Japanese Maple, Purple Ghost Acer palmatum 'Purple Ghost' Height: 10 feet Spread: 6 feet
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Hardiness Zone: 5b Description: This new variety features beautiful burgundy leaves with contrasting darker veins during summer, amazingly turning shades of fiery red and crimson in fall; a good sized tree, ideal for shady locations in the home landscape; foliage is outstanding. Ornamental Features Japanese Maple, Purple Ghost is primarily valued in the landscape or garden for its ornamental globe-shaped form. It has attractive burgundy foliage with deep purple veins and tinges of silver which emerges rose in spring. The small lobed palmate leaves are highly ornamental and turn outstanding shades of scarlet and crimson in the fall. Landscape Attributes Japanese Maple, Purple Ghost is a 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 should only be pruned in summer after the leaves have fully developed, as it may 'bleed' sap if pruned in late winter or early spring. It has no significant negative characteristics. Japanese Maple, Purple Ghost is recommended for the following landscape applications; Planting & Growing Japanese Maple, Purple Ghost will grow to be about 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 6 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 2 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 60 years or more. This tree does best in partial shade to shade. 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
