Acers

I want to buy an Acer from our local garden centre. It is about 18" high and looks very healthy. I will transplant it into a large pot and wanted to know if it will be ok outside now to withstand weather conditions. I tried with a very young plant only about 6" tall and after moving it around to find the most suitable spot for it, I failed and it died. Any suggestions please?

Thanks

Theyare fully hardy, so will be fine outside. Put it in a sheltered, semi-shaded position, out of winds and midday sunshine.

Also, don't put it straight in a giant pot - put it in a smaller one first, say 30cm across. The compost can be a mixture of JI and multipurpose - contrary to popular belief, they don't need ericaceous compost, although they do prefer a fairly fibrous mix.

Make sure you keep it out of the wind - the leaves on mine have been damaged several times because I forgot this!

I planted my acer palmatum In november (in a pot) and was worried it would die.

It's tough as anything though!

Kept it protected from winds, in a pot, against west-facing wall of house.

It's a dwarf variety (ma 1.5m tall) and it seems very happy there.

I only water it with rainwater and it has no tray under so the drainage is good.

Pot is about 40cm across and I used ericaceous compost though apparently it can also manage in neutral soil, just not lime soil.

Other than that, it just does it's own thing

I have a lovely acer in a pot protected by large tubs of bamboo, but still seems to be suffering from wind/sun burn.  

Freshairfanatic, I have a tray underneath mine, should I remove it?

Hi Oldie, I vaguely remember Monty Don saying that whilst acers ought to be kept moist, they should also be well drained and that sort of stuck in my mind.

I have added some bark chips to the top layer to make sure it remains moist and removed the tray - seems to be fine and it's really thriving.