Red Dragon Japanese Maple

How to Grow and Care for a Red Dragon Japanese Maple

The Red Dragon Japanese Maple is a beautiful and colorful tree; it features lace leaves and is a weeping maple with arching branches. The leaves of this tree are large, and are a red color during the summer months, turning an even deeper red in the fall. This type of tree is very popular for landscaping yards as it is a beautiful tree and grows up to 12 to 15 ft tall. Planting and taking care of the Japanese maple isn’t too difficult and can be accomplished by following a few easy steps.

To plant a Red Dragon Japanese Maple you will need a few supplies. Before starting, make sure you have a shovel, a slow release fertilizer, as well as some organic compost.

After you have gathered all of the things you will next have to pick out a location to plant your maple. This type of maple will do best if it is planted in partial shade; the most ideal location would be an area that gets a lot of sun during the morning but is shaded during the warmer, afternoon hours.

Next you will want to dig a hole that is about twice the size of the root ball of your Red Dragon Japanese Maple. Once you have prepared the hole, take some slow release fertilizer as well as some compost and mix it in with the soil that you will be putting back in the hole after planting.

After placing the root ball in the hole you can then take the prepared soil and bury the root ball, replace the soil until it is inline with the rest of the soil around the hole. It should reach to where the old soil line was.

When you are done planting the Red Dragon Japanese Maple, you will need to water it until the soil is fairly wet; next add a layer of mulch around the tree; this will need to be about two inches thick. When adding the mulch make sure that it does not touch the trunk of the tree or it could cause rot and ruin all of your hard work.

For the next week you will need to water your Red Dragon Japanese Maple every other day. It will take about seven days before the tree is established. Although you do have to pay special attention to this tree when you first plant it, once it is well established you will find that it is a low maintenance tree.

Pruning a Red Dragon Japanese Maple

Red Dragon Japanese Maple trees can be pruned at anytime of the year, though they are much easier to prune if you do it in the spring. In the early spring you can more easily see where the tree needs to be trimmed because there is not as much foliage and the shape of the tree is more visible. It is also easier to see which branches are dead and lack any leaves.

First you will want to look for any dead or diseased branches; trim these away from the tree.

Once you have removed the dead branches you will need to step back and evaluate the shape of the tree. You goal is to cut down the tree until it is in a fan shape, with the branches rising up and arching, but without making contact with the branches below them. Trim away branches until the tree is in this general shape.

If you find any branches that cross each other you will also want to trim these down.

Now that you have shaped your Red Dragon Japanese Maple, you will now want to trim about 2 to 3 inches from the remaining branches. This will help to encourage new growth of branches and help the tree to look fuller.