Plants to go with Japanese Maple?

6 years ago

I'm redoing my front yard and am very stuck on what to plant around an existing weeping Japanese Maple. Everything else is going, except the blue star juniper on the far left which I think I'll keep. Ignore everything in the background as well, which is now gone aside from the weeping cherry, and has been replaced with rhododendrons, annabelle hydrangea, inkberry, prairie dropseed, dwarf ninebark, gray owl juniper, dwarf black spruce, switchgrass, purple coneflower, etc. (just don't have a picture yet).

I am zone 6 in Massachusetts, and this part of the yard gets full sun, especially in the afternoon...so don't think ferns and coral bells would be appropriate here. Trying to get away from the "green/yellow/red" look from a previous owner, and want more of a natural look with lots of variation in color. Also trying to plant as much native as I can!

Around the maple, I was thinking of doing bearberry along the back side, and prince of wales juniper with creeping phlox mixed in to replace the green & gold euonymus. But there's still a spot for something between the blue star juniper and maple (see dead azalea branches) and on the back right corner (where the barberry bush is).

On the right side across the path, I had been thinking of putting a blue shag eastern white pine to contrast with the maple, but didn't know what to plant with it as there's still plenty of room...Kelsey's red twig dogwood? Prairie dropseed? Potentilla? No idea what might look good with it!

Any other/better ideas for these two spots?

Featured Answer

kitasei

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

I recommend letting the weeping maple grow out so that it grazes the ground, the feature that makes them beautiful. Yours seems to have been pruned like an umbrella. That said, nothing needs to be planted beneath it. Everything around it should be in scale. Low, unless a tree that makes the maple the natural understory tree that it is. In other words, create a miniature landscape where the maple is a tree, not a shrub or perennial.

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Comments (7)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
6 years ago
I would be very careful to avoid as much disturbance around the maple as possible. Their root system is very sensitive and any sort of cultivation or digging in the area can be damaging to the tree and an opportunity to introduce soil pathogens that can be dangerous or even fatal.

I also agree that the tree has been malpruned over the years and should be allowed to assume a more natural, ground sweeping form. And it should also be allowed to take center stage, so any accompanying plantings should be very low and secondary. I'd be inclined to use just a groundcover, something like Veronica peduncularis 'Georgia Blue'. It would compliment the wine colored foliage of the maple and the blue juniper.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years ago
Ignore everything in the background as well, which is now gone

==>> well??? ... how about a current pic???
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years ago
btw .. welcome to the forums...

you missed a lot of peeps in the annual and perennial forums ...and perhaps shrubs and conifers ....

this forum is more for bugs and disease ... hence the clinic idea ...

and im not sure you want to attract wildlife... e.g. deer ...

i dont care where you post ...im just giving you suggestions where you might get more replies.. from more peeps ... you just never know where you will find your muse ....

ken
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
6 years ago
It is also posted to the Landscape Design forum......which is entirely appropriate. And really the only place it needs to be.
dlk555 thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
dlk555
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you everyone! Very helpful advice. I DO want to attract birds and pollinators...no deer in my area (well rarely...) but lots of voracious rabbits that eat everything I seem to plant. Appreciate the advice on where else to post - new to this.

I don't think the photo shows it well, but there is ~2 ft of room in front of the maple (the only things that fall under it are the 2 euonymus on the right hand side), but I think I agree that low and inconspicuous is probably the way to go all the way around. Reading that there are some more sun-tolerant heucheras, maybe a dark purple/silver one would be good for an accent next to the blue star juniper?

Any thoughts on the small patch on the right where I was thinking of putting a blue shag pine?
User
6 years ago
I think anemone might be pretty by the juniper.

https://www.waltersgardens.com/variety.php?ID=ANEWS