A Guide to Japanese Maple in the Garden

I have heard many gardeners say that the leaves of their acers have crinkled and caused the death of their lovely acers. These gardeners usually want to know how to know tips for acer care. According to the RHS website, acers are easy to grow plants.

James Harris, A nurseryman at Mallet Court Nursery, Somerset once advised me that acers are easy to grow when you know how to take care of them and the right place to plant them. He says that, if you want beauty in your garden you should plant a Japanese maple for glorious fall color as shown here.

Acers grow well in all soils including chalky soils. If you are going to grow your acer in heavy clay, it is good to consider incorporating organic matter into the hole when planting your acer or acers. You should also avoid overwatering your acer or acers. James Harris told me that shelter is a very important factor to consider and the more delicate the leaf, the more the shelter it requires.

A good shelter is a place that is out of northerly and cold easterly winds and late frosts. These winds and late frosts often damage acer in spring after the emergence of new, delicate foliage. You can protect your plants from frost by putting fleece over acer leaves. Doing so will help provide shelter from boundaries walls, overhanging trees or any other buildings around your plant or plants.

Japanese maples often grow well in city/suburban gardens provided the landscape that surrounds the plant has reduced the wind and hasn’t created eddies or ruinous wind tunnels. Besides, Japanese maples grown in city/suburban gardens are protected from unrelenting sunshine. Golden and variegated maples should be grown in dappled shade as they are often scorched by the hot sun.

Red and claret maples, on the other hand, are not affected by sunshine as long as the soil is sufficiently moist. A good location to plant it is in the shelter of a tall tree, at the drip line where it will not have too much competition from existing roots. To achieve this, create a new curved border for your acer by digging out the lawn around an existing tree.

The effort is worth it. The curved border should be a few meters long and wide and accommodate the mature plant. It should also create an opportunity to grow other foliage plants like heuchera, ferns or an oriental-style border with Japanese stone bowls and Japanese lanterns. You can choose to add some evergreen foliage, though the deciduous outline of the maple is very beautiful in winter.

The variety of maple you choose to plant depends on these 3 things:

-How big you would like your tree to grow (some of them reach 4.5 meters (15ft) while others don’t grow beyond a meter.

-Would you like a mound-shaped tree or an upright one? (A dissectum Japanese maple is ideal for those who would like a mound-shaped tree)

-The shape and color of leaves. Would you like leaves with green, red or yellowish leaves? Or would you like fancily, lacily cut leaves or leaves with an archetypal maple shape?