Acer palmatum 'Our Back Yard'

Pete acquired this tree while in college working at a garden center. It's long since lost (or never had) a proper ID. What's unique about it is that in the world of Japanese Maples, it's in a class by itself for speed. 4-6 feet a year is not unusual! Because of that, it lends itself to being pruned to multiple stems -- ours has two main branches up to 2 feet, then each of those breaks of in two and so forth. The structure of our tree due to excellent pruning is absolutely superb -- even if it never had a leaf! But it does -- tiny, tiny stars that look fabulous when they fall and carpet the ground beneath them -- like star shaped confetti! It turns a brilliant red in LATE fall when most everything else is done and turning brown. Also, very self-branching so you get a wonderful structure for winter. Also, it takes FULL SUN! There is a downside -- it does self seed some (not crazy like a silver maple) but if you mow under it, no problem or they can be pulled out if you have a garden beneath it as we do. You should NOT plant this near any area where you can't control unwanted seedlings.