A decent size Acer can cost £200.00..or more. What happens if it goes pear shaped... tree not happy, wind or sun scorch, too wet, too dry. Far safer to buy small and have the pleasure of watching them grow. If small/cheaper and it dies then no matter.
I think this is highly individual. If it dies, you lose £200. If you buy small, you lose years of life that you could have had in your garden with a mature tree.
Of course, it depends on how long do you plan to live in your current home. If only 3-5 years before moving up on the property ladder, then maybe a mature one is better because you can enjoy it. Or maybe small is better because you don't want to invest in something that isn't your forever home. Really individual.
I prefer more matures trees and shrubs (or medium). You never regret buying too big (money is forgotten a day after it is spent) (unless it dies of course but that's not probable) but you can regret buying too small. Every minute you look on it, actually.
@Obelixx is entirely right. A big tree can sulk for years when transplanted, enough to lower one's mood. You'll see a smaller tree romp away much much sooner and such growth is a glorious sight and joy to behold.
I had bought three acers all very small, 4 years ago.A green one has reached over 6-7 feet, but the red one is only 3-4 ft. May be it is just variety. Some things do grow slowly. I always buy small but for this red acer, i wish i had started with something that was £45 not £7.
Another such plants are some camellias. Now i wanted 6 of those so bought small and they are growing well but they too are slow growing. Whereas viburnums and elangus bought at same time which were even smaller than camellias are huge now.
Now i am not very experienced but my learning is if you need only 1 or 2 of something and if it is a slow growing plant, don't start with something very small.
Thanks everyone for your advice, lots of differing opinions here, I think it may be a case of more research into each individual tree!!
We have no plans to move form this house anytime soon but at the same time I don't want to be waiting 10 years for a nice tree to look at. Budget is also a concern so I will always have to look at the cheaper end of the scale.
How much room do you have and ultimately how big a tree(s) do you want..and for what purpose? Trees near buildings can become an issue...something to bear in mind.
For the trees, I'd probably get them in 1.5-1.8m size; an easily available and affordable size which has some initial impact. (Except the Acer, that sort of size would cost a fortune).
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
The last Acer I bought came from Tesco and cost £9.99. It was a decent size, it just went in the car, and was put in a pot. It now has a trunk about an inch across and a large superstructure. We saw one which was smaller than ours, at the garden centre, which was £200 and a rubbish shape and a dead branch (both problems due to mishandling in transit as this garden centre is a good one which looks after its stock). We have had ours for 5 years and it has been interesting watching it grow. I'd buy young every time, and look at supermarket stock before investing in something expensive from a garden centre. They are usually sold in spring.
For what it's worth, I did a lot of research into this very point as I am also in the market for an amelanchier and malus as part of a garden remodelling. It is a difficult toss-up between instant impact and tree health/cost.
I settled on the 1.5m to 1.8m range (2 to 3 years old) rather than anything brand new or more established. From my reading, a relatively immature tree such as that won't have too much trouble adapting to a new environment and getting it's roots spreading as would an older tree, it will have some (albeit not much) impact immediately and, perhaps most importantly for the tree types you're after, it stands a good chance of flowering within the first year or so that you have it.
It's horses for course's I think this year I bought 5/6ft thrachycarpus fortunei that would have taken 10/15 years to get that height and love it, 2 years ago as this month we planted a Paulownia tomentose tree which was about 60cm tall and is now about 15ft 😳 . Clearly some is fast and some is slow
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Another such plants are some camellias. Now i wanted 6 of those so bought small and they are growing well but they too are slow growing. Whereas viburnums and elangus bought at same time which were even smaller than camellias are huge now.
Now i am not very experienced but my learning is if you need only 1 or 2 of something and if it is a slow growing plant, don't start with something very small.
We have no plans to move form this house anytime soon but at the same time I don't want to be waiting 10 years for a nice tree to look at. Budget is also a concern so I will always have to look at the cheaper end of the scale.
Time to start a spreadsheet I think!
Trees near buildings can become an issue...something to bear in mind.
I settled on the 1.5m to 1.8m range (2 to 3 years old) rather than anything brand new or more established. From my reading, a relatively immature tree such as that won't have too much trouble adapting to a new environment and getting it's roots spreading as would an older tree, it will have some (albeit not much) impact immediately and, perhaps most importantly for the tree types you're after, it stands a good chance of flowering within the first year or so that you have it.