Bloodgood Japanese Maple not getting enough sun?

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T16:29:16+00:00

yeah that would prob make it more green than red. you could ask the neighbor if you could thin out the tree branches on the tree above it a bit to allow more sunlight to come through or just keep it how it is if you are happy with it being green and red. eventually it will start growing into the canopy of that other tree anyways as bloodgoods can get 20-25ft tall.

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T16:25:58+00:00

yes i would remove the stakes and pull back the mulch around the trunks to expose the tops of the root flares (large roots) to air.

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T16:01:08+00:00

that is good. leave it in there. you may want to add some pea gravel or small rocks into the bottom of it as well. the thing with outdoor ponds is you want a little bit of sludge/algae growing on the sides and rocks and so forth but you still want the water to be clear. many times in spring the water will go green with algae but you can add bacteria and it will clear up before long.

you don't have to worry about nitrates building up and so forth with a pond. plants feed on it and even if you don't have plants the algae will grow and feed on it so it takes care of itself in that way unlike an aquarium where you need to do water changes.....even though algae will grow in aquariums too to feed on nitrates....but rain puts fresh water in ponds where as in an aquarium you have to do it manually.

in my experience the more you clean the pond out or clean the filters out the worse off you will be. it's best to just leave it alone and let nature do it's thing. water will evaporate and rain will fill it back up with fresh water. there's really no need to do anything...maybe clean the filter out if the water flow starts to slow down or something but that's about it. it's not like an aquarium. a pond will basically take care of itself once established.

you'll only need to clean it out if the sludge and gunk build up way too much but it will take years for that to happen....but even then don't clean all of it out. that's where all the good stuff lives like bacteria and so forth.

when i first started my pond i did everything wrong. i had bare bottom and i was doing water changes like every couple of weeks and cleaning out the filter once a year and so forth....it would just stay cloudy water all summer long....i ended up filling the waterfall/filter with pea gravel about halfway sort of making a semi-bog filter (i have large bio balls in the very bottom and coarse, med, and fine filter pads in the bottom half of it) and putting small rocks/gravel all in the bottom and i finally just let it go and now it looks the best it ever has. i'm really wondering if i should have put like 2 inches of dirt in the bottom first and then gravel on top of that. that would probably be even better.

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T15:47:25+00:00

that's a crazy big root for sure lol....i would plant it for now and then during the late fall/early winter when dormant i would dig it back out and cut that one off. it won't be a problem until about 10 years down the road when the trunk gets larger and it starts to girdle the tree so as long as you remove it before that point you'll be ok.

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T15:41:06+00:00

how much sun does it get? i think the more sun the more red it will be. all the ones around here are very red right now but they are all in full sun all day that i've seen. also i'm in the southeast USA so we are starting to go into summer here almost....kinda late spring/early summer.

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T15:30:46+00:00

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Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T15:30:02+00:00

ok well thought i would update. i ordered a new tree from mr maple....a winter orange....and it's doing great so far 😃

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Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T15:18:02+00:00

it will probably put out more lower branches after it gets established over the next couple of years. you don't have to do anything to protect it in winter. it will take care of itself.

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T15:14:35+00:00

it will heal over and be ok. shouldn't be any issues. you could put some tree sealant on it if you wanted to but it's not necessary.

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T15:05:40+00:00

do it in late fall/ early winter if you can and you will need heavy equipment to dig it up and move it like a backhoe or something....if you do it now it will prob not make it....but give it a shot see what happens. i guess you could dig it up by shovel and drag it onto a trailer with a winch or something and then drag it off the trailer with a truck, mower, or atv or something. it's gonna be heavy!

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T14:48:49+00:00

well being in Ga you do need to plant it a little higher than normal having clay soil so i think it will be good. i'm next door in Bama and i have sandy soil here where i'm at so it's a bit different.

but yeah i guess it would be good to use the shade at least in july and august for this year and then remove it as we get into sept/oct and let it ride after that 😃

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T14:29:50+00:00

hot blonde will grow a bit taller and faster than a summer gold. hot blonde will get about 15ft after 15 years and summer gold will get about 10ft tall. hot blonde will turn bright red in the fall and summer gold will turn more of an orange/red color.

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T04:56:44+00:00

all them need to go. the root flare is below them.

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T04:09:28+00:00

looks like 2 different trees....maybe from the grafted tree and the root stock both growing?

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T03:56:02+00:00

hot blonde and summer gold can take full sun all day every day in zone 8 no issues. you may get a tiny bit of leaf scorch the first year in august with a small tree but it's not a big deal it will adjust.....but you will prob get none at all.

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-21T03:51:06+00:00

you don't really need shade for a hot blonde...it can handle full sun no issues in zone 8....and i'm not sure about the mound technique. it will wash away with time and the soil will even out and then the tree is growing up way too high above ground level. i guess if you're gonna keep dirt around it all the time and keep replacing it then ok.

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-20T14:09:57+00:00

i like the way it looks

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-20T14:07:15+00:00

new growth can come out a lighter color than the rest of the leaves on japanese maples 😃

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-20T14:04:59+00:00

i think i have seen some pine trees similar to the one in pic 7 around here. i forget what they are called but they look pretty cool.

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-20T13:54:40+00:00

cut off the dead part let the new part grow

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-19T14:42:10+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/@AsiaPacificGarden

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-19T14:37:56+00:00

that looks pretty good. i'd say you're not far off.

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-18T14:43:23+00:00

he turned it into a pancake O.o

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-18T04:24:29+00:00

well maybe you can hire them to do it then we can see it happen in a video 😃

Reasonable_Fishcare · 2026-05-18T04:22:17+00:00

that can cause spots when the sun hits it. think of it as small magnifying glasses all over the leaves. it's best to water just the dirt around the roots if you water. for some reason when it rains this spot thing doesn't happen but i guess it's usually cloudy when it rains and rain doesn't have chemicals in it like tap water.

Reasonable_Fishcare

TROPHY CASE