Are acer's ok inside over winter?

kiwigirl

I have acers (in pots) but they're getting a bit waterlogged and windswept at the moment, are they ok to keep indoors over winter? I haven't got a greenhouse.

TIA KG

olly300

Apparently Acers need winter dormancy to survive. So unless you are going to keep them in a unheated room then they will have a problem surviving over the years.

robpw2

i wouldnt leave my acer outside it would get extremly wet and then wouldnt work . are acers also flowers~? you learn something new everyday

kiwigirl

Olly - yes room where I intend to put the acer is unheated, I'm hoping not to put too much heating on this year - new house so should be quite good insulation in it supposedly.

Rob - not sure if they're classed as flowers, on label it just says do not eat!

KG

Pippilongstocking

Garage or a garden shed would be better with lots of cold and plenty ventilation, think in a house no matter how cold you think it is the air won't circulate enough and the plants won't get cold enough. Or otherwise what about wrapping them up with fleece/hessian in the pots and leaving them raised up on a couple of bits wood/stone to help the drainage? Or tuck them in somewhere and put some other pots etc around them to help reduce wind damage, but I do think a garage or wrapping them up would be better than indoors,

goodluck!!

ps acers are 'flowering plants' so I guess they are technically flowers - more flowers in the world is all good!

Fern_Merkin

Are you sure they're not Japanese Maples? A quick google only brings that up for Acer. In my experience they don't flower spectacularly. If they are this tree they are from Japan and grow on mountains. Raising the pots to encourage drainage and huddling in a sheltered spot will help but bringing them indoors will at the very least weaken the trees and make them suceptible (sp) to insects like greenfly and likely other infections.

If it's another sort of Acer please post link to photo as I'm curious

My Acer Palmatum has been happily in a pot on sheltered north facing wall for 15 years without need for protection.

Farway

I agree with Fern Merkin, acers are Japanese maples and are trees

They will need a period of dormancy overwinter, like all non evergreen trees

As suggested, raise the pots off the ground and leave outside in a sheltered area, once Autumn arrives and the leaves fall the trees will not need water and raising pots off the ground will ensure they do not get waterlogged

vivatifosi

I agree with Farway and Fern Merkin. I keep my Acer outdoors and so do other members of my family. They aren't the most attractive of trees in winter, but they do thrive outdoors, especially in sheltered areas.

nodwah

I've had one with pale green leaves (forgot variety) which didn't like wind at all, it was def much more wimp-y than the red/purple ones and suffered a lot of dieback. I've got a disectum purple one ( can't be bothered tying out the whole name) which has stood up to years of cold wet windy winters with no protection.

Davesnave

Waterlogging can be a problem, so you could try a bit of careful re-potting with a good gravel layer at the bottom.

Acers can be tricky in their first year. I grew some dissectum varieties from seed in 2007, but they all died over the winter, despite being outdoors and in a well ventilated cold frame. Still looking for a solution to that & have a fresh batch of larger plants ready to try again.