Acer Garnet - pot or plant?

[ClingFilmAndGafferTape]

I'm a terrible gardener and not very good at keeping things alive. But I've been given an absolutely beautiful Acer Garnet and I'm not sure what to do for the best with it. I have a south facing garden, so full sun in the afternoon. I've got a place for it but not sure whether to keep it in a pot or plant it. I've looked on the RHS website but it's not given me much to go on. Any tips?

Weve just bought one of these and weve put it in a pot because where we live the soil is alkaline and they prefer acidic soil apparently. We also didnt have a final place for it. I absolutely love it, it was mega expensive and brought as a memory of my mum so im praying i don't kill it. They don't like the wind

The downside of a pot is ensuring it doesnt dry out and protecting from frost

Stupid question LEM - I have no idea what my soil is - how do I know this?
Sorry about your mum

I live in the south east and i believe the soil tends to be alkaline due to lime content. I think! You can buy soil testing kits but if you ask at your local garden centre they'll tell you. The lady in the garden center told us to buy ericacious (acidic) compost. Thats about the depth of my knowledge. They are very beautiful trees and i always wanted one. Fingers crossed!

@ClingFilmAndGafferTape

Stupid question LEM - I have no idea what my soil is - how do I know this? Sorry about your mum

Do you get limescale in your kettle? If you do, then that is alkaline, so it is likely that the soil in your region is alkaline too.

Although soils with a high calcium content are alkaline, limescale in your kettle merely tells you whether where your water comes from, which may be miles away, has a high calcium content.

Do your neighbours have rhododendrons or heathers in their gardens? That would indicate an acid soil.

Ok, so I do get limescale in my kettle and also have a rhododendron which hasn't thrived (actually it's died) so that would indicate an alkaline soil which means it won't do well, is that right? My neighbours have 2 lovely acers though. But they are probably more green fingered than me!

I’ve had a Garnet in a pot for about 20 years - well, have moved it up a few times - and it does really well.

I scrape compost off the top and refresh every year , including some slow release feed. It’s in reasonable sun, but not burning. Water it well if it’s hot, but mostly ignore it otherwise.

I have a non-Garnet red acer which lives in a pot - it’s 15-20 years old, can’t remember exactly. Last autumn, after a thin year leaf-wise, it went into what I think is its 4th pot, much bigger than the last, & it seems pretty happy this year.
Pots are good because if you think they’re not liking where they are it’s (relatively) easy to move them - I say relatively because this one is currently plonked where it is until someone very strong is here to help shift it, as we can’t
There is a good chunk of ericaceous in this pot, along with a mix of John Innes no 2 and/or 3 (can’t remember) plus some top soil, some general purpose compost and some compost bin compost. I like to provide a good mixed diet
Once you’re confident it’s happy where it is you could plant it in the ground instead.

Gorgeous pics of acers, thanks. They're such beautiful plants, aren't they? So I slept in this morning and DP had done some weeding and dug a big hole where I was thinking of planting it. I hadn't told him I was thinking about leaving it in the pot. So, decision made, it's in the ground so we will see what will happen. It looks so lovely there so fingers crossed!