Japanese Maple:- Poor shape.

Hi All, I have a Maple which is sparse and leggy, I want to encourage it to bush up a little, would you suggest hard pruning back and if so when? It stands aprox. 5feet tall. Thanks.

 

Hi katmar

I wouldn't recommend a hard pruning, because you'll either end up killing the thing or with just as much leggy growth as the tree tries to compensate for what it has lost. Japanese maple's just need time to grow, develop a good branch structure, fatten up, grow lateral shoots and generally fill out. Patience, I think, is the key here.

 

My experience is that Japanese maples develop by themselves into attractive shapes and sizes
However ... if you really want to shape the tree then you can in fact prune
The best time to prune is in the winter months when the tree has no leaves and you can see what you are trying to achieve
Having said that ... feel free to prune to a new bud now. I normally do not tie myself to pruning only in winter or late autumn. So far I have had no disasterous results