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Family: Sapindaceae · Pot diameter: 19 cm · Height: approx. 50–55 cm
Acer palmatum ‘Aoyagi’® gives green a luminous presence that continues even after the leaves have fallen. In spring and summer, fresh palmate foliage spreads over upright branches to create a light, clearly defined crown. Deep yellow follows in autumn and, after leaf fall, the vivid green shoots take the leading role. This progression brings colour and line to the garden without relying on a single brief seasonal highlight.
The upright habit with a broad top develops into a genuine tree and deserves a long-term garden position. As a young plant it brings immediate freshness to a large pot or sheltered courtyard, but its mature architecture is best expressed in open ground, where the bright crown and green winter framework have room.
‘Aoyagi’ stands out through three different expressions of green and gold across the year.
Five-lobed leaves have serrated margins and form a bright, clearly defined crown.
After leaf fall, pea-green bark retains colour and structure in the seasonally bare crown.
Clear green becomes deep yellow, creating a luminous contrast with the green stems.
Why you will love it: It offers a bright, calm palette and genuine interest in foliage, bark and a mature tree form.
Give it a position as a specimen tree in a sheltered garden, spacious courtyard or in the rear layer of a cool composition. The mature outline is tall with a broad top, so this is not a permanent choice for a very narrow setting.
For several trees retaining a free crown, use the mature spread of 2.5–4 m as the centre-to-centre guide. A very large pot is useful during younger stages, but open ground is the correct long-term direction.
Green winter stems and yellow autumn colour stand out beside low dark surfaces and silvery details. These companions suit bright partial shade and cool, organic, freely drained soil; keep the immediate outline of the trunk clear.
Bright partial shade or morning sun; in hot regions protect it from fierce afternoon sun and drying winds.
Water thoroughly when the upper layer begins to dry, maintaining even moisture without waterlogging; check pots more frequently in hot weather.
Deciduous and hardy in winter cold; fresh growth benefits from shelter against late frost, hot dry air and extreme summer exposure.
An ornamental plant, not food. It is not intended for consumption; place it away from children or animals that tend to chew plant material.
Bright partial shade or morning sun; in hot regions protect it from fierce afternoon sun and drying winds.
Plant in fertile, organic, acid to neutral soil that retains moisture yet drains freely. Keep the root collar level with the surrounding soil and allow the natural crown the space indicated by its mature habit.
Use a roomy, stable outdoor pot with unobstructed drainage holes and a structured growing medium that resists compaction. It can begin and grow for years in a very large outdoor pot, but the cultivar develops into a tall tree. Open ground is ultimately required for its full mature form.
Let water soak through the growing medium and drain freely from the holes. In the ground, organic mulch kept clear of the trunk reduces sudden drying; in a pot, check moisture beneath the surface before watering again.
A light application of balanced fertiliser in early spring is usually sufficient. Avoid excessive nitrogen and late feeding, which encourage soft new growth.
Pruning is rarely necessary. Remove only dead, damaged or awkwardly crossing branches after leaf fall and before midwinter. A bare crown in winter is entirely normal.
The young plant invests in root establishment and upright main shoots. Its wide-topped crown takes time to form.
Lateral branching adds greater width higher in the crown. In the ground, the plant develops a clearly tree-like form with space beneath its upper branches.
Green leaves turn deep yellow in autumn and then fall. The green bark is revealed along the bare winter branching.
The upright trunk and main limbs lead into a wide top. The mature tree reaches 4–8 m high and 2.5–4 m wide.
Autumn and winter are two successive, different displays. In spring, the same wide top fills again with fresh green foliage.
What to expect after planting: In a suitable position in open ground, the mature form reaches approximately 4–8 m in height and 2.5–4 m in spread over 10–20 years. Growth usually remains more restrained in a pot.
Acer palmatum ‘Aoyagi’ is a named cultivated form of Japanese maple, with a distinctive place in tree collections for its green bark. It belongs to the diversity of forms developed within the cultivation of Acer palmatum and displayed in gardens as individual selections of the species.
In 2017, a tree in the David C. Lam Asian Garden at the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden was recorded with particular attention to its characteristic green stems. Its presence in this Asian collection in Vancouver provides a specific record of its cultivation in gardens beyond Japan.
In Acer palmatum, new spring growth often starts from a pair of buds near the end of the previous shoot. This succession creates small forks in the branching, especially easy to see on the bare green shoots of Acer palmatum ‘Aoyagi’.
The five-lobed leaf of Acer palmatum ‘Aoyagi’ combines deep notches between its principal lobes with much smaller teeth along the edges. These are two different levels of shaping within the same blade, rather than additional small leaves.
Six practical answers covering light, seasonal colour, pots, mature size, pruning and winter leaf fall.
The younger shoots retain vivid green bark. This colour is easier to appreciate in winter, when the bare crown exposes its branching to the light.
Fresh green leaves turn deep yellow before falling. The winter display that follows consists of green shoots rather than yellow foliage.
No, it develops into a tree. A very large pot can serve during its younger years, but full long-term growth needs a suitable garden position.
Allow 4–8 m in height and 2.5–4 m in spread in suitable soil, with development towards maturity over 10–20 years. The crown opens out more widely at the top.
After leaf fall and before midwinter, removing as little as necessary. The natural upright branching is part of its winter interest.
Provide bright partial shade or morning sun with cool afternoon protection. Hot, dry air and sudden moisture changes place more stress on the leaves than a consistently sheltered position.
