Light Up Your Yard With a Japanese Maple

8. Caring for Your Japanese Maple

Fortunately, Japanese maples have very few insect or disease problems and tend to be low-maintenance as long as the initial planting spot meets its needs. Maples do like mulch to protect their roots from heat and cold and to help keep moisture in the soil but remember to keep mulch several inches away from the trunk. Avoid fertilizer during the first year, so the roots have time to get established, but a nitrogen-based fertilizer works well after that if applied in early spring. Younger trees grow more quickly since the growth rate slows with age.