Catbird wrote:
Advisability please, of planting Japanese maple in Austin?

Depends on the soil conditions, location, and varietal. Your best bet would
be on areas with clay, ammended with crushed granite and compost, in the
shade and using a non-grafted tree. It will likely suffer in the summer, even
if you water it regularly. Ours has ever single leaf curled up on the edges
due to heat stress.
If you like maples, a good option is a bigtooth maple from the Hill Contry.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv