The Seattle Japanese Garden Then and Now, Part Three: The Maple Collection

By Sue Clark

Visitors enjoy autumn colors on maple trees. (photo: Chie Iida)

This is the third in a series of three articles about the Garden’s plant collections, and how they have changed over time.  This month, Sue Clark focuses on the Maple collection.

The first article by Corinne Kennedy presented historical information about the Garden’s plant collections, and discussed Rhododendron species. Here is a link to that article: https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/blog/2021/5/19/then-and-now-part-one

The second article by Maggie Carr discussed the Conifer collection. Here is a link to that article: https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/blog/2021/6/21/then-and-now-part-two-conifers

Maple trees are placed in a Japanese garden for various purposes. Among the most important ones are to frame an attractive view or to hide an undesirable one; to filter the western sun or provide shade for a special plant; or to give a beautiful reflection in water. Maple leaves have a great variety in size, color, and shape.  Dwarf leaf maples add a lacy texture to the canopy while larger leaf maples impart strength and stability to the garden.

Early Maples

Native big leaf maples and vine maples grew on the site of the Japanese Garden and an 1860 inventory by the US Government Land Office documented their abundance.  When the site was included in the Washington Park Arboretum, it became home to part of the Arboretum’s maples collection. Beginning in the late 1940s, the Arboretum added to the native maple collection and planted a variety of maples which included many North American and European maples. Over time most of these maples outgrew their space and today there are only a few remaining large maples.

Transition of Maple Collection

Acer palmatum ‘Inazuma’ was planted in 1947 near the entrance to the Japanese Garden where it shades the path and helps to form the canopy in the open forest area. Inazuma is a goddess of lighting and thunder in Japan’s Shinto religion. The tree has deeply-dissected leaves of a vivid purple color in spring that change to intense green in the summer, and red-purple in the fall. A cultivated variety of Inazuma has been recorded in Japan since 1882.

Another maple that greets visitors is the Japanese lace leaf maple (Acer palmatum var dissectum). It was planted in 1948. The leaves of the tree have deeply cut lobes, giving the tree it’s lacy appearance. The tree is carefully pruned once a year to show the branching, twisting trunk which emphasizes its ancient look. The fall color is a striking red. Several years ago, it became apparent that the tree had grown too far over the path.  The plant was rotated 180 degrees and moved back 4’. This change enhanced its appearance and the visibility of its structure.

Japanese lace leaf Maple greets visitors (photo: Aleksandra Monk 2012)

Paper bark maple (Acer griseum) was planted in the Japanese Garden 1964. It adds dramatic cinnamon colored peeling bark as a winter highlight. The leaves come in threes and are verdant green above and grey underneath. It grows to be a large tree between 33 and 50 feet.

In 1966 a major collection of maples came from a collector in Indianapolis where the plants could not tolerate the Midwest winters. In 1971 one of those maples, Acer palmatum ‘Samidare’ was moved from the Arboretum’s Woodland Garden to the Japanese Garden. It frames the entrance to the zig-zag bridge. In spring, the leaves emerge colored pink and turn into a rich green in the summer, and then a lively random pattern of gold, crimson and red in the fall. Samidare means early summer rains.

Samidare Maple highlights the ZigZag bridge  (photo: Aleksandra Monk 2013)

Grape leaf full moon maple, (Acer japonicum ‘Vitifolium’) is particularly dramatic in the fall. It is a large 30’ maple with leaves of 9-11 lobes.   The spring leaves are deep green and then have dramatic colors beginning with golds and changing to vivid scarlet. Two were planted in 1964, one came from the National Arboretum in Washington D.C. and the other from the Robert De Bender Arboretum in Belgium.

Leaves of the Full Moon Maple (photo:Aleksandra Monk 2012)

In addition to the Japanese maples, the garden also has five vine maples.

Vine maple, (Acer circinatum) is a Pacific Northwest native tree. The trees are known for their attractive vibrant red samaras. As noted in the 1860 survey, it was a common understory tree in our area. It was reintroduced to the Arboretum in 1954 and selected for the Japanese Garden by Judi Iida, the garden designer.

Maples Today

The variety of Japanese maples available for garden design has steadily increased from the Heian period to the present. Over the past 13 years, the Seattle Japanese Garden has introduced several new cultivars noted for their form and color.

One of the newer forms of maple in the garden is Acer palmatum ‘Koto-no-ito’. Three trees were planted between 2008 and 2016. The name ‘Koto-no-Ito’ means “harp string”, a reference to the string-like quality of this Japanese maple’s narrow, deeply divided leaf lobes. Acer palmatum ‘Koto-no-ito’ has a dense, twiggy branch structure that references the harp frame. The unique divided leaves have a tinge of red in spring, stay green during summer and change to yellow in fall. Bright green bark and a graceful, elegant form carry the show in winter.

Koto-no-ito Maple in soft fall color (photo: Aleksandra Monk 2013)

Acer palmatum ‘Osakazuki akame’ was added to the garden in 2011 It is a broader growing form than the standard ‘Osakazuki’. This cultivar shares the same sturdy stature as the species and displays amazing bright red fall color with olive orange leaves in spring which slowly change to green as they mature.

Osakazuki akame maple, a brilliant fall display (photo: Aleksandra Monk 2013)

Acer palmatum ‘Tsuma gaki’ was planted in the Japanese Garden in 2011.

In spring, the soft, pendant chartreuse leaves on the small, rounded ‘Tsuma gaki’ sports dramatic edges of persimmon red, an effect that looks like many dainty leaf-hands with brightly painted nails. In summer, the foliage continues to demand attention as it develops wide, deep red margins and light cream centers.

Bright red tips and flowers of Tsuma gaki (photo: Aleksandra Monk, 2014)

The Future

We would like to end our series of articles about the Maples, Conifers, and Rhododendrons by including a paragraph from Peter Putnicki’s article in the Summer 2000 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin entitled ‘Honoring the Design Intent.’

 “Gardens are never ‘done.’ They are living, active spaces, and their growth and change is part of why they mean so much to us, At the Seattle Japanese Garden, we creatively manage and adapt to that change in order to preserve the original vision of the designers.  Here, one can experience a treasure unique to certain gardens: the timelessness of unceasing change.”

Sue Clark is a Garden Guide who serves on the Japanese Garden Plant Committee.