How to Plant a Bloodgood Japanese Maple

The Bloodgood Japanese maple (Acer palmatum "Bloodgood") is a cultivar popular because of its red leaf color. It holds this color all summer long, although it may turn reddish-green in hot weather at the warmer end of its range, U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 8. The Bloodgood Japanese maple stays relatively small, reaching 20 feet high and wide, developing multiple twisting trunks with grey bark that are an important part of its beauty.


Dig a hole twice as wide as the tree's rootball and three-quarters as deep; Japanese maples are planted slightly high, to prevent their roots from getting waterlogged.


Slide the plant out of the pot. Clip off any roots that are circling around the rootball. Place the tree in the hole, with the top quarter of the rootball showing above the soil surface. Add or remove soil at the bottom to achieve the desired height.


Backfill the hole halfway with the soil you removed, trickling the soil into the rootball. Water thoroughly. Finish filling the hole. Add soil around the outside of the raised rootball, tapering down to ground level, but don't cover the rootball. Tamp the soil down. Water the tree thoroughly.


Spread a 2-inch-thick layer of shredded bark or wood chip mulch around the base of the tree, covering the raised rootball. Keep it at least 2 inches away from the trunk on all sides.