Acer palmatum ‘Lemon Lime Lace’ Japanese Maple

‘Lemon Lime Lace’ is a dwarf laceleaf Japanese Maple with excellent spring-to-fall color. Its small stature and graceful branching make it a standout tree for small properties. The name Lemon Lime Lace is fitting because of its yellow-green color and lacy leaves. It was discovered by the late Del Loucks of Del’s Japanese Maples in Junction City, Oregon.
This beautiful variety grows in a wide, irregular mound shape with weeping branches. It grows slowly at a rate of 4″- 8″ per year, reaching a height of 5′ × 5′ in 10 years. Its highly dissected leaves are lacy and give the tree a light, feathery appearance. They emerge light clear yellow in the spring and transition to yellow-green in the summer sun. In the shade, however, the leaves will turn lime green. Cooler temperatures and lower light in the fall bring out orange-yellow hues, rounding out three seasons of beautiful color.
‘Lemon Lime Lace’ is hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9 in full sun to partial shade, but its leaves can burn in the hot afternoon sun, especially in the southern zones of its range. It grows best in a combination of morning sun and afternoon partial shade in zones 8 and 9 but can grow in full sun in cooler, more northern zones. It is a vigorous tree but does need protection from extreme heat and frost.
It prefers rich, moist, slightly acidic soil that is well-draining. Water the tree at planting and weekly for a season until it is established. Container-grown trees will need to be watered more frequently than trees grown in the garden since their soil dries out more quickly.
‘Lemon Lime Lace’ is a dwarf tree perfect as an accent or specimen in limited spaces such as a small garden, rock garden, or city garden. It is also a handsome addition to an Asian-themed garden or in a container on a porch, patio, terrace, or poolside.
Companion plants near ‘Lemon Lime Lace’ need to have the same cultural requirements to thrive. There are many options, so choose trees, shrubs, perennials, and groundcovers that will complement the colors and texture of your Japanese maple.
Dark green evergreens planted behind ‘Lemon Lime Lace,’ such as pines, junipers, arborvitae, hollies, and rhododendrons, act as a dark backdrop that the light-colored tree can stand out against. Perennials, like Hakone grass, astilbes, anemones, hellebores, and Japanese painted ferns, add some interest planted nearby. Bulbs, like crocus, daffodils, tulips, hyacinth, squill, glory-of-the-snow, and snowdrops, provide some color when the maple’s branches are still bare in the spring. Low-growing groundcovers, such as creeping jenny, bugleweed, stonecrop, periwinkle, creeping phlox, English ivy, and pachysandra, all create a lush carpet underneath the tree.