Maple Bonsai Care guidelines
Japanese Maple Bonsai do really well in sunny and airy locations, but when temperatures rise to 85 °F (30 °C) or above, it should be placed somewhere with indirect sunlight to prevent the sun from damaging the leaves. The Japanese Maple is frost hardy, even when trained as a Bonsai, but when temperatures drop below 15 °F (-10 °C), it should be protected, for example by being placed in a coldframe.
A Japanese Maple Bonsai must be watered daily during the growing season. During the hotter days in the growing season, it's sometimes necessary to water your tree several times, if the soil is well-drained and the tree is healthy and vigorous. As with all Bonsai, make sure to water on observation and not on a fixed schedule; the soil should never dry out completely. Avoid watering with calcareous water as the Japanese Maple prefers a neutral or slightly acid pH-value. Continue reading about watering Bonsai trees.
Watering
Free lecture from the Beginners Course
Watch Solid, organic fertilizers contain all the required micronutrients, and they take effect slowly and gently. They are very well-proven, especially for more mature Japanese Maple Bonsai. Be sure to follow the instructions carefully for the proper dosage. If you'd like a stronger growth on young plants or raw material, you can combine your regular dosage with a liquid fertilizer once a week. Avoid fertilizers with a high nitrogen concentration to avoid unnecessarily large leaves and internodes.
Trimming shoots and twigs can be done year-round. Strong branches should be pruned in autumn or summer, when callus growth is quick, to prevent excessive bleeding. When pruning thick branches we advise using a cut paste product to prevent fungal diseases that can enter through pruning wounds. The Maple is particularly vulnerable to some fungal infections and diseases. New growth should be pruned back to one or two pairs of leaves. Mature Bonsai with a delicate ramification can be pinched in order to keep the twigs thin. After the first leaf pair has unfolded, remove the soft little tip of the shoot between them to prevent the twigs from thickening. This method weakens the tree in the long run and should be applied specifically and thoughtfully.
Leaf pruning is the removal of all leaves during the growing season to encourage a second and often finer flush of growth. It should not be done every year because it puts quite a bit of stress on the tree. When pruning, remove all the leaves, but make sure to leave the leaf-stems intact. Partial leaf pruning is a more gentle and less stressful pruning method, so it can be done every year. As the name suggests, partial pruning does not require you to remove all the leaves. Remove the largest leaves, closely spaced leaves, or the leaves in the strongest areas of the tree. Continue reading about pruning Bonsai trees.
The Japanese Maple Bonsai should be repotted every two years. It has strong roots that grow quickly and usually fill the pot in a short time, so be sure to prune the roots efficiently as per the instructions in the repotting Bonsai section. Use a well-drained soil mixture, like Akadama mixed with Pumice and lava rock. Continue reading about repotting Bonsai trees.
The Japanese maple can easily be propagated by planting seeds, cuttings, or air layering in the summer.
The Japanese Maple is a very sturdy tree species, but it can be affected by sap-sucking insects known as aphids in spring. Get rid of aphids with a standard insecticide spray, and follow the direction on the label. Verticillium wilt is a fungal disease that can cause the Japanese Maple Bonsai to partially or completely die. This disease is not treatable and can be transmitted to other trees via your Bonsai tools. You can identify it on fresh cuts as black spots in the wood. If you suspect Verticillium is present in your tree(s) be sure to thoroughly clean and disinfect your tools. For more detailed information on these techniques, check out our Bonsai tree care section.
Red Maple bonsai tree
Leaves of the Maple
Japanese maple or Acer palmatum bonsai
Maple bonsai
Red maple
General information about the Maple Bonsai tree
The Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) belongs to the soap tree family (Sapindaceae) and is originally from Japan, China, and Korea. It owes its botanical name to the hand-shaped leaves with five pointed lobes (but more lobes are possible). Palma is Latin for palm, as in the palm of your hand. For an interesting case study, check our article making a Maple.
In nature the green palmate maple grows shrub-like or as a slender tree and can become up to 15 m tall. The opposite leaves are divided into five to eleven pointed lobes, with toothed edges. In spring the new leaves have a yellowish or orange to bright red colour, depending on the variety or cultivar. The maple is also known and loved for its attractive autumn colours in all shades of yellow, orange and red.
The bark of young trees is green or reddish and smooth and turns light grey with age. The reddish flowers have five petals and appear in clusters in May to June. The fruits split into two winged seeds, shaped like a paired winged nut that floats to the ground like propellers when they drop. About 500 cultivars of the species are known, many with special leaf colours or shapes, dwarf growth or interesting bark textures.
The Japanese Maple trees are very popular as ornamental shrubs like; Kiyohime, Kashima, Shishigashira, and Arakawa. Red leaved varieties (often referred to as simply a red maple) include the Deshojo and Seigen. The young shoots in spring have yellowish, orange, or even bright red leaves. It's also well-known and popular for its very attractive yellow, orange, and red autumn colors, orange and red maples being the most popular. If you need help identifying your tree, take a look at our Bonsai tree identification guide.
