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| 2022 |
Over the four years it has resided within the Secret Heart Island, it has thrived and provided countless opportunities to enjoy its ever-changing foliage.
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| 2023 |
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| 2024 |
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| 2025 |
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| 2025 |
During that time, I pruned it only sparingly, allowing it to establish naturally and reveal its own growth habit.
It has grown substantially, but in doing so it developed a more shrub-like form than I had envisioned. As a result, it was becoming too bulky and beginning to change the character of the north end of the viewing garden.
Between the Snowmound Spirea hedge and the First Flame Maple, the surrounding ground-level plantings were becoming increasingly crowded and receiving less light. I began by completing the annual hard prune of the Snowmound Spirea before turning my attention to the maple.
I knew I needed to proceed carefully. The First Flame Maple should be pruned in a way that minimizes vigorous new growth, yet I was undertaking this work in the middle of summer. The advantage of summer pruning was that the fully leafed canopy made it much easier to evaluate the tree's structure and identify areas that had become congested. I was also careful not to remove more than 30 percent of the canopy.
With the goal of creating a cloud-pruned form, I worked slowly, looking for natural spaces where the canopy could be opened. I first removed dead wood and the small interior shoots that cluttered the branches and trunk.
I recognize that this approach will add another task to my annual pruning routine, but I believe the refined structure will enhance both the tree and the overall composition of the garden.
Hopefully, I didn't over-prune. The finished result is very close to what I had envisioned.
While working on the First Flame Maple, I also realized that the adjacent Flame Grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Purpurascens') was simply the wrong plant in the wrong place. It had matured beyond its intended space and was already affecting the maple's growth along its east side. In addition, it was blocking the view of the other plantings when viewing the garden from the East gate of the Zen Garden.
In the meantime, the First Flame Maple looks wonderful, I'm excited to watch next year's spring transformation of colors, one of the qualities that first drew me to this exceptional tree.
It has grown substantially, but in doing so it developed a more shrub-like form than I had envisioned. As a result, it was becoming too bulky and beginning to change the character of the north end of the viewing garden.
Between the Snowmound Spirea hedge and the First Flame Maple, the surrounding ground-level plantings were becoming increasingly crowded and receiving less light. I began by completing the annual hard prune of the Snowmound Spirea before turning my attention to the maple.
I knew I needed to proceed carefully. The First Flame Maple should be pruned in a way that minimizes vigorous new growth, yet I was undertaking this work in the middle of summer. The advantage of summer pruning was that the fully leafed canopy made it much easier to evaluate the tree's structure and identify areas that had become congested. I was also careful not to remove more than 30 percent of the canopy.
With the goal of creating a cloud-pruned form, I worked slowly, looking for natural spaces where the canopy could be opened. I first removed dead wood and the small interior shoots that cluttered the branches and trunk.
From there, I selectively created larger gaps between the "clouds" to improve light penetration into the center of the tree while revealing more of the trunk and branch structure.
I recognize that this approach will add another task to my annual pruning routine, but I believe the refined structure will enhance both the tree and the overall composition of the garden.
While working on the First Flame Maple, I also realized that the adjacent Flame Grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Purpurascens') was simply the wrong plant in the wrong place. It had matured beyond its intended space and was already affecting the maple's growth along its east side. In addition, it was blocking the view of the other plantings when viewing the garden from the East gate of the Zen Garden.
As a result, I plan to remove it and replace it with Panicum virgatum 'Ruby Ribbons', a grass that once occupied this area (see 2022 image at the top) and provided a richer splash of deep red throughout the growing season while remaining in better proportion to the surrounding plantings.
In the meantime, the First Flame Maple looks wonderful, I'm excited to watch next year's spring transformation of colors, one of the qualities that first drew me to this exceptional tree.
