Ukon Japanese Maple

Acer palmatum ‘Ukon’ a/k/a ‘Aoyagi’

Other Names: Aoyagi Japanese Maple

Plant Details

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 5a-9a Find Your Zone

Height at Maturity: 10-12′ at 10 years of age; 15-20′ at maturity

Width at Maturity: 6-7′ at 10 years of age; 8-12′ at maturity

Growth Habit / Form: Upright

Growth Rate: Moderate – 12-15″ per year

Foliage Color in Spring: Chartreuse

Foliage Color in Summer: Bright Green

Foliage Color in Fall: Brilliant Golden Yellow

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

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 – Well drained soil is a must!

Soil pH: 5.0 – 7.0 is ideal

Maintenance: Low

Resistances: Deer, Insect, Disease, Sun Tolerant

Description

If subtle beauty is your thing look no further than the Ukon Japanese Maple, also known as ‘Aoyagi’. This counterpart to the coral bark maple features rich pea green bark that contrasts beautifully with the bright chartreuse leaves in spring that turn to bright green in summer and finally to a brilliant golden-yellow in fall. As with its coral and yellow bark cousins, the handsome pea green bark color on the trunk, branches and stems intensifies during the cool season to bring unique and attractive color to the landscape during the winter months. Ease in growing, good sun tolerance and year round color makes Ukon a fine selection that won’t disappoint in the landscape or in pots, planters and other containers.

Landscape & Garden Uses

To showcase its magnificence and beauty, the Ukon Japanese Maple is best used 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 plant one on both sides of an entryway to accentuate the entrance. Container culture can extend the useful range of Japanese Maples. They are extremely easy to grow in containers, a practice taken to its most extreme form in the art of bonsai.

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

Growing Preferences

Though delicate looking, Japanese Maples are actually very tough and long-lived trees. They are very easy to grow.

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, you can find a complete listing of our sun-tolerant Japanese Maple varieties here, of which Ukon 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 find 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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Questions? Contact Us!

I bought 2 of the Japanese maples, they are gorgeous! They were very well packed, in great shape out of the box, and each was about 5-6’ tall which was bigger than I expected.————————————–We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the great review and the kind words! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

Tree came very well packaged. The tree is beautiful and adds such a pretty lime color to our landscape. We are very pleased!—————————————————We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

The tree came to me in excellent condition having shipped from Georgia. Not a single fallen leaf! The customer service was amazing when on two separate occasions I had questions concerning proper acclimatization to a changing, late summer/fall climate.————————————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

This, is one of two Japanese Maples, I ordered. I was anxious, initially, not being able to select the trees myself. As you can see, I was provided a extremely nicely cared for tree.——————————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG