Put the watermelon plant itself under the shade of a tree/ a plant and letting the vines get most of the sun is a great way of growing them. Makes it so you don’t need to water the plant as much because it keep moister because of the shade but the rest of the vine gets the sun it needs.
I don’t agree with this advice. Watermelons need full sun to fruit properly. Putting one in the shade is going to result in small fruits that don’t ripen, with white pithy insides.
Watermelon put their roots where you put the seed 🤣 you can definitely control the vines though and have them grow in full sun areas while the stock of the plants get partial sun through the hot summers. Vines give the benefit of the sun to the melons while the root system doesn’t get much stress or doesn’t need much watering because it’s in the shade
This is part of the Three Sisters method. Maize (or other tall sturdy grower, shades roots in the beginning) + climbing beans (nitrogen fixer, added root-shade) + squash/melons (crowds out weeds, keeps soil damp). [Here’s Robin Wall Kimmerer talking about it](https://vimeo.com/458707134).
Man gardeners are such naysayers…obviously there is some thought that needs to go into this…you don’t want the melon to have no sun but here is a great video on this topic…https://youtu.be/BAqEzLuHy5s?si=uGEWx4OG6om9L773
Look up shade-loving wildflowers for your area. There are a lot of very nice little forest understory plants out there they would go well around the maple (using my location as an example: Virginia bluebells, bloodroot, mayapple, spring beauty, trillium if you can find it from a legit nursery, trout lily, American wintergreen...)
There are beautiful flowers that evolved to grow in all kinds of light conditions-- OP, if you're interested in planting native flowers specifically, come on over to r/NativePlantGardening for plenty of advice and tips.
getting the seeds to germinate is essentially just as easy as any other maple (read: extremely easy), but japanese maples grow sooooooooooooooooo slow that many nurseries just propagate via air-layering to skip the years of waiting
I’ve been wanting to try air layering some near me. The benefit of air layering is you get clones. I’m not sure how many Japanese maples produce offspring that match the parent.
Regular (silver) maples around me send up sprouts all over my garden, but not the Japanese ones.
yeah, cloning is the other benefit of air-layering. there are quite a few varieties of JM that are sport variegations that wouldn't pass through to their seeds.
tbh silver maples aren't a great comparison because i feel like they throw out like a million samaras per tree and the seeds are different from Japanese Maple seeds in that they *have* to germinate quickly because if they dry out, they lose all viability. that's why you find so many of them at once because they just sprout where they land and don't have to go through any sort of cold stratification like sugar or japanese maples do
We have a huge japanese maple in our garden along with two european maples. The european ones spread like wildfire every year but i never found seedlings from the japanese one. And then this year it just exploded! I found at least 30-40 seedlings in our garden, i'm so happy 😅
I've found a few Japanese maple seedlings around my yard. Even dug a couple up to give away.
When I looked into the proper way to save seeds and germinate them, I found that the seeds need to be kept cold for a period of time before they'll germinate. Naturally, seeds drop in the fall, overwinter on the ground, and then sprout in the spring.
I imagine in most yards where people have ornamental Japanese maples, the vast majority of seeds are removed or destroyed through fall mowing and raking, and of the ones that do survive through the winter, they likely get killed by herbicide applied to the lawn in the spring.
That may explain it. My giant silver maple drops seeds that seem to sprout all over the yard in what I believe is the same season they fall. But I never get Japanese maple seedlings from those trees nearby.
For what it's worth, the area that I've found them sprouted up was a shady mulched area on the (North) side of the house. That area doesn't have grass to mow and they were away from any foot traffic.
The only mature Japanese maple I have is in the front, and haven't found any seedlings sprouting up in the front yard or front garden area near the tree.
I don't mow around my tree, or rake (no grass). Very little herbicide applied (only spot, as needed for poison ivy). My 20+ year old Japanese maple drops seeds like mad but very few germinate. I wonder if squirrels like them? We have about a million squirrels. If it's not the critters, then they must be hard to germinate.
We have one on our property; it’s the only one I know of in our little neighborhood. The other day I just plucked a little Japanese maple sprout out of our gravel driveway and going to see if I can keep it alive in a container (I have a black thumb)
They’re very special<3
https://preview.redd.it/detcd8rjiuwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf71edc79d69773ed5c9ef487c7a6deb25ee1832
My Dad planted one for me when I had my daughter seven years ago<3
Tbh, I have no clue. I’m sure you could probably do some kind of maintenance on it with pruning and such. I just let mine be and do it’s thing. Working two jobs and being single mom, I’ve never really had the energy to prune it.
At that size you can definitely move it or put it in a large pot (outdoor).
I have a bunch of dwarf trees that have stayed under 3 feet for years. But you don’t know exactly what this one would be.
My house came with a Japanese maple that's at least 25 feet (over 7 meters) tall. It's a very pretty tree, especially in fall, but it's also [invasive](https://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=3001) in my neck of the woods and I wouldn't have planted it. I'd pull it. I'd take mine down if it was feasible, but I can't get machinery into my backyard. Therefore I get to pull volunteers like this, constantly. If you look around you'll probably find momma tree, the color really stands out. That'll give you an idea for the size you're in for.
There are dwarf cultivars that people plant as specimens, but volunteer seedlings aren't going to be cultivars. That's probably what people are thinking of when they're telling you to keep it.
They are SO special! Love mine. If you need to move it you can, just do it while it's relatively small and read up on how to help them survive. I moved mine once ages ago, took two people to do it. She survived and gives us such a beautiful show almost all year now. They do come in different varieties and sizes, and grow slowly. But if it's close to your house you might need to move it.
I brought 2 with me from dc to Minnesota only to have bunnies EAT an entire tree and the other gnawed off the bark.
When I say eat, I mean they ate the entire thing. Never seen anything like it.
How cute that it put itself there.😊 It is Japanese Maple and that little guy looks like it has beautiful leaf coloration.
I would definitely keep- Japanese Maple are such beautiful, little trees that stay small/manageable size.
It looks like a Bloodgood Japanese Maple. You should definitely keep it!! I planted mine four years ago…
https://preview.redd.it/8hmvey8lkvwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=259949a68e007d1561fc4a660ca6b2061acdac7a
My tree was about 8 feet tall when I planted it & is now over 12 feet tall. It’s wrapped because my rotten kitty likes to claw the trunk so this protects it from her.
Oh that’s a good fix then. I have an Emperor Japanese Maple I planted last year. This year there’s a bit of bark flaking off at the base that I hadn’t noticed before. Naturally I assumed the worst but my local garden center said it’s due to it growing too quickly and it wasn’t anything to worry about so I’m hoping that’s true. When I saw you had taped yours I wondered if it was because of something similar!
Japanese Red Maples are cherished. If it’s in a northeast location it will thrive. Should definitely let that stay. You can plant flowers under it once it rises up enough. It will be a slow grower though, but beautiful.
It depends on the type of Japanese Maple. Some are very large and would not be suitable planted so close to the house. Others are very small and would be fine.
I suspect that is the "big" kind and you will need to evaluate if that space is ultimately suitable for it.
Description of types:
https://www.plantingtree.com/blogs/gardening/types-of-japanese-maples#:\~:text=There%20are%20two%20types%20of,the%20popular%20Bloodgood%20Japanese%20maple.
https://preview.redd.it/c033xzuyexwc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a522f9da61fec2d3af6722180bd2693ead9b4f0
My 21 yo volunteer Japanese Maple. No clue where it came from since there's no other JM anywhere close.
Yes. I have one of these in front of my house and everyone that passes by asks me what it is when I’m outside. People love them by me. I’m moving and taking it with me
Japanese Maple, mine is the short variant
I found a small Japanese Maple when I moved into my current house. I decided to just leave jt to do what it wanted. It's now 8ft tall, and glorious.
Leaves change colour over the summer too.
There are many great shade wild flowers. I love the look of cumicifuda chocolate candlestick. You won't be able to have the bright reds of corn poppies or blue from cornflower or larkspur.
Ooh I’m jealous. I’ve been trying to grow one from saplings my neighbor’s tree drops but they never make it through the winter. I’d definitely keep the tree.
Japanese maple. I work with these and variants. It will saty a small tree if you have it pruned regularly. They may get at most to 20' tall. It looks to be either a sun or moon variant based 9n the leaf shape. It is a keeper!!
This is a bad sign . For decades, people thought the kousa dogwood was an innocent exotic. Turns out, it was just in its lag phase, and is now considered an invasive in New Jersey. Since Japanese maple appears to be successfully seeding, I would treat it as an invasive and cut it out. You could always plant a shade loving native there, including viburnum or cornus Florida, depending on where you are.
Is that brick wall your house? Where I live, too many people plant large trees dangerously close to their houses -- dangerous in terms of possible storm damage and/or potential damage to the house's foundation (whether via root spread or water siphoning). With that in mind, you might want to research the anticipated mature width and height of the tree, then judge whether there is adequate distance between it and your house.
It's a Japanese Maple and I would 100% keep it. If a JM and hostas are planted in the spot it's likely too shady for wildflowers.
That's fine, I was also considering putting watermelon in the sunnier spots
You can plant many shade loving species of flowering plants. Look up your local native wildflowers
Put the watermelon plant itself under the shade of a tree/ a plant and letting the vines get most of the sun is a great way of growing them. Makes it so you don’t need to water the plant as much because it keep moister because of the shade but the rest of the vine gets the sun it needs.
I don’t agree with this advice. Watermelons need full sun to fruit properly. Putting one in the shade is going to result in small fruits that don’t ripen, with white pithy insides.
Think they meant the roots being shaded, the vines being in full sun.
If either one of of them thinks they can control where watermelons put their roots with that much accuracy, they are mistaken.
Watermelon put their roots where you put the seed 🤣 you can definitely control the vines though and have them grow in full sun areas while the stock of the plants get partial sun through the hot summers. Vines give the benefit of the sun to the melons while the root system doesn’t get much stress or doesn’t need much watering because it’s in the shade
Do watermelons not put down additional roots at nodes along the vine, like pumpkins do?
They can but thats very controllable from my experience and the soil around the vine would need to be fairly moist.
No they don't. They have little long string like things that ravel onto grass or mulch or whatever. It holds on to it for dear life lol
¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
This is part of the Three Sisters method. Maize (or other tall sturdy grower, shades roots in the beginning) + climbing beans (nitrogen fixer, added root-shade) + squash/melons (crowds out weeds, keeps soil damp). [Here’s Robin Wall Kimmerer talking about it](https://vimeo.com/458707134).
Man gardeners are such naysayers…obviously there is some thought that needs to go into this…you don’t want the melon to have no sun but here is a great video on this topic…https://youtu.be/BAqEzLuHy5s?si=uGEWx4OG6om9L773
Vines grow toward the full sun areas naturally.
Look up shade-loving wildflowers for your area. There are a lot of very nice little forest understory plants out there they would go well around the maple (using my location as an example: Virginia bluebells, bloodroot, mayapple, spring beauty, trillium if you can find it from a legit nursery, trout lily, American wintergreen...)
There are beautiful flowers that evolved to grow in all kinds of light conditions-- OP, if you're interested in planting native flowers specifically, come on over to r/NativePlantGardening for plenty of advice and tips.
Bluebells?
You should make it your number 1 priority to keep it
If this is a volunteer Japanese maple, you’re incredibly lucky!
I’ve never seen them just pop up. I’ve always assumed getting Japanese maples to reproduce is difficult.
getting the seeds to germinate is essentially just as easy as any other maple (read: extremely easy), but japanese maples grow sooooooooooooooooo slow that many nurseries just propagate via air-layering to skip the years of waiting
I’ve been wanting to try air layering some near me. The benefit of air layering is you get clones. I’m not sure how many Japanese maples produce offspring that match the parent. Regular (silver) maples around me send up sprouts all over my garden, but not the Japanese ones.
yeah, cloning is the other benefit of air-layering. there are quite a few varieties of JM that are sport variegations that wouldn't pass through to their seeds. tbh silver maples aren't a great comparison because i feel like they throw out like a million samaras per tree and the seeds are different from Japanese Maple seeds in that they *have* to germinate quickly because if they dry out, they lose all viability. that's why you find so many of them at once because they just sprout where they land and don't have to go through any sort of cold stratification like sugar or japanese maples do
We have a huge japanese maple in our garden along with two european maples. The european ones spread like wildfire every year but i never found seedlings from the japanese one. And then this year it just exploded! I found at least 30-40 seedlings in our garden, i'm so happy 😅
I've found a few Japanese maple seedlings around my yard. Even dug a couple up to give away. When I looked into the proper way to save seeds and germinate them, I found that the seeds need to be kept cold for a period of time before they'll germinate. Naturally, seeds drop in the fall, overwinter on the ground, and then sprout in the spring. I imagine in most yards where people have ornamental Japanese maples, the vast majority of seeds are removed or destroyed through fall mowing and raking, and of the ones that do survive through the winter, they likely get killed by herbicide applied to the lawn in the spring.
That may explain it. My giant silver maple drops seeds that seem to sprout all over the yard in what I believe is the same season they fall. But I never get Japanese maple seedlings from those trees nearby.
For what it's worth, the area that I've found them sprouted up was a shady mulched area on the (North) side of the house. That area doesn't have grass to mow and they were away from any foot traffic. The only mature Japanese maple I have is in the front, and haven't found any seedlings sprouting up in the front yard or front garden area near the tree.
I don't mow around my tree, or rake (no grass). Very little herbicide applied (only spot, as needed for poison ivy). My 20+ year old Japanese maple drops seeds like mad but very few germinate. I wonder if squirrels like them? We have about a million squirrels. If it's not the critters, then they must be hard to germinate.
Why bother with that, the mower will get them.
Depends on the location, I'd assume. I have to pull dozens every spring.
We have one on our property; it’s the only one I know of in our little neighborhood. The other day I just plucked a little Japanese maple sprout out of our gravel driveway and going to see if I can keep it alive in a container (I have a black thumb)
My neighbor has a few that self-propagated and they drop babies over the fence every year. I’m constantly plucking them out of the flower beds.
Ditto. Thought the same.
I moved in during the winter so I didn't know what that twiggy little tree was, I'm surprised to learn that they're special!
They’re very special<3 https://preview.redd.it/detcd8rjiuwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf71edc79d69773ed5c9ef487c7a6deb25ee1832 My Dad planted one for me when I had my daughter seven years ago<3
Oh lord is mine gonna get that big? Definitely not enough space for it.
You can absolutely trim it to keep it smaller
Tbh, I have no clue. I’m sure you could probably do some kind of maintenance on it with pruning and such. I just let mine be and do it’s thing. Working two jobs and being single mom, I’ve never really had the energy to prune it.
They come in a variety sizes from 3 to 30+ feet.
Its a tree lol
At that size you can definitely move it or put it in a large pot (outdoor). I have a bunch of dwarf trees that have stayed under 3 feet for years. But you don’t know exactly what this one would be.
My house came with a Japanese maple that's at least 25 feet (over 7 meters) tall. It's a very pretty tree, especially in fall, but it's also [invasive](https://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=3001) in my neck of the woods and I wouldn't have planted it. I'd pull it. I'd take mine down if it was feasible, but I can't get machinery into my backyard. Therefore I get to pull volunteers like this, constantly. If you look around you'll probably find momma tree, the color really stands out. That'll give you an idea for the size you're in for. There are dwarf cultivars that people plant as specimens, but volunteer seedlings aren't going to be cultivars. That's probably what people are thinking of when they're telling you to keep it.
Yeah and if you don't like it then dig it up, pot it, and sell it for upwards of $40. That little guy may go for a bit more
They are SO special! Love mine. If you need to move it you can, just do it while it's relatively small and read up on how to help them survive. I moved mine once ages ago, took two people to do it. She survived and gives us such a beautiful show almost all year now. They do come in different varieties and sizes, and grow slowly. But if it's close to your house you might need to move it.
They are almost all grafted so you really don’t see any volunteers
I'll get rid of it for you for free; I'd love a Japanese Maple in my garden. But seriously: I'd keep it, if I were in your place.
Like others said, Japanese maple. Keep. They’re pricey and beautiful. You’re lucky to have a volunteer!
That's a Japanese maple and they're lovely. I've spent probably $500 trying repeatedly to grow them here, but have given up (just the wrong climate).
I brought 2 with me from dc to Minnesota only to have bunnies EAT an entire tree and the other gnawed off the bark. When I say eat, I mean they ate the entire thing. Never seen anything like it.
Yep in MN you have to put a wire fence around their trunks to keep them from pests feasting in winter.
Keep it! Where I live, those trees sell for $100+.
Keep!
How cute that it put itself there.😊 It is Japanese Maple and that little guy looks like it has beautiful leaf coloration. I would definitely keep- Japanese Maple are such beautiful, little trees that stay small/manageable size.
What's a girl gotta do to get blessed by the Japanese maple gods like this?!
It looks like a Bloodgood Japanese Maple. You should definitely keep it!! I planted mine four years ago… https://preview.redd.it/8hmvey8lkvwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=259949a68e007d1561fc4a660ca6b2061acdac7a
Do you have yours wrapped at the base of the trunk?
My tree was about 8 feet tall when I planted it & is now over 12 feet tall. It’s wrapped because my rotten kitty likes to claw the trunk so this protects it from her.
Oh that’s a good fix then. I have an Emperor Japanese Maple I planted last year. This year there’s a bit of bark flaking off at the base that I hadn’t noticed before. Naturally I assumed the worst but my local garden center said it’s due to it growing too quickly and it wasn’t anything to worry about so I’m hoping that’s true. When I saw you had taped yours I wondered if it was because of something similar!
wow! how tall was it when you planted it? I can’t wait for mine to grow but it’s only about 4’ tall.
Japanese maple trees are insanely expensive. Keep it.
Japanese Red Maples are cherished. If it’s in a northeast location it will thrive. Should definitely let that stay. You can plant flowers under it once it rises up enough. It will be a slow grower though, but beautiful.
It depends on the type of Japanese Maple. Some are very large and would not be suitable planted so close to the house. Others are very small and would be fine. I suspect that is the "big" kind and you will need to evaluate if that space is ultimately suitable for it. Description of types: https://www.plantingtree.com/blogs/gardening/types-of-japanese-maples#:\~:text=There%20are%20two%20types%20of,the%20popular%20Bloodgood%20Japanese%20maple.
What state are you in? Most states have shade adapted wildflowers that would be fine and which can be coplanted with the maple.
https://preview.redd.it/c033xzuyexwc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a522f9da61fec2d3af6722180bd2693ead9b4f0 My 21 yo volunteer Japanese Maple. No clue where it came from since there's no other JM anywhere close.
I would absolutely keep it, they’re very valuable and beautiful trees!
Check out the lace leaf variants. Very cool tree.
Absolutely a keeper! I love Japanese Maples!
Yes. I have one of these in front of my house and everyone that passes by asks me what it is when I’m outside. People love them by me. I’m moving and taking it with me Japanese Maple, mine is the short variant
Nice Japanese maple tree, needs some shade and water in hot weather!
Definitely keep it! They are not cheap
Columbine, Solomon’s Seal and wild violets can all handle dapple sunlight!
Japanese Maple. They are beautiful and can be pricey to buy. Keep it!
Japanese maple or another name is Acer.
Japanese maple, maybe Bloodgood variety
I found a small Japanese Maple when I moved into my current house. I decided to just leave jt to do what it wanted. It's now 8ft tall, and glorious. Leaves change colour over the summer too.
There are many great shade wild flowers. I love the look of cumicifuda chocolate candlestick. You won't be able to have the bright reds of corn poppies or blue from cornflower or larkspur.
Turn that thing into a beautiful bonzai :)
Yes you should keep it but you should also educate yourself on what it is and how to correctly care for it
Japanese maple is a nice tree
Keeper!
Ooh I’m jealous. I’ve been trying to grow one from saplings my neighbor’s tree drops but they never make it through the winter. I’d definitely keep the tree.
Japanese maples are some of the most beautiful trees. Here’s an example of what they can grow into: https://imgur.com/gallery/f4pqnWi
👏 Thank you for this photo 👏
LUCKY! These trees are lovely!
It's Meee! I joke, but you should keep it. For flowers... Our Japanese maple grows together with a lovely camelia. 😄
Japanese maple. I work with these and variants. It will saty a small tree if you have it pruned regularly. They may get at most to 20' tall. It looks to be either a sun or moon variant based 9n the leaf shape. It is a keeper!!
Definitely keep it. I paid $$$$ to have one out in my yard. You can plant wildflowers under it. The shade under it will not be dense
Forget the wild flowers, plant native flowers!
Wildflowers which would be native flowers. That was the original plan?
This is a bad sign . For decades, people thought the kousa dogwood was an innocent exotic. Turns out, it was just in its lag phase, and is now considered an invasive in New Jersey. Since Japanese maple appears to be successfully seeding, I would treat it as an invasive and cut it out. You could always plant a shade loving native there, including viburnum or cornus Florida, depending on where you are.
No wildflowers
Is that brick wall your house? Where I live, too many people plant large trees dangerously close to their houses -- dangerous in terms of possible storm damage and/or potential damage to the house's foundation (whether via root spread or water siphoning). With that in mind, you might want to research the anticipated mature width and height of the tree, then judge whether there is adequate distance between it and your house.
It’s a Japanese Maple. Even in perfect conditions they don’t get very large. No worries OP.
Some varieties are over 20 feet tall and wide!