Gardening- Acer

Question

We have a beautiful, healthy Acer growing in the garden. It has several branches coming off it – the bottom few the expected red but the top only grows green. Why is this please?

Many thanks
Anita

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Answer 1

Japanese maples are almost always grafted. The bottom root stock was a green variety, and the red was grafted to it. You can cut out all of the green portions, and keep them cut. This will allow the red scion to flourish instead of the roots feeding the original tree, which will be its main priority. It will consider the grafted top "extra" and will feed that second to its own growth. Removing the green branches will help the overall health of the tree.