Here's another picture.

Yes it does look a bit odd and unbalanced.Most people prefer this tree to be full and completely covered in thick foliage.However I bought one which had obviously been grown quite quickly.It's still quite open looking but I love the smooth green bark,something that's usually hidden.I've attached a pic from autumn 2012 showing what I think is a lovely contrast.It's filling out more now but actually I'm gonna try to keep some bark visible.
It's all a matter of preference and wether you'll get other branches to balance it out.If you prefer the fuller look as most people do then go ahead and remove them,otherwise wait and see what happens this year then decide....good luck

Thanks for the advice and pic! I guess I'll let it go through summer and see if things even out and see how it goes before doing anything drastic.

Just a growth spurt, many trees and shrubs do this in response to conditions that stimulate rapid growth - leave it alone to fill in on its own.

Of much greater concern than this normal occurrence is the section of branch with dead, clinging leaves on the second tree - that often does indicate a problem. Many people encounter pathenogenic dying back of grafted Japanese maples these days, with the opening shot often being leaves that die and persist throughout one part of a branch.

This post was edited by bboy on Tue, Mar 25, 14 at 14:16

Hi Ron,I think you're looking at the leaves on an adjacent Bloodgood.Sometimes a few leaves don't drop in autumn on various trees of mine.This one's looking good presently but I hear you on the pathogen subject....I have suffered quite a bit looking back.
Anyway thanks for your concern,hope the winter's not been too harsh for you and spring comes your way soon.

Thanks bboy, I'll let it fill in.

Here in Sacramento we didn't have much of a winter and a lot of our trees still had leaves on them as the new leaves, especially potted maples. I guess if there's a problem with the dying back nothing can be done?

Mack, Ive never seen an Acer palmatum 'Shishigashira' grow and push like that. I cant help but think the close by flowers are being fertilized or were planted with fertilized planting soil and it is having an effect on the maple. Hence the one sided push.
Any how, here is one ive grown for many years......slow and steady.
Al

another shot

Thanks Al, great looking tree. That's exactly what I'm hoping for. I'll have to ask the wife about fertilizing the flowers. The plants do get a lot of water, so I wonder if that's what's going on.

I also have a shishigashira maple. However my landscaper planted it about a foot from my patio (cement). Is this going to be a problem root wise? Its been there for a year so far. Will the roots damage my cement patio?

It's currently, mostly, 6 feet tall with 1 foot new growth branches above that.

Japanese maples do not have aggressive root systems. I doubt you have any concerns for your concrete patio :-)

However siting that close to the patio may still pose an issue. This tree can get a lot bigger than one would expect in a favorable climate. I know of one in a local nursery display garden that is at least 25' tall and equally as wide. But this is a very mature, established tree and I live in almost the ideal climate for them. YMMV