Acer palmatum Bloodgood

The North Carolina toolbox gives this form a well-drained, acid, organic soil with good air circulation, and on heavy clay says to plant it high or in a raised bed for better drainage, because without good drainage it is prone to verticillium wilt. The Missouri Plant Finder asks for moist, organically rich, slightly acid, well-drained soil, mulch to hold moisture and keep the roots cool, shelter from strong winds and no hot, dry sites, and grows it in the American zones 5 to 8.

Sun depends on the summer. Both references allow full sun in the cooler north of its American range and prefer part shade in the hotter south, the toolbox to avoid leaf scorch in hot dry summers. Both say it leafs out early and may be damaged by spring frosts.

On pruning the two differ. The toolbox prunes in late winter while the tree is dormant, to alter the shape if wanted; the Missouri entry keeps pruning to a minimum and does it from late autumn to mid winter, since spring or summer cuts often bleed.

Pests are known here only from the two American lists: aphids, horse chestnut scale and borers, which the toolbox says rarely do long-term harm, and deer; the Missouri entry adds bagworms, root weevils, mites, stem canker, leaf spots, fusarium, botrytis, anthracnose and root rots, and chlorosis on high-pH soils.

The North Carolina toolbox grows it in a container or as a specimen in the ground, along walkways and patios because of its small size, and as an understorey tree. The Missouri Plant Finder adds its general uses for Japanese maples, among them a screen and bonsai, and says this form may also be grown as a multi-stemmed shrub. Its entry for Shaina records that cultivar as a witches' broom found on Bloodgood. The toolbox's list of the species' cultivars also carries Sango Kaku, with coral-coloured twigs, and Osakazuki, with excellent autumn colour.

The table above shows the sizes growers list, and the trade prices by size are on the price page. The toolbox says this form is propagated by grafting and stem cuttings and is easy to plant from nursery containers; no reference read says how Australian growers raise it. The HortOS guide to judging nursery plant quality covers what to check on any tree. Stock crossing a state border moves under the state and territory biosecurity rules like any other plant. The drawbacks the references give: leaf scorch and a greenish red in hot dry summers, verticillium wilt without good drainage, and damage to the early leaves from spring frosts.