You want to be sure you’re planting your Japanese Maple in a location that will give it enough light to fuel its growth. But you also need to be sure that you won’t accidentally let it get scorched by the sun’s heat. And on top of all that, you’d probably like to find the lighting conditions that best show off its gorgeous coloration in every season. How do you find a spot that meets all those requirements? What’s the best sunlight for Japanese Maples?
In most cases, the best sunlight for Japanese Maple is dappled shade cast by taller trees. These plants do best with 4-6 hours of direct sunlight in the morning but shade in the afternoon heat. Some Japanese Maples can grow in full sun, but shade is crucial in high-heat regions.
The sunlight requirements for your Japanese Maple can vary quite a bit depending on the specific variety you’re growing. They also depend on the aesthetic effect you’re after — certain foliage colors may look better in brighter or dimmer light. We’ll discuss all of these considerations in depth below and introduce you to some of the best Japanese Maple cultivars for every type of lighting.
What Kind of Sunlight Do Japanese Maples Prefer?
The term “Japanese Maple” actually covers a few different species. The most common among American ornamental gardens is Acer Palmatum. Other popular Japanese Maple species include Acer Shirasawanum and Acer Japonicum.
Japanese Maples can get quite tall given enough time, but most of them slow down their growth considerably once they hit 15-25 feet high. In the wild, they mainly grow as understory trees, living in the shade of deciduous forest canopies.
As a rule, Japanese Maples do best in dappled shade — a shifting mix of light and shadow that mimics conditions in their native forests. Ideally, you’ll want to plant yours in a spot that gets around 4-6 hours of direct sunlight in the morning, followed by shade from about 2 PM onward.
This means that in the Northern Hemisphere, an eastern exposure will almost always provide the best direct sunlight for Japanese Maples. Your tree should get its brightest light in the morning, when it’s best equipped to handle it. Gardens facing south get more sun all day long, and those looking west get more afternoon sun. If you’re planting a Japanese Maple there, you may want to consider giving it a bit more shade. A northern exposure provides very little direct light and should be safe even if your tree has little to no cover.
Can a Japanese Maple Handle Full Sun?
In general, you can’t go wrong with the mix of sun and shade described above when growing a Japanese Maple. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t grow these trees at all if your yard or garden is wide open and sunny. With proper care, Japanese Maples are fairly adaptable trees that can flourish in a wide range of conditions.
In general, it’s not the sunlight itself that poses a problem for a Japanese Maple — it’s the heat. When the ambient temperature is above 90 degrees or so, these trees can suffer without some protective shade.
Japanese Maples can grow in USDA Hardiness Zones 5 through 9 but usually can’t take full sun above Zone 8. The number on the map doesn’t tell the whole story, though. For example, San Francisco technically falls in Zone 10 but has relatively mild summers that can support a Japanese Maple even in full sun. And the intense, dry heat of central Texas will be too much for an unshaded Acer Palmatum despite being classed as Zone 8.
Tips For Cultivating a Japanese Maple in High Sunlight
- Water generously in the summer. Overwatering is bad for Japanese Maples, but they need more to drink when grown in bright sunlight. Try to keep the soil mildly damp, not soggy or crusty. Water the ground, not the leaves, during the cool early morning hours.
- Mulch. A layer of mulch around the base of your tree is a great way to help retain moisture in the soil. Well-composted organic matter like pine needles or hardwood chips is best. Layer it about 2-3 inches thick, making sure to keep it a few inches away from the trunk.
- Fertilize sparingly. Fertilizing too much can increase the risk of dehydration. It’s almost always best to fertilize Japanese Maples lightly, but this is even more important when you’re growing them in hot areas.
- Watch out for reflected heat. Heat can bounce off of flat surfaces like walking paths, driveways, or the side of your house. If you’re going to plant a Japanese Maple in full sun, you’ll probably want to place it well away from these sources of reflected heat.
- Don’t surround it with decorative rocks. Dense objects like rocks and bricks can absorb a lot of heat when the sun is shining. Then they’ll radiate it out as the air gets cooler, continuing to toast your Japanese Maple.
- Avoid pruning in high heat. There are some scenarios where pruning a Japanese Maple in the late summer is a good idea. But if your tree is growing in full sun, we’d advise against it. You’d be removing shade right when your Japanese Maple is most vulnerable.
The Best Japanese Maples For Full Sunlight
Choosing the right type of Japanese Maple can also greatly increase its odds of surviving in full sun. Certain cultivars thrive much better in the heat than others, and some won’t achieve their best coloration without plenty of light.
For example, we often like full sunlight for Japanese Maples with deep red foliage. They have less chlorophyll than green-leafed varieties, so they have a harder time absorbing enough light. Dim conditions also may not show off their dark coloration very well.
Here are a few of our favorite Japanese Maples for spots without much shade:
- Emperor I. A popular scarlet-colored Japanese Maple with an upright, tufted growth habit. It’s known for leafing out a bit later than other varieties, making it less vulnerable to spring frosts. This helps it survive without the insulating shade of other trees.
- Inaba Shidare. If you like red-leafed Japanese Maples but want something with more of a weeping habit, try the Inaba Shidare. This is a very heat-tolerant laceleaf variety.
- Coral Bark. Also known as Sango Kaku, the standout feature of this tree is its brilliant pinkish bark. It also has intense fall coloration that benefits from abundant sunlight. While your tree is still young, you may want to provide some artificial shade during the spring and summer, but it will become quite heat-tolerant as it matures.
- Seiryu. The Seiryu has a unique selling point; it’s the only laceleaf Japanese Maple that grows with upright foliage instead of drooping and weeping. It’s also a green-leaf variety that’s capable of thriving in full sun.
Can Japanese Maples Handle Full Shade?
This question is a bit trickier to answer because not everyone means the same thing by “full shade”. Your Japanese Maple isn’t going to thrive if you put it in a pot beneath a carport or a deck. However, these trees often grow well, even under dense forest canopies where they receive shade all day long. There’s a good chance your Japanese Maple can thrive in that shady grove at the edge of your yard.
Heavy shade has some advantages and disadvantages for Japanese Maples. The most obvious is the reduced risk of sun scorch. A thick canopy can also trap warmer air below it, creating a bit of a buffer against frost. This can extend a Japanese Maple’s display of fall color for an extra couple of weeks and shield it from cold snaps in the spring.
The downside of deep shade is that it can slow your Japanese Maple’s growth and may lead to a thinner tree overall. Of course, this may not be a negative if you have limited garden space! And, as we mentioned above, darker varieties like the Bloodgood Japanese Maple can blend into the background in low-light conditions.
The Best Japanese Maples For Low Sunlight
Some Japanese Maple varieties have spring foliage that combines subtle pastel notes like pink, purple, orange, and creamy white. These trees are often ideal for heavy shade. Too much sun can scorch their delicate leaves or make them look washed out and dull. Green Japanese Maples may also do well in the shade — their rich stock of chlorophyll helps them make the most of the limited sunlight.
The following Japanese Maples should all make good trees for shady spots:
- Ukigumo. This plant’s name means “Floating Cloud” in Japanese, a poetic description of its pale springtime foliage. The new leaves are a smoky purple-gray speckled with dark green. It needs shade to attain its most vivid coloration.
- Amber Ghost. Raising this Japanese Maple in the shade will give you an incredible display of color throughout the growing season. In the springtime, it sports pink leaves with dark spiderwebbing veins. The leaves shift to a rich golden brown by the height of summer, often retaining some pink at the edges. Fall brings on a flush of vivid reds and oranges.
- Waterfall. True to its name, this laceleaf tree grows in a cascading pattern that can be trained into some intriguing shapes. It tends to grow wider than it is tall, making it an excellent ornamental understory shrub. The deeply dissected leaves are bright green in the summer and bright red in the fall.
- Crimson Queen. Japanese Maples with red foliage don’t always perform as well in the shade, but the Crimson Queen is an exception. Its thin leaves remain a deep wine-red for most of the year, then blaze crimson when autumn arrives.
Can You Grow a Japanese Maple Indoors?
Is there enough sunlight for Japanese Maples in your home? Can you raise one as a bonsai indoors?
Probably…but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. The issue isn’t the lighting — your potted tree would probably get plenty of sun in an east-facing window. The difficult part would be overwintering your indoor Japanese Maple.
These deciduous trees need a period of dormancy each year, during which they drop their leaves and prepare for the next season’s growth. If this cycle is disrupted, the tree may grow for a while, but it will get stunted and sickly in the long run.
In theory, you could move your Japanese Maple into a colder space during the winter, such as an unheated garage. Timing the transition would be extremely difficult, though. You can’t just shove a tree that’s in full leaf into a dank basement, or the shock will kill it. But it won’t start losing its leaves until prompted by the change in the weather. It would likely take a lot of time and effort to simulate the gradual changing of the seasons, and your Japanese Maple still might not survive.
Is Your Japanese Maple Getting Too Much Sunlight?
The relatively thin leaves of an Acer Palmatum lose moisture quickly in hot and sunny conditions. If your tree gets too low on moisture, it can’t cool itself down effectively, and the heat can kill the cells of its leaves and bark.
You can spot this problem by looking for brown, brittle, curling leaves on your Japanese Maple. In severe cases of sun scorch, your tree may lose large amounts of foliage and suffer dieback of the younger twigs. Sun damage can affect the bark as well, causing it to become cracked and discolored.
There’s no way to undo sun damage. The only response is to get your tree some more shade and wait for it to heal. If you’re growing your Japanese Maple in a container, move it to a spot with less afternoon sun. If it’s rooted in the ground, you might want to hang some shade cloth or wrap the exposed parts of the trunk.
Resist the temptation to clip off the scalded foliage — this will only reduce the shade on the lower parts of your Japanese Maple. Watering and mulching may help, though, since dehydration is a big part of the problem. Just be careful not to overwater, which can cause even worse problems like root rot. Check the drainage (as described in this article) just past the drip line of your Japanese Maple to make sure you won’t oversaturate your tree.
Final Thoughts
Morning sun with afternoon shade is the best sunlight for Japanese Maples in almost all scenarios. However, you can usually still grow beautiful trees in full sun or deep shade with a little bit of planning. If you follow the suggestions outlined above, you should be able to keep your Japanese Maple happy and healthy all year round.