You can't really grow a weeping tree from seed. 99.9% of them are propagated by grafting, the named cultivars anyway. Laceleaf trees are basically "mutant" variations of the standard maple so to reproduce that reliably it is necessary to clone it by grafting from a piece of it onto a generic japanese maple root stock.

If you tried to grow one by seed, it could be 1 in 500 or less that even look similiar or are as hardy as the ones you need for zone 5. I would go with a grafted one. You can get them online for about $10-15 bucks for a 1-2 year graft and obviously a bit more for older ones. I even seen one at Home Depot for $15 that was a 2 year old tree.

Do you like the red or green weeping JM's? Fall colors you prefer?

I definitely like the green weepings and love the fall colors. Can you recommend good places to get them? You said Home Depot...any other places? Thanks!

Melanie

You can sometimes find nice Japanese maples at Lowes, Home Depot, etc., but your best bet is at local nurseries. If you like the green weeping maples, look for these varieties: Waterfall, Viridis, Filagree, Lemon Lime Lace. Viridis is the old standard for green dissectums, but Waterfall seems to be the most popular these days -- at least in the Southeast. BTW, I bought my Viridis at a Home Depot store about 10 years ago, and it's now about 3' tall and 8' wide.

What price range and size are you wanting to start with would be the main question I think. Local nurseries and your Home Depot,Lowes typically carry Viridis which is nice but Waterfall is my favorite with a gorgeous fall color and it takes sun well.

If your wanting to stay cheap or get a smaller plant try ebay or a online nursery. If you want a full listing of preferred online sellers that I had good luck with email me at nicholsmat@yahoo.com.

If you want some thing that will grow slower get a selectiona called 'Filigree' If size isn't a problem one of my favorites is acer Japonicum 'Green Cascade'. Though not a true dissectum no one would really notice the difference and it is a great plant. Neither of these are likely to be available at your local garden center unless they specialize in rare plants. They are available from several mail order sources such as Greer, Forest Farm and World Plants. World plants website has lots of picture of the different selections that are available.

David