Acers look fabulous in bowl-shaped containers on front porches or patios. If there is space on the patio, group three different kinds together in different sized pots. In a large garden they can be grouped together as a grove.
Pruning the Japanese Maple can be intimidating, we will have Pruning seminars in February to demonstrate for the faint-of-heart. The best advice we can give is to learn how large the plant can grow. The mature size of a plant is the size it will be in about ten years. The plant doesn’t stop growing when it reaches its mature size; it slows down but continues growing to its ultimate size. That can be roughly twice what is on the plant tag. Then it stops getting taller, although like people, it may continue to get wider. You can then make an informed decision about how close to the path, window or doorway to site one.
In Cass Turnbull’s Guide to Pruning, she recommends going easy on young trees (less than five years old). “Try to limit yourself to removing no more than one-eighth or less of the leaf canopy in a year”. This book is a great help for first-time tree buyers.
