78. Music Tree

A Japanese maple in Cardiff is the perfect accompaniment to a modernist sculpture outside the School of Music.

Against the brick wall of Cardiff University School of Music, Barbara Hepworth’s monumental sculpture Three Obliques (Walk In), is juxtaposed with the Music Tree. The tree is Wales’ best example of a Japanese maple; a perfectly broad-domed small tree with fresh green foliage in summer. It will continue to spread as it grows, so sensitive management will be required to ensure these two icons continue to cohabit harmoniously.

Species details

Japanese maple
Acer palmatum

Where to find it

Cardiff University School of Music, Corbett Road, Cardiff CF10 3EB
///marked.free.risen | 51.489098, -3.18345

Japanese maple notes

Japanese maples will be familiar to many as a garden shrub or a bonsai subject, but if allowed to grow, they can become elegant small trees. Visit any garden centre and you will find dozens of cultivars with differing leaf colour, size and leaf shapes; some of the slowest growing varieties have very finely incised, almost filigree leaves. As with ornamental cherries, Japanese gardeners have been developing cultivars of this species for centuries and there are a bewildering number to choose from, many with equally bewildering names. The Maple Society has produced a useful introduction to the various Japanese maple cultivar groups.