What you are probably seeing everywhere are Crimson Queens- they are ubiquitous in the big box stores. But there are many others that would suit your situation depending on several factors- red or variegated, fall color, habit, and so on. There is a really great "JM choices" tool at Davidsans- it will toss out several possibilities to you depending of the criteria you select plus it's a great way to learn about new varieties.

It is important to keep in mind that the dwarf weeping JM's may never grow too tall but they can get very wide....much wider than that space will accommodate without the need for frequent pruning (which is never a good idea with Japanese maples). As an example, 'Crimson Queen' can easily develop a 12' diameter crown, 'Red Select' 8-15', Tamukeyama' 8-12', 'Inaba Shidare' 8-15'. Select carefully!!

They only grow vertically if trained/staked that way. Typically, the growth habit of a weeping dissectum is lateral, not vertical, and the branches will just layer upon each other. It generally takes a lot of work to get one to grow upwards rather than outwards :-)

What Gardengal said. For example, my 'Inaba Shidare' is 8 feet wide but only about 4 feet tall.

tj

So going with an expectation of half as tall as wide a 12-ft-wide 'Crimson Queen' would be 6 ft tall and so on.

Not that in reality there is that much consistency between cultivars or even individual specimens within the group. Or that I see that many that are fully twice as wide as tall.

Timber Press Pocket Guide to Japanese Maples (2007 Vertrees, Gregory) makes these characterizations:

Strong-growing, 'Crimson Queen' ages into a beautiful cascading form and reaches 10 ft. (3 m) high and 13 ft. (4 m) wide

'Dissectum Nigrum' is vigorous growing, reaching 13-16 ft. (4-5) m high and at least as wide

The plant ['Garnet'] is vigorous-growing and eventually attains a height of 13 ft. (4 m) or more. As it matures it forms a beautiful, cascading, mound-shaped specimen

Although vigorous growing, this cultivar ['Orangeola'] is one of the smaller dissectums, barely more than 10 ft. (3 m) high when fully grown. If forms an attractive cascading mound, usually taller than wide

This hardy plant ['Tamuke yama'] is strongly cascading and grows to 13 ft. (4 m) tall

The "expectation" is entirely related to graft location. High graft plants will naturally be taller than low graft plants. Local suppliers/growers here seem to favor low grafts for any dissectum cultivar so low, mounded, mushroom shaped plants are the norm.

Grafting it on a short stem of another maple is going to have a trivial effect on the ultimate height of a dissectum that is genetically programmed to grow 10-16 ft. tall anyway.

I do see stock that has been trained to have a central vertical stem of some length at time of sale. However even in that case one grown to be, say, as much as 3-4 ft tall at a stage when it would otherwise be much shorter will not have been made to end up being 3-4 times this early height when mature just because of that initial training.

OP wrote don't want anything too tall. I agree with you on that. What you are showing us is a mini-bed. 'Kiyohime' is a dwarf selection of Japanese Maple which may work. It is highly collectable, do you have access to something like that? HERE is a thread on the Maples forum about 'Kiyohime' scroll down to the most recent post. The meatballs are going to go right? (very Homer Simpsonish) Keep in mind 'Kiyohime' is a spreader, get rid of the other stuff and put it right in the center.

This is commonly what I see around the neighborhood. Any idea what it is?

There's several varieties of Japanese Maple that look similar to each other but the most popular varieties that look like that are Crimson Queen, Tamukeyama, and inaba shidare.

All of those tend to have much darker, more wine colored foliage than in the photo. IMO, that looks more like Red Select or Red Dragon, both of which tend to lose some of their "redness" in midsummer.

And that specimen does not have a wonderfully attractive form. Looks like it was given a bowl haircut at some point in time.

I think it's an attractive tree but if it was up to me I wouldn't have pruned it and would let it grow naturally. I often see this look on Japanese Maples in my neighborhood if they are in a confined space and they're pruned.

Red Dragon remains more purple than most laceleaf (if not all) throughout the summer.

It has grown very slowly for me at the two locations I grew it/growing it. Northeast/east exposure is perfect exposure for zone 5 and colder parts of zone 6.

Promise us that you give it a haircut like the one shown? Let is weep naturally.

I think acer palmatum 'Red dragon' is your best bet. It grows slower than most of the cultivars discussed in this thread, but it's not a dwarf like 'Red filligree lace' or 'Red feathers'. It is known to be quite easy to grow and it is not too hard to find. You probably won't see it at Lowes, but a good independent nursery should be able to hook you up.

Planting top grafted weeping trees and then giving them salad bowl haircuts that defeat the weeping habit that is a lot of the point of planting them in the first place is a common practice not limited to weeping lace-leaf maples. Scalping the trunks of young, conical evergreen plants like hollies and various conifers that often do not have particularly attractive bark also seems to be a favorite form of malpruning. I have seen the amusing term Calgary palm used for Colorado spruces so mishandled in Alberta plantings.

https://www.plantamnesty.org/4-dont-s

Good information. Any other shrub suggestions for this space? I was thinking W&R W. but people on this forum don't seem to like them. Any Forsythia? I love barberry but not crazy about thorns since my hose is right behind there.

What does W&R W stand for?

You need something blue....

The winner is Blue Shadow Fothergilla. Blueish Foliage, White Blooms and Fall Color.

By the way Shining Sensation and Fine Wine are superior selections compared to Wine and Roses.

Yeah actually I wouldn't plant anything purple in front of brick that color either - it would be too much.

That window is very low. I would plant Heuchera underneath it. It comes in many colors. Then you could have one dwarf flowering plant under the address numbers.