3 Gal. Red Dragon Japanese Maple Tree with Intricate Lacy Purple Leaves

It depends on the variety, and this page lists the size. Bloodgood is a large, upright Japanese maple, about 15 feet tall and wide. Crimson Queen is a weeping type, about 10 feet tall and 12 feet wide, and Red Dragon stays about 7 feet tall and 5 feet wide.

Morning sun with afternoon shade, or dappled shade all day, suits most Japanese maples. Full sun works only where the soil stays evenly moist all summer. In deep shade, red-leaved types may turn greener and grow more slowly.

That's leaf scorch, and it's common on Japanese maples in hot sun, dry soil or wind. Japanese maples are sensitive. Give it a deep soak during dry spells, and keep 3 to 4 inches of mulch over the roots, pulled back from the trunk. The brown edges won't turn green again, but the tree can recover with steady water. Watering in high heat can also burn the leaves, because water droplets act like a magnifying glass.

Yes, with extra care. A potted maple dries out fast in summer, so check the soil daily in hot weather and water when the top inch is dry. It also needs the nutrients it would otherwise pull from the ground. Every few years, prune the roots and change the soil, or move it up a pot size. In winter, its roots are much less hardy than the tree above them, so bury or insulate the pot, or move it into an unheated garage.

Check the USDA hardiness zones listed on this page, and look up your zone by ZIP code. Your zone is set by how cold your winters get.

It's the size of the nursery pot the plant ships in, not the plant's height. A 1-gallon plant ships in a 1-gallon pot. The plant itself varies by variety and by season.

A few days in a dark box is stressful for a leafy plant, and some yellow or dropped leaves are common. Water it if the soil is dry, give it a few days in bright shade, then move it into more sun over a week or two. New leaves usually follow. If it looks damaged or unhealthy beyond a few leaves, contact us that day with photos.

Plant when the ground isn't frozen, and not during a heat wave. Loosen any roots circling the root ball, and set the top of the root ball level with the ground or slightly above it. Water it in well.

Check the soil every few days for the first few months. A new plant's root ball dries out faster than the ground around it, so feel the soil at the root ball itself, not only the surface. Water when it's dry, and let it drain.