Coral Bark Japanese Maple Tree

Coral Bark Japanese Maple Treebute: A Tree That Glows Brightest in Winter

Most trees retreat in winter - the hardest season for grief. But the Coral Bark Japanese Maple does something extraordinary - it comes alive. As temperatures drop, this tree's bark intensifies to a luminous coral-red. It's a tree that finds its brightest moment in the season when everything else has gone quiet. In Japan, it's called Sango-kaku: "coral tower." The name captures both the warm color of sea coral and the tree's graceful, upward-reaching form. This tree teaches that beauty doesn't require abundance; there's grace in simplicity.

Each Treebute Kit is a complete memorial tree kit designed to be planted at home - a hands-on ritual that many people find grounding and healing during a time of loss. The Coral Bark Japanese Maple offers something unique: a living reminder that there's beauty to be found in every season. 

Why You'll Love the Coral Bark Japanese Maple

• Winter Beauty Unlike Any Other: This is the only tree in our collection that saves its most striking moment for winter. While other memorial trees sleep, the Coral Bark Maple's branches glow an almost fluorescent coral-pink that intensifies with cold. 
• Four-Season of Beauty: Spring brings fresh leaves edged in pink, gradually deepening to soft green through summer. In fall, the foliage turns luminous gold, sometimes touched with orange and red, before they fall to reveal the winter coral beneath. Every season offers something new to notice and appreciate.
• Award-Winning Excellence: The Coral Bark Japanese Maple received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1993, recognizing its outstanding garden performance and reliability. This is a tree that has earned its reputation over decades - beautiful, dependable, and beloved by gardeners worldwide 
• Graceful, Upright Form: The Coral Bark Japanese Maple grows in an upright, vase-shaped habit with graceful ascending branches - the "tower" referenced in its Japanese name. At maturity, it reaches 15-25 feet tall and 10-15 feet wide. Its form is elegant year-round, but especially striking in winter when the branch structure is fully visible. 
• The Japanese Maple Heritage: Japanese maples have been cultivated for a thousand years in Japan, where they represent gracem serenity, and the transient beauty of life. 
  
• Container Growing: The tree's manageable size and slow-to-moderate growth rate make it well-suited to container culture for many years.

Each Treebute Kit Includes 

      ✓ Hardy tribute tree (size you select)
      ✓ Step-by-step planting & watering care guide
      ✓ Personalized memorial message

➕ Optional Add-Ons (Customize Your Treebute Kit)

o    Planter (choose your style & size)
o    Premium potting mix (for indoor or patio planting)
o    Cremation-safe organic soil blend (for ashes, if/when you’re ready)

      Many customers plant without ashes  -  and that’s just as meaningful.

Everything arrives together, ready to plant.

Nurturing Your Memorial Tree

• Light: Partial shade is ideal, especially afternoon shade in warmer climates. Morning sun with afternoon protection produces the best bark color and prevents leaf scorch. Can tolerate full sun in cooler northern zones.
• Water: Keep soil consistently moist but not waterlogged, especially during establishment. Water deeply during dry periods. Japanese maples appreciate even moisture - neither drought nor soggy roots.
• Soil: Prefers rich, moist, well-drained soil that's slightly acidic. Can adapt to clay or sandy soils if drainage is adequate. Your Treebute soil blend provides an excellent foundation.
• Pruning: Minimal pruning needed. If shaping is desired, prune in late winter while dormant. Avoid spring pruning when sap is flowing. The natural vase-shaped form is part of its beauty - resist over-pruning.

Each winter, when the coral branches glow against the quiet sky, you'll remember: there's beauty in every season - especially the ones that feel bare.

Optional: Plant with Cremation Ashes - The Treebute® Difference

For those wishing to incorporate cremation ashes, your kit includes the option to add our Treebute® organic soil blend. This specially formulated mixture creates a safe, nurturing foundation for your tree - transforming ashes into living growth. Each winter, as the coral bark glows warmest in the coldest season, you'll see a living reminder that love endures through every season of life.

Your tree is meaningful with or without ashes - this is simply another way to honor someone you love.

Honor Your Loved One in a Way That Lives On

Finding a meaningful way to honor someone you love can feel overwhelming. This is a tree for those who understand that grief has seasons. For a thousand years, Japanese gardeners have turned to this tree to teach this truth: that love doesn't disappear when things feel bare. It just shows up differently.

The act of planting creates meaning. The coral branches hold light through darkness. And love - like warmth - finds a way to glow.