Japanese maple trees for shade
Japanese maples are fabulous, slow-growing deciduous trees with interesting palmate leaf shapes, sometimes deeply dissected, well known for their graceful growth habit and beautiful autumn foliage colour. There are many Japanese maple trees suitable for partial of dappled shade and in fact they are native to areas of dappled shade in the hills and forest fringes of Japan, Korea and Mongolia. The continuous shade directly beneath dense evergreens is not ideal but under-planting below pine trees or other varieties with narrow or needle-like foliage that allows some dappled sunlight to filter through make good locations. Japanese maples' compact, non-invasive root systems also make them particularly suitable for growing along ornamental paths or in front of the home.