japanesse maple`s

just a quick question, i have 2 maples in large pots on my patio but how often should i water them? and also should i be feeding them to? thanks...:cnfs:

 

I've two, this one's 25 years old it isn't in a pot and it gets watered whenever I water the lawn. It gets a bit of Miracle Grow now and again, but no special treatment.





I'd suggest you don't let it get dry and as it's in a pot, try to move it where it gets a bit of shade when it's really hot and sunny as the leaves burn easily if not kept moist.

 

i have the same and it got repotted into a huge pot last year not quit as big as that lol... not far off thou i just wondered as its my fav and want to look after her, its the talking point when people are round

 

We lost another one about four years ago, died over the winter. I replaced with this one, it's taken me that long to "train." It cost me £40 in B&Q.




As you say, I'd be upset if I lost them, I was worried when they were like this earlier in the year.






I saw one slightly larger than our largest one but not a particularly attractive shape in Bent's Garden Centre a few weeks ago, they wanted £3,000 for it!

They must be joking!

 

you say train it? what do you mean, i`ve never trimmed or anything am i ok to do so?

 

I like mine to be "mushroom shaped." It's just a personal choice.
You have to start with "a suitable case for treatment."





I "surround it" with bamboo canes and attach wire between suitable branches and the canes and pull the branches down a bit. Then I go back a few weeks later and pull them down a bit more, but only during the summer when it's growing. It takes a couple of years to get the required result. If there's a branch that is "untrainable" I cut it off. As well as pulling the branches down I pull some either left or right to slowly fill any gaps left by the pruning.

Underneath all that foliage becomes a complete void.
Once you've achieved the required shape it's a case of "tucking in" or pruning new small branches that don't want to conform.
With the big one, I go at it with shears now and again to trim the "skirt."

This was a week or so ago, it's now filling out more.

 

DG Riley. You are a smart cookie. Your acers are lovely:luv:

 

Thanks for that, I've noticed even the trunk of the smaller one has straightened out, it looked a bit bent before. I'd forgotten about that, might be responding to the fact it's now better balanced.