Subject: [permaculture] Japanese Maple

From: EFMonaco <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 08:26:26 -0400

Does anyone out there know how much sun or shade the fine-leaf shrub
varieties of the Japanese Maples can tolerate?  I have an urban situation
with some harsh energies from a roadway in front of a house that need to be
softened.  We'll be converting a gravel (transitioned from asphalt paving)
area that was parking, so the soil is essentially inorganic, like a rock
that we'll have to dig to prepare for anything.

 We don't want to totally block the view for safety reasons, but we want to
maximize density and mass to filter out road noise.  A large canopy tree
will interfere with incoming utility lines (God forbid), and a small canopy
tree would be good if it had a shrub below it to absorb the road noise. 
It's a south-facing exposure with direct mid-morning to mid-afternoon sun,
kind of dry, but in a temperate, moist climate otherwise (Knoxville,
Tennessee).  Our idea is to work in a small pond with a small, low canopy
tree and some lower-level shrubs and herbs below.  In searching for the
ideal low-canopy tree we came upon the beautiful Japanese maples; some
varieties which seem more shrub-like.  

Since they come in many varieties, I'm looking for advice.  Could the
larger ones  thrive well as the canopy?  Could the smaller, shrub kind
thrive as a bush in the open (without a canopy)?  Ideally there would be
another canopy above the shrub.  Any thoughts?  Any other ideas besides
Acer P.??

Gene Monaco
in Knoxville

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From: lbarnes <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 03 May 1999 19:53:48 -0500

Gene, from my experience with  Japanese Maple esp. cut-leaf cvs. are
real sensitive to drying- if the plants are stressed once, the leaf tips
will dry and show damage for the rest of the season. If you can water
them, they do great. Why not some evergreen to reduce noise year-round?
There's misc. hollies which might do in your planting. Lee "Smoky"
Barnes

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