Buying an Acer tree - advice for a novice!

[lewiscapaldi]

This is my first ever garden and I would like to attempt to make it nice!

I went to my local nursery today to see if I could get an Acer tree but no luck.

I'm looking at gardening express now, would it be daft to buy acers online?

https://www.gardeningexpress.co.uk/special-deal-stunning-japanese-maples-acers-collection?fee=6&fep=14690&gclid=Cj0KCQiArsefBhCbARIsAP98hXRQtJL0hWUHWwhNYO2UrQaL3LvhjjTXhl8D1DWWCOKc59g-zuxpr4aAhlbEALwwcB

Would these arrive in good condition? Would they have leaves already or be bare, do you think?

Am I an eejit for considering buying online?

I've answered my own question about whether they'd have foliage already:

Please keep in mind that when we deliver these during the winter period plants will not have foliage as they are deciduous, and they may have been pruned back in line with good horticultural practices. This means they will grow in to lovely well branched strong plants once the Spring arrives. They are fully hardy and should be kept outside on arrival, and allowed to grow naturally with the seasons.

I'm not an experienced gardener at all, but I think the advantage of buying in person is knowing what the leaf colour is like. I don't think photos can properly translate it. However I appreciate that you'd have to wait a few more months for the leaves to emerge.

The ad says the trees are in 2 litre pots, that is quite small so the trees will possibly only be 30 to 40 cm high. I bought acers online last year and was able to put one in the ground straight away as it arrived in April - the other is in a pot on the patio. Both of them are still very small, just a few twigs really but do have little buds showing ready for the leaves in a few weeks. I’m hoping that they will grow taller this year now they have “bedded” in but done expect them to get bigger than a shrub for a number of years. If you want something more tree sized, you will need to pay well over £100!

Due to my physical problems, I struggle to walk round a garden centre so often buy online from different suppliers and generally they are fine, sent well protected in cardboard and bubble wrap but I’ve have had a damaged delivery caused by getting squashed in the van! The garden company asked for photos and replaced them immediately.

Aldi sell them most years. You have to keep your eyes on the special buys and then go early.
Fantastic value and they are small but I have 4 beautiful acers in my garden.

I would but in person. Most nurseries or garden centres have experts to tell you when, how and where to plant. Some acers need a little more protection than others. Some grow low and wide, some grow tall, so its best to get proper advice on what suits you.

Thank you everyone, this is really helpful. I think I shall pay a visit to another nearby garden centre and see what I can find.

If u can wait till the end of the summer. I found tons at half price off. Got two then.

I find acers really hard to grow. I started with 5 and lost 4 over the past 2 years, not sure my last one made it through the winter...

We always buy from nursery

The local one man band one nearest me had sone lovely ones in the week for £13 and I succumbed to another - mine have dove the best potted

I have seven in my garden, mostly bought from garden centres but I did buy one online last year. I try to buy in person so that I can get an idea of the shape, some can be really ‘leggy’ which I’m not a fan of. I always put them in a pot for a few years in ericacious soil and then transplant into the garden soil once they are a bit bigger. I absolutely love them and they will probably be one of the reasons I won’t move from this house, even though we could do with a bigger house and garden!

Our local nurseries are quite expensive but B&Q had lots of reasonably priced acers when I was in there last year. They were about £25 for similar sized trees to the ones our local nurseries were selling for £50+

I lost the majority of mine last year in the heatwave. I'll have to start again unfortunately. The key to growing them well is for them to be somewhere sheltered and away from the strong sunlight in the summer (morning sun fine, but not midday and afternoon) and keep them watered. They grow slowly so be patient. They do look good in a nice, ceramic pot either a big one in a focal point or a small one or several grouped together on a table.

Morrison's sell them cheaply at around £3 for a small plant or a tenner for about 2' in the spring time onwards. Look up care advice online. Don't buy from Gardening Express as I've heard bad stories about late deliveries or they're poor quality. There are acer nurseries that you can either buy online or in person. Best to buy in person so you'll see them growing with the type of foliage that appeals to you. They're great all year round for changing seasonal colours.

I'm such a sucker for an Acer in a pot. I have about 10 🙄😬Their leaves are so pretty I just can't help myself. I get mine from the nursery wholesaler & B&Q

Hi,
Can I ask advice on acers also?
I want a largish one ( tree) as it appears the one I planted a couple of years ago has died.
What type is best? how do I improve chances of survival?
I absolutely love them and am really upset mine didn't take.

I had 14 acers in pots. Very easy to care for, however I lost 2 last year due to the heat. Oh and Gardening Express supplied most of them.

I bought 2 large ones…..3 foot, an ozakazuki and a San go Kaku. I wanted fairly large ones as new garden, they weren’t cheap and were from specialist tree nursery on line. They are lovely. both in the ground in sheltered shady spots.

ive also got a lot in pots that I’ve mostly rescued from the bargain shelf at b&q as they are sold off very cheaply in late autumn as they go over.

I’ve bought from here before too and it’s still going strong.

I currently have 3 Acers one in the ground 1 in a large feature pot that I saved for months to afford and 1 in a much smaller normal pot but I’ve started saving for him too.

I have them all on a north wall that gets morning and evening sun but avoids the mid day heat. The oldest in the large pot was on my patio a couple of years back and looked very sad as the leaves got massively scorched in the heatwave. But dropped as normal and came back the following year. So don’t assume it’s died too quickly.

I bought one from Tesco about 15 years ago. It was about 2ft tall and just twigs. It cost about £10. I planted it in my front garden which is north facing so it doesn't get lots of hot sun. It is now a beautiful tree about 8ft tall. In November I adore watching the leaves turn to a most beautiful red colour before they fall from the tree. I'm not a great gardener but my acer tree is my pride and joy.

I have one in the garden which must be 30 years old, I have planted 3 over the years and they all died. I'm in W Scotland so it can be wet and cold and windy.
I have two more planted last autumn but not sure they will have survived that long very cold spell in ?November.

Also they don't like too strong sun as it can scorch the leaves.
So it might depend where you are in the country how well they do and I think the brighter showier ones are less hardy.

I have had a few over the years but my favourite is called crimson queen - it is over 30 years old and is in a (now enormous!) pot. All the ones I have lost have been due to too much direct sun and not keeping an eye on moisture.

In terms of where to buy, I'd buy mail order from a specialist if I wanted an unusual variety not sold locally but otherwise would want to see what I was buying.

Lovely plants!

I've bought quite a few over the years from Asda for about £3 each. If you catch them when they're just in they're a great buy. Because they're so young they'll take and grow well, if they like the conditions in your garden.

I was lucky enough to buy about 4 last year in the B&Q clearance section. All £1 each! They're still sitting in their nursery pots waiting to be planted in the garden proper. Do they like shade though? We have a fairly decent sized patch at the bottom of our garden that is shaded by an oak tree (also in our garden). I would like to perhaps put the Acers there once we landscape it but not sure if it would be "too" shady. Has anyone had any success in these growing conditions?

They like shelter. Partial sun/shade. Not too exposed.

Most need ericaceous compost. Top up every year or so.