Beautiful Acers

hrafndot

Keep an eye out in Homebase for standard Acer trees. I did so last summer and watched two beauties suffering in the full glare of the sun. They were originally priced at £80 each and eventually I managed to buy them for £30 each. They were looking awful. However they have now fully recovered and are thriving with sympathetic treatment. I know £30 is still a lot but I'd rather buy a tree than have a holiday.

libra10

I agree, they're gorgeous. We had a beautiful red Maple which had grown to quite a size, but suddenly last year it died. We're not sure why. Wilkinson's had some acers in their store and I bought three at £2.99 each. Two are red and one variagated leaves. They are barely bigger than twigs, but I'm optimistic that they will grow.

hrafndot

libra10 wrote:

I agree, they're gorgeous. We had a beautiful red Maple which had grown to quite a size, but suddenly last year it died. We're not sure why. Wilkinson's had some acers in their store and I bought three at £2.99 each. Two are red and one variagated leaves. They are barely bigger than twigs, but I'm optimistic that they will grow.

I've had the experience of sudden unexplained death. Its very hard when this happens. All our acers are in pots and this may be part of the problem. I suspect that sudden death may be due to a virus or it could be watering problems.

Marks & Spencers used to do really good acers, haven't seen them recently. I think Acers are an investment at whichever stage you get them, but pruning them is a skill I haven't yet achieved.

The combination of happy bushy acers and black bamboo make our patio a really calming place!!!! They are so worth it.


regards

libra10

They're certainly an exotic addition to any garden, adding vibrancy and colour. I think the problem with our acer must have been due to disease of some sort. Strangely, we have a smaller green acer planted quite near and that continues to thrive.

Good luck with your new plants, your patio sounds great with such beautiful trees and shrubs.

blue-kat

they are quite thirsty ?

I bought 3 sad little twigs of acer at Morrisons for 69p each last summer.

I gave 2 to a friend as she's looking to grow a replacement for her magnificient red acer which seems to be ailing. But only the green varigated one has survived.

My little red acer is doing well not bad for the price

I've had some great bargains from B&Q nursery reduced bay, lungwort for 10p.
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blue-kat

hrafndot

blue-kat wrote:

they are quite thirsty ?

I bought 3 sad little twigs of acer at Morrisons for 69p each last summer.

I gave 2 to a friend as she's looking to grow a replacement for her magnificient red acer which seems to be ailing. But only the green varigated one has survived.

My little red acer is doing well not bad for the price

I've had some great bargains from B&Q nursery reduced bay, lungwort for 10p.
-
blue-kat

I think my acers only seem thirsty because they are in pots. I think the Acer is shade loving and the trees I bought were suffering because they had been in the full glare of the sun. Now they are happy. Its hot, but as long as they are watered every day (or even twice a day), I think they will survive. I suspect the thing that kilsl them is fungal infections. I love the red acers!!!!!

blue-kat

meant to say thanks for the tip to look out for reduced big acers at Sains Homebase.

I've seen the appalling way the premium range of big expensive plants are treated at B&Q...why do they bother if they are going to wreck them in the store?

good luck with your 2.

my friend fills a 2 litre bottle of water daily for her big potted acer, and it drinks twice a day
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blue-kat

jap200

A few years ago (about 4 years I think) I collected some seeds from a lovely red acer tree in a friends garden - when they were falling off in the autumn. I planted them in a pot with a light covering of compost and left them out all winter.

8 germinated and interestingly they had all different colour and shape leaves. Within a year they were about 10" tall and we gave 5 away as gifts planted in terracotta pots.

The 3 we kept are now beautiful 4' trees which would be worth up to £100 each in some garden centres.

I know we had to wait a long time for these - but that is real moneysaving!!

Aries

Well done managing to grow Acers from seed.
I have a red Acer about 10 years old,last year I noticed on one of the main branches that the leafs were dying.on closer inspection I noticed the bark had lots of scale insects.I managed to remove these by using diluted washing up liquid and a soft brush.
so its worth keeping an eye open for scale insects.I had to remove the branch this year as there was no sign of growth,but the rest of the tree has survived.
Happy gardening. Kath

rchddap1

We bought a small green Japanese Maple a few months ago and planted it in our garden. So far its doing fine and we have some lovely green leaves. One thing I was wondering was how fast do they generally grow. I know that it will take a while to get a good sized tree...but I'm more curious than anything else.

ooo000ooo

What's an acer?