Japanese Maple

Japanese maple, which is what we usually call jizhuangi, is a small deciduous tree of the genus Acer in the family Aceraceae. It gets its name because its leaves are deeply palmately lobed, with the narrow, elongated lobes resembling a chicken's claw. With a graceful form and fine, dense branches and leaves, it is a traditional foliage tree in China, often planted in courtyards and parks, and also commonly used to make bonsai.

Its leaves usually have seven lobes, though some have five or nine; the lobe edges are finely serrated. In spring and summer the leaves are green, and after autumn arrives they gradually turn red as the temperature difference between day and night increases, making them very attractive. Common cultivated varieties include red maple and feather maple, with rich variation in leaf color and leaf shape. Among them, red maple keeps a purplish-red leaf color year-round and is very popular with growers. These horticultural varieties are mostly propagated by grafting, which makes it easier to maintain stable leaf color and leaf shape.

For care, the Japanese maple likes a warm, humid environment, tolerates partial shade, fears blazing sun, and does not tolerate waterlogging. For cultivation, choose loose, fertile, well-drained soil; during the growing season keep the soil moist but not waterlogged. In summer, when temperatures are high and light is intense, provide appropriate shading to reduce scorched leaf tips. In spring and autumn, apply light fertilizer frequently, and routinely prune away leggy and overly dense branches so the tree shape becomes more compact and attractive.

In the garden, it is often planted as a specimen or in groups on lawns, beside ponds, and next to rocks, and its landscape effect is especially striking when the autumn leaves turn red. If you find that the leaves of your Japanese maple are slow to turn red in autumn, it is mostly related to insufficient light and too small a temperature difference. Ensuring ample light and letting nighttime temperatures drop will make the leaf color turn red more easily.