Trimming my dwarf Japanese maple

[dennis thompson]

I have a nice dwarf Japanese maple,about 2-3 feet tall. The limbs hang down ,it looks very nice. Some of the branches are touching the ground. Does anyone know if I should trim the branches so they do not rest on the ground?
Thanks
Dennis

[David Weaver]

Are you having bug or pest problems? We had three of them and I don't think we ever pruned anything, but if I had bug or animal issues with the ends of the branches, I'd be inclined to prune them.

[Chris Padilla]

If you like how it looks, leave it alone. If you don't like it, prune it into a shape you like. I don't think there are any health risks to the tree either way.

[Ted Calver]

They should be fine..if you want you could prop them up a little with some forked sticks, but we let ours drag.

[Shawn Pixley]

I had a japanese maple when I lived in Seattle. About 3' tall and 8' in diameter. Ends of branches touched the grass. They would get a little beat up when I pushed the mower underneath. Nothing seemed to hurt it. I wouldn't worry.

[Myk Rian]

Do a Google search for pruning it. From what I found, take it easy pruning.

[Joe Pelonio]

In a cool climate they can take a lot of pruning but it's not really needed in your case. I have many of them including several bonsai and have cut them back to stumps in winter and they pop back in spring. this one I chopped to a 3" tall
trunk a few years ago, all the branches are new since.



maple2010July.jpg

[Ole Anderson]

If you do prune them, be sure to prune back to a branch, don't just shorten a branch mid stem.

[dennis thompson]

Thanks for all the replies, I think I'll just leave the tree alone
Dennis