Acers

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Acers

Postby kaz on Sun Apr 29, 2007 12:54 pm

Firstly... are acers and Japanese maples the same plant?

I would like to plant an acer by my patio pond and wonder which type would be the best. I would have to plant it in a pot to contain acid soil? (I'd then bury the pot). Is there an acer which provides a sort of low canopy, rather than height?
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Postby whis4ey on Sun Apr 29, 2007 8:59 pm

Japanese maples are members of the acer family ... in fact Acer Palmatum, Acer Japonicum and Acer Shirasawanum are collectively known as the Japanese maples.
Acer palmatum are the largest family by far
Most of them grow superbly well in pots
The only problem I have ever found with 'burying' a pot is that I then forget to water it :roll:
They prefer a well drained and slightly acid soil, but do well in neutral soil
How low do you mean when you say 'low canopy'?
I think acers beside a pond look best if they are low dissectums (those with a dissected leaf) either green or red
You can go for a cultivar or to save money an unnamed seedling would be just as beautiful
This is a green dissectum beside my waterfall. It is about 10 years old :)
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Postby kaz on Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:57 pm

Sam... I think that one looks just about perfect for where I want it. How deep do the roots get... (size pot I need). I've got quite a 'messy' plant that I want to replace... it's that silver colour one on the far right. As you can see... a tall plant wouldn't look right, but I'd like to introduce a bit of height in that area (about 1ft).

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Postby whis4ey on Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:38 am

They seeem to do very well in pots Kaz
I would guess a pot about a foot or so deep would be ample (maybe a little more)
The smaller pot would probably help to keep the height down anyways
Look for plants being sold under the name of 'Dissectum' (which simply means dissected leaf) or Viridis (which means green). These are fairly common green laceleafs and should not be too expensive
If you want red look for 'Dissectum Atropupureum'. Same comments apply
After that you start to enter the world of cultivars which start to command a higher price :)
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Postby kaz on Mon Apr 30, 2007 2:20 pm

Thank you Sam :)
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Postby kaz on Tue May 01, 2007 2:29 pm

I've bought the acer and it's being delivered on Thursday :).
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Postby whis4ey on Wed May 02, 2007 9:48 am

What did you buy? :)
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Postby alison on Tue May 29, 2007 11:39 pm

Here is a pic of the acer in our front garden just coming into full leaf. The burgandy colour is my favourite and I have one in the back garden too. It isn't a brilliant shot but it also shows the front garden just coming to life with all the different plants. (and Lucy of course)

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Postby whis4ey on Wed May 30, 2007 9:48 am

hehehe
Looks like it could be difficult to get to the front door :)
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Postby alison on Wed May 30, 2007 10:36 am

There is actually a small path where Lucy is walking and this photo was taken quite a few weeks ago. It is now even more full and the postman really has to duck and dive around all the pots which are also on the path. I tied back a lovely lemon aquiliga ? (granny's bonnet) the other day as it was falling across the path towards the Acer and the postman would have had no way of getting in. I opened the door this morning to him and said "is that better" and he smiled and nodded. It is a good job we have a lovely postman. :D
I love the front garden at the moment as it is really full and looks so cottagey with the plants that are out at the moment. The lovely purple geraniums are starting to flower all the way across the border and now I have a wonderful hanging basket of surfinias with deep cerise coloured extra large flowers. Most of the front is a mixture of pinks and purples with just a dash of lemon every now and then. The Ivy is growing well up the walls now so soon it will become the cottagey house and garden that I would like. Just because we live in the middle of a busy urban city there is no reason that we can't create a bit of the countryside for ourselves. I must admit though that mine is the only garden in my street that looks like this. Most have made car parking and it is such a shame. I am sure that those people walking down the street must be enriched when they see such colours and plants. At least I hope so as it is such a happy garden it must make people feel better. :P
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Postby kaz on Wed May 30, 2007 11:45 am

Alison... I've always thought your front garden is pretty :D. The colurs you describe sound wonderful. When I see an exceptional front garden, it makes me want to knock on the door to ask to see the back garden also!
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Postby AJC on Wed May 30, 2007 11:54 am

I think what Sam means alison is that when ya maple decideds to put on a growth spurt ya wont be able to get in the door coz the maple will cover it............. and it will :lol:
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Postby alison on Wed May 30, 2007 12:13 pm

I will have to keep an eye on that. I hadn't thought of how big it might get when I planted it there. I have a beautiful pink hibiscus which flowers profusely all the summer long and it has gone mad and is now covering over the path. I guess I will have to prune it back in autumn or else we shall just have the use of the back door. :P I also bought a Spirea and planted that in thinking it had lovely flowers. It was only later as I saw the leaves emerge that I thought "that looks like a lilac" I am hopeless on names so now I have a lilac, a maple, a smoke bush and the Hibiscus all within a few feet of each other. It looks grand :smt050
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Postby alison on Sat Jun 09, 2007 11:48 pm

I found today on the acer in my back garden some little 'flowers' in a deep pink colour. They can be described best as looking like the 'helicopters' that come after the flowers on the sycamore tree. Are these the flowers of the Acer or are they the seed like the sycamore and if they are the seed what happened to the flowers??? I have not noticed them in previous years but my plants are still quite young, so I guess it could be the first time.
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Postby whis4ey on Mon Jun 11, 2007 1:52 pm

These little helicopters are the 'samaras' .... the seeds which will ripen around October
There are more than usual on my maples this year, so I am not surprised to learn that you have some
Flowers on acers are not very noticeable at the best of times
You can see them, and the samaras, here on A P 'Suminigashi'
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