Acers

Acer Palmatum 'Dissectum Atropurpureum '

Japanese maples are my favourite tree (Acer palmatum). They provide interesting new growth, handsome summer sillouhete, brilliant autumn color (for which they are best known) and if pruned correctly good winter structure. Some also have colourful bark which provides additional winter interest.

Acers have a bit of a reputation of being difficult. That they require acid soil and should be kept out of the sun. As a proud owner of around 20 different veriaties I can definetley say the reputation is unfounded.

I grow acers in a number of settings, in pots (the speciment above spent it first 3 years in a plastic pot, almost forgotten in the front garden), in large raised boxes as well as in the ground. All have been successful so far. My garden soil is neutral clay, and I have had no problem with the trees growing in the ground. Some of them are planted in shade, some in semi shade and some in full sun and this doesn't seem to affect them. (we installed an automatic drip watering system, and this helps when it's really hot, I also mulch around the trees, so water is not lost).

It seems that the only thing affecting acers is strong wind. It will usually causes the edges of the leaves to brown and shrivel. Keeping them moist helps reduce the problem which is mainly caused by water evaporating quickly from the leaves.
But, even when affected, they are quick to recover, and new growth is unaffected.

The only thing to watch out for is over wintering Acers in pots. Because of their fine root system, Acers growing in pots (in particular younger trees in smaller pots) can rot, so the best solution is to wrap the top of the pot in a couple of layers of fleece to reduce moisture and provide some frost protection (in general Acers are very hardy but roots may be affected if growing in a smaller pot). This way they can be left where they are ... less work all-round.

Hope you will try one ...

Few Words on Dahlias

Dahlias seem to be very popular at the moment, and the debate is ongoing whether to leave them in the ground over winter or lift them and store them.

Unfortunatley keeping the tubers over winter is not as simple as it seems. They will either rot or dry out.

Of course the prospect of lifting each and every one of them every year is not appealing either. You could give them up all together but that would be a shame since Dahlias are at their best at the moment, and make a great display combined with autumn colors.

As with most tender plants the problem with Dahlias is not so much the cold but a combination of cold and wet weather which could cause tubers to rot.

To overcome the problem I plant all tubers in large pots of multi-purpose compost before planting them in the ground. This gives them a good layer of drained soil underneath. After the first frost I cut them down and cover each plant with a layer of fleece with bark piled on top. This creates a layer of insulation, and also reduces the amount of rain reaching the tuber (that's my theory anyway).
I have about 10 diffrent varieties planted out in the garden, they have all come back successfuly for the second year now.

The only thing that would prevent them coming back again next year will be the slugs. Slugs love young Dahlia shoots and the only way around them has been to use pellets, unfortunatly becaus of the amount of rain we had they were not as effective as in previous years, so the plans reached mature size much later then usual and only started flowering towards the end of August. (Not having much sun might also had something to do with it).

This doesn't stop them from providing a beautiful display!

The images in this post are of Dahlia Semi-Cactus ' 'Color Spectacle' (large orange flowers with white tips, reaches 1.2m) and Dahlia 'Shandy' (peach flowers reaches 75cm)

Dahlia 'Sunshine'