Hi all,
I've had a couple of acers in the ground for nearly two years now, last year they've pretty much died off losing much of their bark!
I did plant with manure and topped up with ericacious compost last spring but am loath to put acers in the ground again.... how do you keep them going and happy?
Jon
umm... hope someone else can be more helpful than me...
I had a normal yellow acer in the garden (a tall variety) in my old house (I moved nearly 2 years ago) and this did just fine with no special treatment at all, the builders planted it, we moved it to a more suitable location (!) and it grew very well for the 14 years I was there. I have grown "babies" from this and I have these in pots, as I hoped to put one in my new garden (but I don;t have room where I have bought for a big acer so I may secretly go out and plant them amongst the hedgerows behind my garden (!!!) and bonsai the rest...) these are in normal compost, in smallish pots and have done fine over the last 2 years.
I have a ornamental red acer in a tub, had it now for about 10 or so years. I replanted it last year into a bigger tub. Its just in standard compost from a DIY store. It suffers when it rains and is then very sunny (scald) but other than that it's fine... (suffered badly from this last year, so I'll put it in a shadier spot this year)
They do like a lot of moisture... did you water them enough when they were in the ground... I fine the one in my tub has to be waterered very frequently when hot to stop it suffering
good luck...
mat
Acers aren't usually too troublesome. There is a huge variety to choose from of course; many are native to this country but some are not. It could be something to do with the site. Generally speaking, they like a fairly fertile, acid to neutral, moist but free draining soil. They don't usually like an exposed position. I had to move one of mine (a small Japanese one - "Ozakasuki") to give it a more sheltered site when the leaves started getting frizzled. Maybe that's the problem.
I have read that the sun can scorch Acer leaves so dappled shade from larager trees or a position where they do not get the sun on them all day, and especially at its highest, is best.
wind tends to do more damage than sun
Hiya all,
The one that came off worst is partially sheltered by a large bamboo, I'd describe it as dappled shade so maybe it's not getting enough sun or the bamboo is taking too much water.
I'll try potting it up in a mix of normal/ericaceous compost and hope for the best.
Many thanks.
Jon
I'm no expert also. However, for my twopenneth, I grow mine in a large glay pot and it grows beautifully. The inlaws have theirs in their lawn as specimens, but these get scorched, the leaves get attacked and they tend to always look scrappy, and theres are in full sun so much more exposed, where as mine sits in the cool shade next to my pond and it thrives.
Unless you have an acid soil I would grow it in a pot.
If you are talking about the Japanese acers - Acer japonicum or A. palmatum and their hundreds of cultivars - then you have to think about their origins as understorey trees and shrubs in moist woodland. They like shelter from dry winds and harsh sunlight. They hate dry soils. They love dappled shade, sheltered sites and moist (not wet), humus rich, mildly acid soils. Given these conditions they thrive in the soil or in pots. Soil grown plants will grow larger, pot grown plants will grow more slowly. They do well in pots, even with extreme restrictions - think bonsai - but they will still need that combination of light shade, shelter to give moisture in the air, and slightly acid soils.