Japanese Maples in Australia

[evanjt]

To whom this may concern,

I was wondering on how it is possible to grow Japanese Maples in places like Brisbane, Australia, where the temperature never really drops down low enough to induce the natural, required dormancy period that Japanese Maples need to survive. Yet, I have found a couple of sites after doing a Google search, that say that Japanese Maples do indeed grow in Australia. Do they, do something special to keep them alive? If not, how long do these Japanese Maples live? Thank you for your time.

 

[miker]

I would assume places like Canberra and possibly Melbourne(?) could support healthy Japanese maples. Basically, if you can give the tree (very roughly) 400-500 hours(at a minimum) at or below 7C per year during the cooler months, it will probably have a good chance of surviving long-term, assuming the other horticultural requirements are met as well.

There is a nursery in Apopka,FL, near Orlando, Florida that grows Bloodgood Japanese maples. They generally appear to be barely hanging on there and from what I can tell, growth is limited but present. They have been offering Bloodgoods for a number of years though, so they do actually survive long-term. This location probably sees 200-400 chill hours on average per "winter", and this varies considerably year-to-year. Downtown Orlando's warm urban area, like 50km away at most, maybe sees 80-200 chill hours per year, and I would not expect a Bloodgood Japanese maple to last more than 2-3 years there.

Bottom line, if you are thinking about trying any Japanese maple in an tropical or boderline tropical area like Brisbane, for example, which may see 20-50 hours per year below 7C, you will not be successful without artificial means for chilling your tree(s), such as a refrigerator. I did winter temperate trees in a refrigerator for at least 12 years when I lived in a warm climate and it worked, the key was NEVER letting the roots dry out. This technique may be a bit more than you want to take on as a beginner though.

If you must have a Japanese maple, I would get a young sapling, give it proper care and keep it as cool/cold as possible during your cool months for a few years. See if this is successful. If not, do the same and pop it in the refrigerator from June through August. Bet you will be successful then

 

[Gustavo Martins]

They are grown here as landscape trees. Few chill hours for sure. In pots I don't know yet. I've got mine roughly 1 year ago an it is still ok. Grew lots this season. Only lost its leaves by late December and needs to be in shade or partial shade from late May/ early June till end of September or it will have its leaves burnt.

Will need to see how it goes for the next 2-3 years to support my findings this year though

Another option are tridents or some Southern Europe species. They are more resistant than palmatum for sure

 

[miker]

You could probably get a trident maple(the straight species, Acer buergerianum) to live in Brisbane for a number of years, but I doubt it would be healthy enough and perform well enough to be worth having.

If you can find a Taiwan trident maple, that might actually do well.

 

[evanjt]

Thank you so much for your responses. I think it has cleared up most of my questions on the topic.

 

[Starfox]

Maybe you can go check these guys out....

http://www.brindabella-gardens.com.au/Maples.html

You probably wont have any trouble in actually locating J. maples these days but for the price they are you may just be buying a future dead tree.