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Hi, is this normal? My Japanese maple that is growing from a planter is growing 2 different leaves.
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Without seeing a clear photo of the trunk, I'd guess that this could be a tree that was grafted. If there are branches that have emerged below the graft point, any leaves from those branches would be from the variety of the root tree, while the branches above the graft point would be the grafted tree.
Ideally you should be nipping any buds that are growing below the graft point early
I bought this at Walmart 2 years ago. I was going to have it grow a little bigger before transplanting it to the yard. I can’t remember if this was a Crimson Queen but I’ve never seen the green leaves before which look like another variety, so I don’t know if this was sold grafted with another maple at Walmart. I’ll try to take a pic of the truck. Thanks
Weeping Japanese Maples like Crimson Queen are almost always grafted.
Is there a reason why they are grafted? What’s the benefit or purpose, especially if what the other commenter said about the grafted maple choking out the tree.
So the graft is basically the roots and partial trunk of a regular Japanese maple (acer palmatum) typically. This is because the interesting cultivars (like Crimson Queen and most other popular varieties) are hard to grow from their own rootstocks. The grafting makes it possible for most people to be able to grow different Japanese maples because the tree now has both a rootstock that is fairly quick growing/ easy to establish, and a cool, interesting ornamental tree up top.
However, the rootstock grows so well that it will send sprouts and shoots fairly frequently. If they aren’t removed, those will eventually outgrow the grafted tree. This in turn will deprive the original tree of nutrients/sunlight until it dies off and you’re left with just a regular green or red seedling Japanese maple.