It's not for me. It distracts from the beauty of each cultivar and sure.y you'd have to be very careful if one was more vigorous than the other. John
I put them on the border of good taste. Some combinations are terrible. But there are those who look very good. It is important to choose right.
Maybe even over the border. Most of the ones I have seen are somewhat jarring. As John said, it can distract from what makes a cultivar good in the first place.
I support John for his taste. Of course, there is nothing more beautiful than the natural way shape maple. But like double grafted maple does not mean you do not like single. :) I think you just should not restrict the tastes and perceptions. Japanese maple differ from each other sometimes shades. And because many are varieties have a rich base of possibilities for combination. Of course, can not be treated recklessly. This is not so much to the propagation of maple much as art. An art in time and space. And when they are combined under the laws of art could be perceived well. I have at least a dozen such. And actually perceived differently. I have a combination I call "family in divorce." Looks terrible. But there are others who are very curious. It is a personal choice that should not be restricted. :)
I like to plant cultivars that compliment or contrast with each other, either by colour, growth habit or leaf form. A tall weeping standard under planted with a low spreading weeper. I have also raised many of my maples by removing lower branches and they are under planted with smaller maples. I guess its down to personal taste, but each specimen planted this way can still be appreciated for it's own individual characteristics.
It reminds me of a lab I taught while I was a TA-- grafting tomatoes onto potato plant stem/roots. It's a fun and entertaining experiment, and there's lots to enjoy about the outcome, but it's not something I'd choose to do normally. I like planting two contrasting plants near each other, though, as someone mentioned. I've seen a lot of double (or more) grafted fruit trees, and most of the ones I've seen don't seem to have balanced vigor. I've seen several where one variety had to be cut out of the tree entirely, often leaving an ugly imbalance and scars, then a lot of suckers to follow. Is this the case with double grafted maples as well?
Against all this there is timely intervention by pruning. When taken at the time, does not result in such drastic situations. Have I had to pruning, but then the reward is greater.
