On 30/11/2012 15:56, rbel wrote:
On Thu, 29 Nov 2012 18:32:34 +0100, Emery Davis
wrote:

On 11/29/2012 06:19 PM, Spider wrote:

If your Acer is in a terracotta pot, you may still have to mollycoddle
the pot if you don't want to lose it. The Acer may very well be a
little hardier now, but I would still worry about this year's growth
since we didn't have much sun to ripen the wood. If the tree is not
hugely precious and/or you don't mind trimming off the dead twiggy ends
(I have to do this in most springs, anyway), you may get away without
extra protection. However, the fact that Acers are lower-storey
woodland trees which need some shelter, I am slightly concerned that
your tree is in a "relatively exposed" location.

Another thought is that your tree may be grafted. It ought to be a
solid graft by now, but I have known frosts and high winds to damage the
union between crown and rootstock. You may wish to take this into
consideration if the site is exposed. It took five years to get the
tree to its present condition. It will only to five minutes to save or
wreck its appearance. Somehow I think you will use that five mins
wisely. Good luck.


To this very good advice I will add that if you're covering the Acer
with bubble wrap, and not just the pot, you're likely damaging it for
the reason Sacha mentioned. It's important to have free airflow around
the stems or bark problems are very likely.

Most Acers are reasonably tough, although it does depend on the
cultivar, so if it's had 5 years to get used to its "relatively exposed"
situation it will probably be OK.

Many thanks Spider and Emery.

The Acer is a Sango Kaku (therefore probably somewhat tender) and is
not grafted.

In the past we have only covered the container with bubble wrap (not
the tree) as it is in a fairly exposed position. I would like to
locate it somewhere more sheltered but it is sited so that it is a
focal point on the frontage. Being less than a kilometre from the sea
in south Devon we rarely get any significant frosts but as we are atop
the highest ridge of hills in the area so we do get some interesting
gales.

I think that we will wrap the container again this year - I must think
of something that looks a bit better than bubblewrap!



Bubblewrap is fine, but why not use a coir mat (or similar) to disguise
it. It will look fairly smart and add extra insulation.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay