What pairs well with a Japanese Maple? You know you want one of these trees in your landscape, but you don’t know what you should plant alongside it. Savvy companion planting can be the difference between a mediocre garden and a breathtaking one. Whether you’re looking for ground cover, background color, or a contrasting accent plant, there are lots of other species that pair beautifully with Acer palmatum. Get ready to meet our 22 favorite Japanese Maple companion plants.
Shade-friendly ground cover plants work well below your Japanese Maple, while flowering shrubs nearby can provide shape and color contrast. Upright evergreens make a nice backdrop to help your tree pop. Any Japanese Maple companion plant must tolerate partial shade and fast-draining, acidic soil.
Before pairing a plant with your maple, you should consider its care needs and whether it’s likely to compete with your tree for water and nutrients. Species with aggressive roots could pose a problem for the relatively shallow, non-invasive root system of a Japanese Maple. Fortunately, there are many candidates for plants that will play well with your tree.
Choosing Japanese Maple Companion Plants
How do you decide what to grow alongside your Japanese Maple? Here are a few important things to take into account:
- Care needs. Any companion plant should, at minimum, be able to tolerate the conditions your Japanese Maple craves. Partial shade is almost always best, with any direct sunlight falling during the morning. And proper Japanese Maple soil has good drainage and a medium-to-low pH, while containing a decent amount of moisture and plenty of organic matter. Don’t match these trees with plants that like boggy, arid, or alkaline conditions.
- Visual interest. A big part of the reason to grow companion plants is to exercise your creativity by mixing and matching species with different looks. You may want colors or shapes that create a dramatic contrast with your Japanese Maple. Alternatively, you could be looking for a unified visual theme, choosing plants with similar sizes, structures, and hues.
- Seasonal timing. Many Japanese Maples are at their boldest and brightest in the autumn. Coupling them with flowering plants can help keep your garden colorful during the spring and summer. Other Japanese Maple companion plants help to liven things up while your tree is dormant during the winter.
Now let’s cover 22 of the best plants to grow with Japanese Maples. We’ve broken them down by category to help you find what you need more easily.
Ground Cover Companion Plants For Japanese Maples
Placing some ground cover around the base of your Japanese Maple can help keep out grass and weeds that might compete heavily with your tree’s roots. It can also help to insulate the roots against summer heat and help lock in moisture. And some kinds of ground cover have colors or shapes that accentuate your Japanese Maple’s looks.
#1: Creeping Sedum
Not all Sedums will thrive in the shadow of a tree, but many of the low-growing “creeping” varieties make excellent Japanese Maple companion plants. They appreciate a healthy amount of morning sunlight but do well with afternoon shade. The shallow, non-invasive roots of these evergreen succulents won’t give your tree any trouble. There are a dizzying number of Sedum cultivars, many with pink or purple-tinged foliage, which can create a subtle resonance with the red and coral tones of some Japanese Maple leaves.
#2: Japanese Forest Grass
Create a little slice of a native Japanese forest by pairing your maple with this ornamental grass. It flourishes in shade, though some varieties can handle partial sun better than others. Make sure to pick one that will work well in your chosen location. Also called Hakone Grass, this plant grows in mounds and clumps. It will match the rounded shape of a weeping Japanese Maple or provide contrast for an upright variety.
#3: Hosta
Here’s another sprawling genus that includes a ton of variety. Many gardeners and landscapers have fallen in love with Hostas as ground cover plants due to their hardiness, shade-friendliness, and showy leaves. Most maple trees will stifle Hostas, but Japanese Maples seem to be an exception. However, this pairing works best if you add the shrubs at the same time as you’re planting the tree.
#4: Hellebore
In addition to forming mats of tough, winter-hardy foliage, these perennials can bloom as early as February. Also known as Lenten Rose or Christmas Rose, Hellebores work well as Japanese Maple companion plants because they appreciate the early-season sunlight coming through the bare branches. They’re especially nice on sloping ground — this makes it easier to see the colorful insides of the nodding blooms. Hellebores have been extensively hybridized, so you can find them in a huge range of colors.
#5: Northern Maidenhair Fern
Ferns tend to live in the shady reaches of forest floors, making them good options for growing below thick tree canopies. If you have a dense, weeping Japanese Maple that overshadows the ground below, consider Northern Maidenhair ferns as ground cover. They drape low over the soil to suppress weeds, and their long, rounded fronds give them a distinctive profile that makes them stand out against the tree.
#6: Japanese Painted Fern
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that they’re neighbors in nature, the Japanese Painted Fern is a particularly good Japanese Maple companion plant. It creates a delicious color combo beneath trees with red leaves, thanks to its silvery foliage and pinkish stalks. The fans of this fern unfurl in graceful arcs to spread over wide swathes of ground. It loses its leaves seasonally, so don’t expect ground cover through the winter, but they’ll grow back in spring.
#7: Coral Bells
It’s easy to get lost in the sheer range of colors and patterns that this plant’s foliage offers. Also known as Heucheras, Coral Bells are shade-friendly and produce large, ruffled leaves. The green ones could almost be mistaken for lettuce, but there are also red, orange, purple, pink, and yellow variants, giving you lots of options for complementing your Japanese Maple’s color. Some Coral bells also send up flowers on slender stalks, but their blooming period tends to be brief.
#8: Black Mondo Grass
This is another ornamental grass with a mounding shape similar to Japanese Forest Grass. The difference is that Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’ has a deep purple color that can easily pass for black in the right light. Lighter purple flowers and berries add some additional shades to the mix. Black Mondo Grass is also resistant to browsing by deer, which will come as a welcome relief to many gardeners.
Flowering Companion Plants For Japanese Maples
Japanese Maples have fairly inconspicuous flowers. Most of their visual interest comes from their branches and foliage. That’s why we like to pair them with trees, shrubs, or perennials that produce showy blooms. This gives your garden a more well-rounded look. If you pay attention to color contrast, you can make both plants really pop.
#9: Azalea
Just like Japanese Maples, Azaleas prefer acidic soil with good drainage – if anything, you might need to amend your soil with elemental sulfur to ensure it’s acidic enough. The vivid, trumpet-shaped flowers of an Azalea also provide a fantastic visual accent next to your tree. Red or purple variants like Fireball or Korean Azalea add color beside green Japanese Maples like Seiryu or Shigashira. Lighter white, pink, or yellow Azalea blooms might look great next to deep red maples like Emperor I.
#10: Flowering Dogwood
This tree bursts into bloom in the middle of spring with a profusion of small but beautiful flowers. The blossoms are usually a brilliant white, but you can also find cultivars in pink, red, or green. Dogwoods tend to be similar in size to Japanese Maples, but their leaves, flowers, and (in many cases) branch structures are quite different. As a result, they accent each other very well. Watch out for anthracnose wilt, a fungal disease that can affect both types of tree.
#11: Winter Heath
Heath plants come in a number of varieties, but our favorite might be Erica carnea, the Winter Heath. The delicate pink, white, or green flowers of this coniferous evergreen shrub brighten up the dreariest part of the year. Be careful where you plant it, though — it’s invasive in some parts of the U.S. Winter Heath works best near your Japanese Maple but not right under it, because it can’t handle full shade.
#12: Daffodil
These bulbs bloom early in the spring, helping your garden to look alive even before your Japanese Maple leafs out. And the yellow, white, or peachy pink-orange flowers should stick around to provide contrast when the tree’s new foliage forms. Daffodils tend to prefer full sun to partial shade, so don’t plant them as ground cover right by the trunk. However, they should make superb Japanese Maple companion plants if placed near the drip line.
#13: Hydrangea
One of the most iconic flowering shrubs is also a lovely companion plant for your Japanese Maple. These two kinds of plants have nearly identical care preferences: partial shade, mildly acidic pH, and good drainage. But the huge cones or balls of colorful flowers on your Hydrangeas form a dramatic contrast with Japanese Maples leaves. If the soil is particularly acidic, your Mophead or Lacecap Hydrangeas could sport blue blooms that form a lovely counterpoint to the reds and oranges of your maple.
#14: Crocus
Like Daffodils, Crocuses are early-blooming flowers that will drink in the sun while your Japanese Maple is still dormant. They’ll also start luring bees into your landscape right away, which is great news for many other plants that live there. Their lovely white, purple, and yellow colors will kickstart your garden’s colors before your Japanese Maple comes to life.
#15: Fringetree
Fringetrees, AKA Chionanthus, can adapt to a wide variety of soils, including the acidic, fast-draining kinds preferred by Acer palmatum. Both the American and Chinese Fringetree work well as Japanese Maple companion plants. Their flowers look like clouds of bright white ribbons, creating a visual echo of laceleaf Japanese Maple foliage. Pro tip: these trees can be either male or female, and the males have showier blooms.
Shady Companion Trees For Japanese Maples
Another important type of Japanese Maple companion plant is the shade tree. The best sun for Japanese Maples [linkkkk to light for Japanese Maples article when live] is a dappled mix of light and shadow that recalls their native forests. Your tree will be grateful if you can place it in the partial shade cast by something taller and older.
#16: Oak
If you’re lucky enough to have a tall old oak tree spreading over your lawn, consider planting Japanese Maples underneath. The canopy will protect the smaller tree from harsh sunlight and heavy snow while still allowing plenty of indirect light. Place your Japanese Maple at least a few feet from the oak trunk, and try not to dig too deep to minimize disruption to the roots. Planting in a raised mound can help with this — see this article for instructions.
#17: Walnut
Not everything will grow happily under a walnut tree. The plant has some allelopathic properties that suppress nearby growth. Japanese Maples are undeterred, however, and they’ll do well in the partial shade provided by the bigger tree’s leaves. Many of the other Japanese Maple companion plants mentioned above can do the same, including Flowering Dogwood, Hydrangea, Daffodil, Hosta, and Sedum.
#18: Hickory
Hickory trees provide a similar shade profile to oaks, and the two often grow together in the wild. Maples are common understory trees in an Oak-Hickory forest. This should be a solid choice as a companion plant for your Acer palmatum or Acer japonicum.
Evergreen Backdrop Plants For Japanese Maples
When using Japanese Maples as focal or accent trees, you may want to add some less showy foliage behind them. This creates a “baseline” against which your tree can stand out. Backdrop plantings are a little bit like extras in a movie. Individually, they don’t draw much attention, but they help flesh out the “world” that the hero (your Japanese Maple) inhabits. Evergreens often work best for this purpose, since they grow dense foliage but no flowers.
#19: Thunderhead Pine
Pinus thunbergii, the Japanese Black pine, can be a gnarled dwarf specimen, a towering shade tree, or anything in between. The Thunderhead is a smaller variant with upright tufts of shaggy needles that create a bright green backdrop. Its branches grow in an asymmetrical pattern that looks similar to a Japanese Maple without stealing focus.
#20: Yew
Planting a yew tree can be an extremely long-term investment. This species has the potential to live for 2,000 years or more, and some ancient European yews house chapels inside their hollow trunks. Your yew won’t get to that point anytime soon, but its thick mats of dark green needles will serve your Japanese Maple well as a backdrop. Yews can’t grow in overly acidic soil, but they can tolerate a pH of 5.5-6.0, which is well within the acceptable range for Japanese Maples.
#21: Arborvitae
These ornamental evergreens are the perfect background Japanese Maple companion plants. They naturally form thick cones or columns of uniform foliage that won’t distract from your focal tree. It’s easy to grow a hedge of Arborvitae to create a sheltering windbreak for your Japanese Maple. Like yews, they don’t love acidic soil, so don’t try to grow them in the same garden bed as azaleas.
#22: Holly
Want an evergreen backdrop with broad leaves instead of needles? A holly hedge makes a fantastic privacy screen, windbreak, and habitat for local wildlife while letting your Japanese Maple’s beauty shine. Hollies thrive in low-pH soils with great drainage. They like full sun if they can get it, but partial shade will also work. Note that only female holly shrubs produce the iconic red berries.
Final Thoughts
The plants above are far from the only ones that pair well with Acer palmatum, Acer japonicum, and their cousins. Our list is just an entry point into the world of Japanese Maple companion plants. With a bit of creativity and experimentation, we have no doubt you’ll discover many more.
If you do decide to look for additional companion plants, make sure you don’t lose sight of your Japanese Maple’s key care requirements. These trees need moderate shade, neutral to acidic pH, adequate drainage, and organic matter for nutrition and soil structure. Steer clear of companion plants that don’t share those preferences.