orange dream & bloodgood advice please!!!

16 years ago

Help! I was wondering if an Orange Dream is a good choice as an ornamental for the corner of a house (single story ranch). The side of the house is lined with boxwoods and the front with Rhodes and some large mounded Ilex shrubs (all green no color except for when the Rhodes flower). Anyway, it is a partial sun/ partial shade area so the leaves won't scortch, but I wasn't sure if an OD could "hold it's own" on a corner. Currently the OD is about 2 or 3 feet high at the most. The problem is that I bought a 4-5 foot Bloodgood for another location and as it turns out that tree looks stunning on the corner in question against our creamy yellow house with barn red shutters. I know a BG can get very large and is never recommended next to a house...but how about on a corner?? If so how far out?? Or will the orange dream be a better choice over time? The color just seems to gets lost against the house. Maybe an additional boxwood on the corner for a dark green background woud help the OD??

Please advise...new baby coming in 11 days so I'm running out of valuable time to make these final decisions.

Your thoughts are much appreciated.

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Comment (1)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
16 years ago
"never recommended next to a house". Says who??

Obviously, common sense would dictate that a tree of any size should not be placed smack dab next to a structure, but as long as you allow for growth and spread of the canopy, most JM's can be planted quite close to a house, within reason. Mature spread on a Bloodgood should be ~20-25', so planting no closer than at least half that distance is advised. You can get by with slightly closer placement if you are willing to do some judicious pruning to accommodate (like lifting the canopy to clear a single story roof) but I prefer to allow the tree to do its own thing and would bring it out the recommended distance.

There are mature upright Japanese maples planted very close (within 5-6') of houses all over the place here. There is no evidence of damage to either the tree or the structure from this arrangement. Placement "rules" are only guidelines and should be considered with your own preferences and some common sense.
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