Japanese Maple, Coral Bark Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku' Height: 20 feet Spread: 18 feet
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Hardiness Zone: 5b Other Names: Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku' Description: A very popular tree that grows vigorously when young; its most outstanding feature is the lovely coral bark on the younger branches in the winter and colorful foliage throughout the rest of the year. Needs afternoon shade and wind protection. Ornamental Features Japanese Maple, Coral Bark is primarily valued in the landscape for its ornamental globe-shaped form. It features subtle corymbs of red flowers rising above the foliage in mid spring before the leaves. It has attractive lime green deciduous foliage which emerges coral-pink in spring. The palmate leaves are highly ornamental and turn outstanding shades of gold, orange and red in the fall. The rough gray bark and coral-pink branches are extremely showy and add significant winter interest. Landscape Attributes Japanese Maple, Coral Bark is an open deciduous tree with a more or less rounded form. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other landscape plants with less refined foliage. This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and can be pruned at anytime. It has no significant negative characteristics. Japanese Maple, Coral Bark is recommended for the following landscape applications; Planting & Growing Japanese Maple, Coral Bark will grow to be about 20 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 18 feet. It has a high canopy with a typical clearance of 6 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. As it matures, the lower branches of this tree can be strategically removed to create a high enough canopy to support unobstructed human traffic underneath. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 80 years or more. This tree should be grown in a location with partial shade or which is shaded from the hot afternoon sun. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. This plant should be periodically fertilized throughout the active growing season with a specially-formulated acidic fertilizer. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. Special Attributes Japanese maples generally produce a few to no seeds called samaras, which are commonly referred to as helicopters 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch long, and approximately 1/4 inch wide. Growing in pairs, they start green then mature red during the growing season
