Red Japanese maple in bloom.
Red Japanese maple trees are noted for their stunning fall foliage. The red, orange and yellow leaves last for several weeks, making for a showstopping display. Red Japanese maple trees grow 40 to 60 feet all and 25 to 35 feet wide, with some wild varieties growing 100 to 120 feet. They have a medium to rapid growth rate and can grow 10 to 12 feet in five years. The red maple is a stunning shade tree that, with the right pruning technique, lives for many years. Versatile, they can growth in both part shade to full sun.
Instructions
1. Prune the red Japanese maple in winter or summer. In winter the tree is bare, letting you see the structure of each branch, while in summer you see the exact amount needed to take off the tree. Keep in mind that summer pruning stimulates less growth than winter pruning, so you can prune more and the tree remains thinned out longer.
2. Remove twigs and branches early on in the growth of the tree to reduce the chance of over-pruning later on. Red Japanese maple branches droop when mature, so pruning at the earliest age ensures clearance beneath the maple's canopy.
3. Prune to one single trunk and remove all suckers or shoots arising from the base of the red maple--they can grow into another trunk.
4. Remove all branches that are sharp and form upright angles along the trunk. Make sure the branches grow at right angles to the trunk.
5. Cut off and discard all diseased or insect-infested branches to reduce spreading to the rest of the tree. Using sharp pruning shears, sterilize between each cut.
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