Vitifolium Fullmoon Maple
Acer japonicum 'Vitifolium'
Height: 20 feet
Spread: 20 feet
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: 5
Description:
A compact cutleaf tree of the finest caliber, renowned for its brilliant fall colors on very lacy, delicate palm-shaped leaves; a phenomenal fall accent tree with no equals for home landscape use
Ornamental Features
Vitifolium Fullmoon Maple is primarily valued in the landscape for its ornamental globe-shaped form. It has rich green deciduous foliage. The lobed palmate leaves turn outstanding shades of yellow, orange and crimson in the fall.
Landscape Attributes
Vitifolium Fullmoon Maple is an open multi-stemmed deciduous tree with a more or less rounded form. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which can make it a great accent feature on this basis alone.
This tree will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should only be pruned in summer after the leaves have fully developed, as it may 'bleed' sap if pruned in late winter or early spring. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Vitifolium Fullmoon Maple is recommended for the following landscape applications;
- Accent
- Mass Planting
- General Garden Use
Planting & Growing
Vitifolium Fullmoon Maple will grow to be about 20 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 20 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 3 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live to a ripe old age of 100 years or more; think of this as a heritage tree for future generations!
This tree does best in full sun to partial shade. You may want to keep it away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is quite intolerant of urban pollution, therefore inner city or urban streetside plantings are best avoided, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.
