Need some advice on some advice i've been given!

Hi,

I've been advised to wrap horticultural fleece around the trunk of my Acer palmatum to protect it from the cold, drying winds. What I would like to know is - is this necessary?

The (very small) tree is only around 3-4ft tall and is still in the pot i bought it in (I plan to plant it into my garden next spring. My garden is a blank canvass that I need to design so don't really want to plant my Acer until I know exactly where i want it to go). The truk is only quite small in diameter.
It has lost many of its outer leaves (some of these fell off 2-3 months ago and although there are buds in place of the old leaves, they have never actually opened up yet).
The leaves that are more central are turning an orangy colour now and I am led to believe that these will fall off this Autumn.

Can anyone tell me if i need to wrap the trunk in fleece? And does the tree sound ok health wise? I really don't want it to die. Should I be doing anything else with it?

Many Thanks!

 

If it's still in it's pot, would you be able to overwinter in a greenhouse? I had two of them at our old place.....we didn't protect them......they are no longer ;(

All of the leaves will drop from it in the Fall.

 

If you look at most deciduous shrubs at this time of the year, you should see next years leaves developing as buds in the current leaf axils. This is just the same as your acer. If your tree is still in a pot, the pot may need wrapping to protect the roots from frosts. The tree itself should be quite safe, and as NatalieB says, place it in a greenhouse or a porch until the warmer weather returns.