What a lovely Acer palmatum dissectum! .Thanks for sharing your photos. Eight feet is quite tall I think. My only caution is the small leaf stems are quite fragile so lift, if need be, to clean out the old, but very gently. I purchased my first this year. Fifty some days over 90 degrees, so definitely gave it water, especially starting in August. I am curious how many leaves will drop in winter and hopeful with the El Nino, all our trees survive. Much happiness to you in your new home.

I will try to get some clear pictures tomorrow when the sun isn't so damn bright. There are not many dead leaves on this tree right now. If I was to prune it some when is the best time to do it? I do love it but it is growing up over my porch and over the 2 evergreens next to it.

Here are a few more slightly clearer images.

Last one is from my porch looking down at it right behind it.

Now is not a good time to prune, so I'd leave it until the leaves drop and you can see what's actually happening under all those leaves. Early dormancy, like right after the leaves drop - is an ideal time to prune JM's.

You can shorten excessively long branches by cutting back to a joint or leaf node but I'd caution you to resist trimming them all off evenly or creating a bowl shape or "dutch boy haircut" look. Really inappropriate for a weeping JM and IMO not a good look at all.

I don't want to prune much I just want to clean up some new growth that will start to take over my porch if left alone. Just a quick question but is it normal for a branch to come out from just above the root to have slightly different leaves then the rest of the tree? They looked much greener and slightly greener then the rest of the tree. I noticed it when taking the pictures and would go back for a better picture but it is raining pretty hard outside now.

They are just being shaded. Red leafed maples will often "green out" in a lot of shade.

And really, wait to do any pruning. With the weather most of the country has been experiencing this summer, the tree is still in fairly active growth. Pruning just stimulates more growth and any new growth now will not have sufficient time to ripen properly before cold weather arrives.

Most likely the branch coming out from just above the root is a regular Japanese maple branch growing our of the root stock that your weeping red maple was grafted to. You will want to remove any growth coming directly out of the root stock or you will have a normal upright green Japanese maple growing up from underneath.

I would lim it up into an interesting irregular bonsai shape so that you can see the trunk and branches in various locations rather than having the big blob look. Just my opinion. Have fun with it. =)

I missed that portion about the branch with different leaves emerging right above the roots.......garen is correct that if coming from below the graft union (as it sounds like it is), this a rootstock sprout and you do want to remove those whenever you see them forming.

Too bad there isn't room for it to spill over the wall, which would be a lot more interesting and attractive. But if this is a public sidewalk where it would block traffic then you are stuck with continuing to prune it back - probably every year.

It isn't crowding out the sidewalk so I don't want to trim the front. It is the porch side which is just now starting to become a problem. I just don't want a mangled mess on my porch from people trying to walk by.

Cut the offending branches off where they originate, starting at the bottom, working up and out. That will give the maple a sculptured look, rather than a cap on a stick look.

With a little care you can have a really nice looking maple.

Mike