Tree · Sapindaceae
Tamukeyama Japanese Maple
Acer palmatum
The weeping laceleaf that erupts in deep red, feathery leaves and only gets better from spring to fall.
Partial shade
Every 3–7 days
USDA 5–8
6–8 ft · 1.8–2.4 m
Overview
Here is a small tree that earns its keep on foliage alone. The leaves are a laceleaf, slashed so deeply they turn feathery, and they burst out a rich purple-red the moment they open. It tops out at just 6 to 8 feet (183 to 244 cm) but spreads wider than it climbs, building a low, spilling mound that lights up a courtyard, a patio pot, or the spot right by the door.
What lifts this cultivar above the crowd of laceleaf maples is real staying power. It holds its color straight through summer heat that washes weaker types out to bronze, and it takes on sun far better than most. Slow, deliberate growth keeps it in scale for years, and those same cut leaves that blaze red all season crank up to scarlet to bright red when fall hits.
Give it the right home and it pays you back fast. Set it in dappled light with moist soil and cover from the fierce afternoon sun, and those fine leaves stay crisp and glowing. Miss on the spot and the edges scorch, which is the single snag you are most likely to hit, so nail the placement and the rest falls into line.
Care
The short version: plant it in part shade out of the hot afternoon sun, keep the soil evenly moist and slightly acidic, mulch to cool the roots, and prune only lightly while it sleeps in winter.
Light
Aim it at dappled or part shade and shield it from the hottest afternoon sun. In cooler regions it powers through full sun happily, as long as the soil stays moist. Just keep it clear of hot, dry, glaring sun, which is what scorches the fine leaves.
Water
Keep that soil evenly moist, roughly every 3 to 7 days and more when the heat spikes. Let the roots dry out and the fine foliage scorches in a hurry, so stay ahead of it. Pile on some mulch to trap moisture and keep the roots cool, and summer gets a whole lot easier.
Soil
Set it into moist, rich, well-drained loam on the acidic side, at a pH of 5.5 to 6.5. Push the pH too high and the roots cannot grab iron, so the leaves yellow into chlorosis. Work in loads of organic matter and skip the limy ground.
Temperature
This maple is hardy across a huge stretch, from -20°F to 95°F (-29°C to 35°C), which spans USDA zones 5 through 8. It powers through hard winters without a flinch. The top of that range is the tricky part, where heat and sun pile pressure on the leaves.
Humidity
Forget chasing a humidity number, since regular outdoor air does the trick. The leaves care about two things, moist roots and a break from drying wind, and both beat anything you could do for the air.
Feeding
Feed it once a year with a balanced slow-release fertilizer in early spring and leave it at that. These maples are light eaters, and heavy feeding just pumps out soft growth that scorches faster, so hold back and let the tree set its own pace.
Pruning
Here is a bonus: it barely needs any pruning, just a light touch to keep that cascading shape. Do your cutting from late fall through midwinter while it is dormant, because a spring or summer cut sets the wounds bleeding sap.
Repotting
Growing it in a pot? Bump it up a size every 2 to 3 years, working in late winter while it rests. Roots spiraling the pot, growth that stalls, and water blasting straight through all shout that it is ready to move on.
Size & spacing
Give it space to sprawl: it matures at 6 to 8 feet (183 to 244 cm) tall and pushes wider, around 8 to 12 feet (2.4 to 3.7 m) across. Its slow pace means it holds that scale for years before it ever claims the full footprint.
When to plant
Plant this one right and it stays with you for decades, so put your energy into picking the spot. Get it in the ground in spring or fall, once hard frost is done, and the cool weather lets the roots dig in and establish before summer heat or winter cold rolls through.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: Spring or fall, after frost danger has passed.
- Harvest: Insignificant reddish-purple flowers in April; grown for foliage with scarlet to bright red fall color.
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 5–8
Temperature: down to -29°C
Troubleshooting
Nearly every hiccup with a Japanese maple lands on the leaves, and scorched summer edges lead the pack. Spot the early signs and the answer almost always comes back to the tree's spot and how moist its roots stay. Track down your symptom below, then dial in the placement or the watering before it gains ground.
One-sided branch dieback with wilting, yellowing leaves
Dieback and yellowing that hammer one side of the tree point straight to verticillium wilt, a stubborn soil fungus that jams up the wood from inside. Strip the bark off a wilting branch and hunt for dark streaks running along the grain, then fire a sample off to a diagnostic lab to lock it down. Nothing cures it, so cut out the dead wood, keep the tree charging with steady water and feeding, and never replant a susceptible species in that ground.
Fix:
- Prune out dead and dying wood
- Maintain vigor with proper irrigation and slow-release fertilizer
- Consult a certified arborist for hazard assessment
- Remove severely affected plants and avoid replanting susceptible species in infested soil
Crisping, browning leaf edges when the heat cranks up
Those crisp brown edges spell leaf scorch, and it strikes first on the leaves grabbing the most sun and wind. A laceleaf runs such fine, cut foliage that it burns through its water fast once the soil dries or the afternoon sun bears down. Pull the heat off it with afternoon shade, keep the root zone evenly moist, and lay on mulch to hold water and cool the soil.
Fix:
- Provide afternoon shade
- Keep soil consistently moist
- Apply mulch to retain moisture and cool roots
- Shelter from drying winds
Sticky leaves, black sooty film, and warped new growth
That sticky glaze is honeydew, pumped out by aphids or scale as they tap the sap, and the black film riding on top is sooty mold feeding on the sugar. Flip the leaves and scan the stems to catch them in the act. Blast the aphids off with a hard jet of water, then hit any heavier outbreak with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap to clear it fast.
Fix:
- Hose off aphids with a strong stream of water
- Treat heavy infestations with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap
- Encourage beneficial predators
Toxicity
Great news for anyone with animals underfoot: this maple is safe. Acer palmatum stays off the ASPCA toxic list, and unlike red and silver maple, whose wilted leaves can poison horses, it brings none of that risk. Plant it wherever you like around cats, dogs, horses, and the rest of the crew.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats Safe
Cats get a full green light here, since this maple never lands on the ASPCA toxic list. A nibbled leaf does nothing. Wolf down a big mouthful of any greenery, though, and a cat might show a little drool or a quick stomach upset.
Dogs Safe
Dogs run zero risk around this tree. The leaves pack no toxin, so the worst a heavy chewer racks up is mild, short-lived stomach upset after eating a whole pile at once.
Horses Safe
Do not lump this in with red and silver maple, whose wilted leaves can wreck a horse's red blood cells. Japanese maple carries no tie to that poisoning and rates as safe around horses.
Rabbits Safe
No toxin here lays a finger on rabbits. Still, the leaves are not a normal part of their diet, so keep any nibbling to a treat and let hay and fresh greens carry the load.
Livestock Safe
Turn goats, sheep, and cattle loose near a Japanese maple without a worry, since it holds none of the maple toxins that threaten horses.
Birds Safe
Birds face no threat from it at all. Loads of them will perch and shelter right in its branches.
People Safe
It is no danger to people either. Nothing on it is grown to eat, but a kid who tastes a leaf comes to no harm.
No special handling required; minor stomach upset is possible if pets chew large amounts of any plant material.
Varieties
Tamukeyama runs with a lively pack of weeping laceleaf maples, and a few of them show up on the same benches. Here are the ones worth chasing down when you shop.
Tamukeyama
A strong, heat-loving weeping laceleaf that carries deeply cut purple-red leaves into summer, then flares bright red for fall.
Crimson Queen
A weeping cutleaf loaded with finely dissected crimson leaves that hold their color all summer.
Dissectum Atropurpureum
The go-to red-purple laceleaf, prized for the low, weeping mound it throws.
Seiryu
The rebel of the bunch, an upright cutleaf that ditches the low red mound and keeps its leaves green through summer.
How to propagate
This is where the fun hits a wall for the home grower. Tamukeyama holds true only when it is grafted, and that is precise nursery craft, not a weekend job.
GraftingDemanding
Late winter to early spring while dormant. · 1-2 years for the graft union to establish.
Tamukeyama is a grafted cultivar, so seed and cuttings will never give you the real thing. Growers fuse a scion onto Acer palmatum seedling rootstock through winter dormancy, from late winter into early spring, and it takes a sharp eye and a sure hand to pull off. From there the graft needs a year or two to knit tight before the young tree is set to plant out.
Myths
Japanese maples are poisonous to cats and dogs.
Not a chance. Acer palmatum never made the ASPCA toxic list, so it is safe around cats and dogs. The poisoning that scares people traces to red maple, a totally separate species, and it is those wilted red maple leaves that hit horses, not this tree.
Japanese maples only grow in full shade.
Wrong on that one. They thrive anywhere from full sun to part shade. Crank up the heat and what they actually want is afternoon shade and steady moisture to keep the fine leaves from scorching, nowhere near the deep, dark shade the myth pushes.