The Japanese Red Maple is a beautiful and breathtaking tree. They are commonly a very short tree but can reach heights of up to 20 feet in the correct environment. The Japanese Red Maple is not a native to America, where it is so commonly known today, but was brought to the U.S before World War II. (Bellarmine.edu) In Japan, the tree can grow very wide and be much fuller than it is here in America. The Japanese Red Maple, used most commonly as a yard decoration, is also (as all plants are) a great source of oxygen. Even though they can be small as bonsai trees, Japanese Red Maples are beautiful trees that help enrich the surrounding environment with oxygen and rich beautiful color. A Japanese Red Maple can grow in many different environments. With the ability of living in USDA zones 5 through 8, this Japan native has become a popular plant in America. The bending and winding branches, even on the shorter trees, give this tree a different look that many consider attractive. This tree grows very slow, on average 2 to 3 feet per year. It does not require many nutrients so it does not need much upkeep. Just enough water to keep it feed. The Japanese Red Maple needs both sunlight and shade in order to properly grow, if kept in too much sun, the tree can be damaged and burned. ( (Roy, 2006)) The Japanese Red Maple “has a strong fibrous root system, multiple stems, and slender shoots that end in small paired buds.”( (Roy, 2006)) In North Carolina, where I live, the Japanese Maples, do not typically get very tall at all. Their original home of Japan, you can find Japanese Red Maples that are 20 feet tall and have a very wide spread. However, somewhere along the line, the Japanese Red Maple has evolved to the environment difference here in North Carolina making them shorter and not as wide. In my home I have four Japanese Red Maples, the two that I have had for five years now are three feet tall and about four to five feet wide depending on the time of year. The other two that I have I planted them last summer, they are about two feet tall and not even a foot wide yet. They are very slow growing and do not require much water, however this year has been dryer than usual causing all of my trees to not bloom as usual. It is amazing to see just how much this tree has changed from its natural home in Japan to here in my own backyard. Transplanting any plant can be very risky if the correct procedures are not followed. The temperature cannot be too hot nor too cold and the roots need to stay protected during the transplant. A plants roots when in the ground are much larger than what can be dug up and kept in a container during a transplant as well, so it is very important to complete a transplant as quickly as possible so that the roots may have time to regenerate and grow back to their healthy size. When preparing to transplant, making sure to not cut through any of the main roots will help to ensure the life of the tree as well. Once the plant is transplanted, the organs (or roots) may or may not grow back to the size they were before the transplant. It is crucial to make sure that the Japanese Red Maple can survive in this new environment, we know that they can survive conditions in the USDA zones 5 through 8, therefore moving into any new environment with harsher conditions than these will almost guarantee the tree will not survive the transplant. (Google Images)
(Google Images) This is a Japanese red maple here in America. It is sustainably shorter than other variations of the Japanese maple that can be found in other parts of the U.S and it native home Japan. We can see in this image that the trunk of the tree is very short unlike other trees such as a palm tree whose truck is very long. The branches of the Japanese Red Maple do not grow straight out like many other trees either, they grow in all different directions giving the tree a bonsai look. The leaves of a Japanese Red Maple are thin and short. They bloom into a reddish-brown in the spring and once fully bloomed become the vibrant red we can see here in this photo before turning into a reddish- purple in the fall. This is about as big as a Japanese Red Maple will get here in America.
(Google Images) This is a Japanese Red Maple at its best! We can see here that this tree is much bigger than the other photo and has a much taller and thicker trunk. This is how the Japanese Red Maples can be found all through Japan. They are very tall and wide, with branches that bend and extend all through the forest. There are not many trees that have the beautiful branches that curve and bend the way that a Japanese Maple does, which is one of the reasons that the tree is so popular all over the world. There are many variations of Japanese Maples, each one grows differently than the other. One in particular that is the Japanese Red Maple that grows with a twisted trunk. It appears as though two trucks were grown and someone purposefully twisted them but in reality that is how they naturally grow. This photo, though I am unsure, seems to have been taken in the fall by the color of the leaves. There are some leaves that are still a dark deep red or reddish purple and then many leaves that are turning yellow.
(Google Images) This image I found on google images, shows how to care for a Japanese Red Maple, making sure to take care of the tree, to include pruning, can help the tree to maintain perfect health and help it grow as high and wide as it can. Just as we take care of our bodies, we need to ensure that we take care of our plants the best that we can to ensure their health, especially when we transplant the plant from one location to another.

REFERENCES
Roy, E. (2006) Red Japanese Maple. Retrieved from: Bellarmine.edu/faculty/drobinson/redjapanesemaple.asp