"I want Acers "

I would love to keep Acers in large containers, but my garden is not very sheltered. Would I be wasting my time or is there any tips on how to prevent scorching the leaves. Is it true that as long as you keep the pot well watered during strong winds it will prevent the scorching ?

 

By using other plants surrounding the acers, and being careful where you place them you can help prevent the scorching. If it is very windy then maybe not even that will help.

 

Acers like to be complicated. I thought I had the perfect spot for one, sheltered from the wind, protected by other plants (also in pots) and only getting the sun in late afternoon, in the summer. The bloody thing still went and died, in perfect conditions.

On the other hand, a friend has several growing next to her carp pond, in sunlight and not much protection that I can see and they do fine.

For the price you pay for even a small acer, its too high a risk!

 

Goodness gracious me what a dreadful thing to say
Japanese maples are one of the most beautiful and satisfying things you will ever grow in your garden
You can now buy cheap seeedlings (even in tescos) for a few pounds which will give you the benefits without the expense. No need to hunt out £100 plus cultivars
They are well suited to growing in pots. Keep them well watered but NEVER soaking wet, and out of the stonger winds. They will be fine
Methinks Aaron had a different problem with the one that died ......

 

Probably! The second one only cost me a fiver and lived for a year, then suddenly the leaves crinkled up and fell off, in the middle of summer.

Shame, I would love to nurture one as i think they really are objects of beauty.

 

You can read a little about growing Japanese maples in containers here:
http://www.mountainmaples.com/ART_containers.php

 

Whilst Japanese maples are known to like a slightly acid soil, they are not over demanding and can do quite well in even slightly alkaline soils. If you plant with an ericaceous compost and/or peat mixed into with your existing soil it should be fine. Don't add too much compost or peat so that the plant can get used to the existing soil where it will spend the rest of its life. Some people even advise against adding any soil improvements, but my own idea is to try to help it get off to a good start. I also add a little bone meal to the planting mix to help root development. A good root system means a healthy plant
Otherwise the fertility of your existing soil should be fine ... they do not need a lot of fertiliser.
Katsura is a lovely plant ... have you seen mine?
This is (from left) Katsura, Kasagiyama and Omurayama
http://www.fujiyamagarden.com/groups16.jpg

 

Hello Sussexgardener
But you live in Horsham! I've bought lots of young acers (from a certain retailer, think 'W', by that fountain globe thing on West St.) over the years for c£2.99 - katsuras, atropurpureum, bloodgood, etc etc

 

I think it's pot luck with acers, as we've had them for over twenty years.
For those who've seen mine...

"Look away now."

This is one we've had for 24 years, it's been trained to a dome shape. It's all hollow below about six inches into the canopy.

This was taken earlier in the year after rain.



I've since trimmed its skirt with shears as I do every year.




We had a similar one in another position, more sheltered than that and it died for no reason I could fathom after about fifteen years.

It's been replaced by this one, which was about £14 in B&Q three years ago.

This is it in "training," last year.





The canes and wire were only needed for a year.



I've since built this brick circle for it as I didn't like weeding between the York stone. I dug a shallow trench and used a barely wet fine concrete mix for the base to ensure no cement could contaminate the roots.
It's then a case of pointing up the bricks with an almost dry mortar mix.
I can run the flymo over the bricks and always get a decent finish.



It's difficult to stop the sun burning the leaves, mine did quite well this year, but then on hot days I gave them a bit of a spray around mid-day.

I'll have another job in February. There will be a lot of ends of branches where a few inches of them will have died off and gone white, you (or I do at any rate) also get one or two small whole "wispy" branches that completely die off and need pruning back to the trunk. An hours work with the pruners gets them looking right.

I always give them an insecticide spray just as the buds of the leaves start to open in the spring, for some reason the aphids love these leaves, I had a bad experience with them about ten years ago and it took the whole summer for them to recover.

 

Love your Teahouse 'Doggy'
Everything looks very tidy and well kept. Well done

 

The Acers are lovely but if it's too much of an uphill struggle to keep them you could try some of the Sambucus ( Elder ) varieties like Sutherlands Gold or Black Lace.
Lovely, finely cut foliage and not half so delicate or demanding.
They tend to grow more upright but by judicious pruning to outward facing buds can be induced to grow more horizontally

 

You can cheat a bit with acers, as well as I do, surround a new one with bamboo canes and use fairly stiff garden wire to pull the main branches down, in the growing season, you can tuck a few branches under some which are growing in the right direction and use ties to hold them there for a few weeks. When you remove the ties the branches will retain the new angle. Once well established you can be quite ruthless and trim them with shears.

 

We had an acer that was quite happy in a pretty shaded area