I inherited this tree from the owner of the home that I recently purchased. I don't know if it was planted intentionally or what. But there is a nice, thick layer of green moss growing under this Japanese maple. I love it. I don't usually need to water anything in the ground (including this patch of moss), but if I do have the hose out, I just give it an extra dose of water.

Hi, everyone! Thought I'd check out this forum. I live in Oklahoma City and have a Bloodgood JM. I planted it as a very small tree, though. I grow astilbe, hardy begonia, disporum (variegated), and hosta under my tree and it seems to do fine. I also have hellebores close by, too.

Susan

Certainly not myrtle, that needs full sun (and wouldn't be hardy in NY anyway).

I've usually only seen moss growing under large Japanese Maples.

Resin

Here in Michigan myrtle (vinca minor) grows quite well everywhere, even in dense forests. I'd expect it to do quite well in NY. But personally I hate the stuff, it's a pernicious weed.

I've got variegated Solomon's Seal under my jap maple, and it's doing fine. It gets the same supplemental watering as the lawn. Not a ground cover, really, but looks good.

How about cyclamen (coum or herderifolium) or epimediums?

Your "landscapers" are sorely misinformed. Pretty much anything can grow under a Japanese maple, as their root system does not have the same aggressive, water-guzzling, nutrient-hogging character that other, native maples display. And a hot, dry summer will require regular periodic irrigation of any JM for it to survive and thrive - these are not drought tolerant trees.

My only concern when underplanting a taller growing JM is that you select plants that will not need frequent division to maintain them, as excessive cultivation in the root zone or any significant disturbance can damage the delicate root system, sometimes to fatal results.

Selecting something to contrast with the dark red foliage is a good idea, like bboy's suggestion of blue leaved hostas. You could add Japanese painted ferns as well to pick up the coloring of both the hostas and the tree foliage. I like the contrast of gold tones myself, so golden leaved hostas, Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa 'Aureola' or 'All Gold'), Campanula 'Dickson's Gold', spotted London Pride (Saxifraga x urbium 'Aureopunctata) or Lamium 'Anne Greenaway' or 'Aureum' and autumn fern are all suitable choices. Epimediums are an excellent choice as well, as is any moisture preferring, shade tolerant groundcover or part shade perennial that doesn't require frequent division.

FWIW, my JM's are planted in the middle of mixed borders with an assortment of a wide variety of part shade shrubs, perennials/grasses and groundcovers surrounding them. So the notion that "nothing" will grow under them is very misplaced.

I just wanted to follow-up my own post. I did plant the myrtle after making that first post, and look at it now! The only problem is it doesn't grow very well on the north side of the tree which is also the road side. The trunk of the tree is only about 8' from the road. But the rest is beautiful. I wish I had known it would work, because I would have killed the grass first. It didn't need to grow out as far as it did, but I like it so much I have let it. But the grass keeps growing, too. I try to pull the grass out by the roots, but the roots are strong and the myrtle is so thick, it's hard to grab only grass to pull. Has anyone ever tried carefully rubbing Round-Up on tall grass? I'm afraid it might kill the myrtle, too.

I have some ground covers to which I rub roundup on.... it works good. Just lightly spray a couple of fingers with roundup, make sure it isn't dripping off, then slightly touch the grass.

By the way, could we get a full size pic of that bloodgood when you get a chance. It looks like you have a pretty large tree with good structure, I'm thinking about planting one of these this fall.

you will have to coat a majority of the leaves to kill a plant.. and a runner like this will be very hard to kill ....

get a pair of latex kitchen gloves rated for chemicals ... and then get a pair of cheap cotton gloves ... [RU can not be worse that oven cleaner.. eh]

properly mix a gallon of round up ...

put one glove of each on each hand ... latex first ...

insert hands in bucket ... wring well so they dont drip..

and just start massaging your grass that you want dead ...

it will be a PIA ... and a long tough job.. but it can be done..

the alternative is to just start digging it up.. piece by piece.. remove grass ... and replant a section at a time ... i would not do this in july/august ...

ken

That is some thick caliper for a JM in zone 5. Nice!

Thank you for your responses. But what does caliper mean? "That is some thick caliper for a JM in zone 5. Nice!" It sounds like it must be a good thing :), but what does it mean? Because lots of people in our area have JM's that are just as beautiful. Or are you talking about the myrtle?

thx for the private email ....

ask your questions here.. so others may benefit ...

caliper = width of trunk ... he is saying you have a fine old tree ... lol

you will never beat back grass by TRYING TO PULL IT OUT ... sorry.. just doesnt work..and if you were honest with yourself... you already know that ...

i said : you will have to coat a majority of the leaves to kill a plant

==>> and that works both ways ... a little drip or two.. on what you do NOT want killed wont matter...

the more you get on the grass.. the better and faster it dies ....

its a great idea to let it get a little long.. but if too long.. after you treat it.. and it falls over onto the good stuff .. you MIGHT risk harm.. depending on how much you splash around ...

if there were other questions in the email.. i already forgot ... lol

ask away.. here

i would also.. dig a 4 inch moat around the bed.. and truncate the grass in the lawn.. creating an island.. wherein you aim to kill all grass ... no use killing it in the tree area.. if you only allow it to grow back ....

google: lawn edging with a straight shovel .... such as at the link

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: something like this ...

Thank you, Ken. So that's how people do that. I always wondered. I looked at the link and I also googled it. So then you put mulch in the trench? And that really keeps both from growing past the trench? I actually like the look of the thick myrtle right up to the thick grass. Can I make it a narrow trench? What I've been doing where the myrtle is growing really well is I mow a nice line around the myrtle patch and figure so what if I cut some of the myrtle there. I don't want it there anyway. I also pull it out when it goes into the grass more than I want it to. As long as I check it every few days, it only takes a couple minutes and it doesn't get too out of hand.

And ricksample, as soon as it stops raining here in NY, I'll post a picture of the tree. We love it!

It finally stopped raining in NY! Here is the picture of my bloodgood maple that ricksample wanted to see.

Lamium looks beautiful under mine.