japanese Maple can make a landscape…that is, if you don’t overcrowd it with other trees and plants. Therefore, when choosing companions to plant under or around your Japanese Maple, make sure to select low-growing shrubs or groundcover plants that won’t interfere at all with your tree.

Growing Preferences

Though delicate looking, Japanese Maples are actually very tough and long-lived trees that are very easy to grow. Container culture can extend their useful range. They are extremely easy to grow in containers, a practice taken to its most extreme form in the art of bonsai.

In their natural habitat, Japanese Maples are understory trees, growing in dappled forest sunlight at the edges of woodlands. Ideally they prefer to be grown in similar conditions. That said, there are many sun-tolerant Japanese Maple varieties, of which Garnet is one.

Most any average garden soil will grow Japanese Maples. They prefer a moist but well-drained soil rich in organic matter. As with so many other ornamental plants and trees, constantly soggy or wet soil can be problematic. So make sure to plant your Japanese Maple in a well-drained site.

Helpful Articles

Click on a link below to get helpful advice from our experts on how to plant and care for Japanese Maple trees.

How To Plant A Japanese Maple Tree In The Ground

How to Plant A Japanese Maple Tree In A Pot

How To Fertilize And Water A Japanese Maple Tree

How To Prune A Japanese Maple

Plant Long & Prosper!

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