Plant Library

Description:

With a dense bushy habit this super-dwarf variety is a delight year round; pale pink and green spring foliage gives way to summer green; fall brings yellow orange and splashes of red; find a prominent place to show off this little beauty

Ornamental Features

Coonara Pygmy Japanese Maple is primarily valued in the landscape or garden for its ornamental upright and spreading habit of growth. It has attractive light green deciduous foliage which emerges pink in spring. The lobed palmate leaves are highly ornamental and turn outstanding shades of yellow, orange and red in the fall.

Landscape Attributes

Coonara Pygmy Japanese Maple is a dense deciduous dwarf tree with a strong central leader and an upright spreading habit of growth. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which can make it a great accent feature on this basis alone.

This is a relatively low maintenance dwarf 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.

Coonara Pygmy Japanese Maple is ideal for use as a garden accent or patio feature, and is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Coonara Pygmy Japanese Maple will grow to be about 6 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 6 feet. It tends to be a little leggy, 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 80 years or more.

This dwarf tree should be grown in a location with partial shade and 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. 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.

Coonara Pygmy Japanese Maple is a fine choice for the yard, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, this plant may be too tender to survive the winter if left outdoors in a container. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.