Maple Redpointe
* Common name: Maple Redpointe®
Maple Redpointe leaf in fall.
J. Frank Schmidt and Son Co.
* Botanical name: Acer rubrum ‘Frank Jr.’
* What it is: An improved variety of a mid-size native maple that grows into a neat pyramid and takes on brilliant red foliage in fall. Redpointe® tolerates heat better than most red maples and resists the leaf yellowing (chlorosis) that plagues many maples.
* Size: 40 to 45 feet tall, 30 to 35 feet wide.
* Where to use: One of the best mid-sized summer-shade trees that also offers spectacular fall foliage. Ideal as a specimen in a large to mid-sized front yard. Also nice centered in a view out a back window. Full sun to light shade.
* Care: Keep the roots consistently damp the first 2 to 3 seasons, then soak deeply once a week in droughts. Remove lowest limbs as the tree grows. Also remove any crossing or unwanted branches, ideally in late winter when the tree is still leafless. Fertilizer usually not needed, especially if you’re fertilizing a lawn nearby.
* Great partner: Russian cypress and dwarf nandina are good evergreen underplantings. Golden creeping sedum is a good carpet-like perennial groundcover, and St. Johnswort is a good shrub underplanting.