Vine maples

Here in the Pacfic NW, the forest become alive with color starting about now with our vine Maples. I'm determined this year to see if I can bring home a coupla small ones to learn from. I'm looking for some help from those who may have gone before me with this variety. So if you can share some knowledge it would be appreciated.

Hi Dick, the Vine Maple is near the top of my favorites list. There are many cultivars developed, but I prefer our wild trees over all. This is a very unique tree, being a close relative of the Japanese Maple, Acer palmatum. It is in the same series Palmata and is the only member of this series to occur naturally outside of Asia.

The two trees are so close in relation they are able to hybridize to produce new cultivars. I have an experimental plot where I have planted several Japanese Maples into a grove of Vine Maples. Add water and wait. Grafting is also possible between species, either way.

In a nutshell, if you have Japanese Maples, put the Vine Maple right next to it and treat them the same.
Rick

thank-you rick! It's starting to begin raining up in the mountains where it's been so dry, so I think I may slip up there and begin the search. Long range winter forcasts are talking a colder than normal winter, so i may not get too ambitious in digging this fall.

what can you share with us about maintenance. I think I have the collection and stabilization part down but after transistioned, I'd appreciate you sharing what you've learned.

May I ask a question please...
This is the first time for me to read about this plant and I searched images on the internet and I saw they are really very beautiful plants. Acer circinatum their scientific name I read.
My question is : are vine maples sensitive to sunlight or wind like the j. acers are?

Thank you!

To answer you question Nellie, will answer Dick's as well. Yes they are sensitive to sun and wind just like Acer palmatum. In the garden I grow them in the full sun with afternoon shade. You will see that the leaves turn a beautiful bronzy brown when exposed. These are generally understory trees, surviving in the complete shade of the canopy. Along creeks and open meadows and after logging they do get expose to full sun and you can see this bronzing effect. The leaves are smaller and the internodes are closer under these conditions.

In a container I keep them out of the full sun and only give them morning sun till about 11:00am. Then they are in dappled shade the rest of the day.

Like my Acer palmatum I feed generously in spring and early summer, but do not give nitrogen past July. If you do growth will continue throughout summer and you will get quite a bit of dieback of the young shoots during winter.

These trees are often found in bog and wet zones (springs and seeps) with their roots right in the water table. They do not like to get dry. I use a soil mix of about 60% organic material and keep them moist.

Any images ?
Anyone?
Thanks.
Khaimraj

thanks RK, good stuff

I will go now and snap a few for you. One thing I've found out is that it's very hard to take a good pic in the garden. Everything is green and I have to lay down on the ground to get a good angle. A good point in favor of raised beds. I'm not saying I'm getting too old for crawling around in the dirt, it's the getting up that's getting harder! Be back in a bit.

WOW! really happy that you'd drop what your doing to take a few pics for us! Thanks!!!!!!

Well Dick, it was a race with the sun. It's very hard to get a pic out in the garden once the sun is on it. So it was go now or wait till this afternoon. Let's see if I got anything:

This tree is older than it looks, but these are not large trees, a two-three inch trunk is possible, though. With this tree I try to capture the essence of Vine Maple. They tend to vine horizonally through the understory.

This is the only one I have in a container

This is a clump style



Lots of sacrifice stuff going on.

There is a Vine Maple in this cluster of willow






She's a nice forked trunk.

Well, that's a few of my Vines. If you ever come to the Northwest and see these swaying etherially in the breeze, or the canyons alive with blazing fall color, you'll know why we love this tree.

By the way, the discoloration you see in the foliage is due to the fires we've had here since the end of July. I'm about twenty miles away from the Douglas Complex, the largest of them. We were in smoke for about two weeks, visibility about one hundred yards. It had a strange effect on all my trees. My conifers thought it was fall and completely skipped the usual August shutdown and most of my decidous trees have some leaf damage that looks like mild acid burn.

Hope you enjoy the pics, Rick

thanks for your posting.

Rick,

Thanks for sharing the pics.

Nigel

My pleasure folks! You've struck a chord close to my heart and I'd really like to see more folks discover our little treasure, so thank you, Dick!

I did want to mention that the leaves do reduce very nicely and some of the cultivars are fantastic. You can see some in the catalog of forestfarm.com.

Sincerly, Rick

Just to say thank you,
Khaimraj

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:Just to say thank you,
Khaimraj

Me, too!

Dick, few years ago started bonsai from 2" high Japanese Maple starts in barkdust under mother tree, relocated them to grow on a chunk of black lava rock. Since then have been in the woods looking at the abundance of vine maples, (still in leaf), and have collected a few small samples (trunks no larger than 1/2"). Was given a long rectangular pot and pondered what to put in it, (x number of trees, definitely more than one). Have been looking at bonsai pictures and spoted some rafts, ("that's what I need for the long base"). Back in the woods looking at vine maple branches and found some have been buried/trapped (by snow or fallen log) that manefest themselves by a specific row of new trees growing from that branch, (now ain't that real handy), got a couple of them. Few days ago, checking some bee hives I have on a (logged few years ago) 40 acre tree farm, started looking at the leafless vine maples in that area. Now I'm considering cheating (finding those trees that have years in the ground forming a nice trunk, I know there's a proper word for this). Found some nice samples with 2-3 inch bases, many with good new growth branches (easily seen without the leaves), some really good that have been broken and battle scared from the log harvests (over the tops of the maples). Left them in place yet marking in my mind where they are and will go back this coming early spring, (sort of considering how long orange marking paint would stay on trunks - but not, but then typing this I realized I could mark upper branches well because I'll be wacking those off when I reduce the size. Hmmmm. Got my coat and hat ready, all I need is paint dry weather. Don't know that I answered your question but there's food for thought in here.

Thanks for sharing your story. I did find a vine maple with excellent nebai this summer, so looking to pot it up this spring. singular trunk and nice branching, so hopeful I can do something with this year.