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Moving crowded Acers into pots?

justandnobodyelsejustandnobodyelse Posts: 128
in Problem solving
We have four different coloured Acers growing in our garden. Planted by a previous owner. I am rather fond of them, especially this time of year as the leaves change colour. I do feel as if they have become somewhat swamped by the surrounding plants and shrubs though. We are not getting to see the best of them, which is a real shame. The two pictured below are probably the most crowded of the four.
This one sits between a magnolia and a rhododendron and is approximately 4’ high by about the same width.


This one is about the same size and sits entirely under the canopy of a larger rhododendron, snd is surrounded by numerous other shrubs.

my question is would I be able to relocate either of these into large pots and hopefully place them somewhere more visible like a patio?

I feel as if I have nothing to lose as they will soon be lost in the undergrowth anyhow! Any suggestions or advice welcomed.
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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Nothing to lose, as you say. 
    Unfortunately, it isn't always easy to successfully dig them up and re plant them.
    Is there any chance you'd move, or just dig up, the other shrubs?
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Doghouse RileyDoghouse Riley Posts: 347
    edited October 2021
     I've successfully moved one in the past, once the leaves have fallen. Just take it  with as much of a rootball as you can. As you say, you've nothing to lose.

    We have two.
    This one we've had for over thirty years. I prune it every year to stop it getting too wide. I don't like it overlapping by much,  the brick half circle I laid,  as the grass would suffer if it did.



    This one we've had for over fifteen. This just gets the same annual treatment.




    I think they  do better out of pots, as yours have done and are worth being made into a feature. But then of course, it's a personal choice.

    I saw one at Bents garden centre about ten years ago, in a huge tub, I guess it was  about as old as our first one. I looked at the price tag. It was £3000.
    I think ours was around £7.

  • justandnobodyelsejustandnobodyelse Posts: 128
    @Fairygirl I might at some point dig up or move some of the other shrubs pictured. I have done quite a bit of that since moving here (seven years ago now I think.)I have found myself “thinning” a lot of previously planted shrubs that had become very intertwined and messy. I am discovering that there is always something that needs to be moved or something you feel the urge to tweak! I do seem to be running out of planting space and the lawns are now starting to shrink!

    I would love these Acers to feature more prominently @Doghouse Riley like your own but I am running out of suitable spots in the ground at the moment. I need to consider cutting into some more of the lawn perhaps? Maybe a move, but after that pond that I have promised myself for next spring!

    At least I know now that it is possible to move them and keep them alive at this size. I might move them into pots once they drop their leaves this winter.




  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    You just have to be very careful about digging them up, especially if they've been there a while. Their roots will be entwined with all the other shrub roots. Rhodos are shallow rooted though, so it might be easier to get in about them for digging. 
    It's worth doing a bit of pruning to the other shrubs just so that you have reasonable access, and then make sure you dig a really good distance from the acer roots to give them the best chance. Some of the bog standard types are easier to shift, and don't mind a bit of abuse, but you want to minimise that as much as possible to make it less stressful for the acers. You may need to prune them a little too, if you can't avoid damaging the roots, so that they have less 'top' to deal with as they re establish.
    The ground could also be surprisingly dry in there because of the amount of foliage, but it also depends on your climate, your soil,  and how much rain there's been recently. It would be worth waiting a little while until they're slightly more dormant. You can certainly pot them up, and keep them tucked somewhere to let them recover. 
      
    Digging out the acers will be at the expense of the other shrubs too, due to root disturbance, but it depends how fond you are of them.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    I had to move an acer this year because we needed some work done and although I tried to get as much root as possible it was very difficult because it was near our climbing hydrangea (which wasn't getting moved so i didnt want to damage. It covers the whole front of our house) who's roots were very invasive. In the end I got a pretty pitiful root ball out for such a large tree but it's been glorious this year and hasn't dropped a single leaf or lost any branches. 
    I did put it in a north easterly position (it's in the ground) and made sure it was well watered. I think shelter from the sun and wind, plus making sure it doesn't dry out, are the biggest things to consider.
  • Doghouse RileyDoghouse Riley Posts: 347
    justandnobodyelse said:
    @Fairygirl I might at some point dig up or move some of the other shrubs pictured. I have done quite a bit of that since moving here (seven years ago now I think.)I have found myself “thinning” a lot of previously planted shrubs that had become very intertwined and messy. I am discovering that there is always something that needs to be moved or something you feel the urge to tweak! I do seem to be running out of planting space and the lawns are now starting to shrink!

    I would love these Acers to feature more prominently @Doghouse Riley like your own but I am running out of suitable spots in the ground at the moment. I need to consider cutting into some more of the lawn perhaps? Maybe a move, but after that pond that I have promised myself for next spring!

    At least I know now that it is possible to move them and keep them alive at this size. I might move them into pots once they drop their leaves this winter.





    No reason why not to cut in to a lawn to make a feature.

    As well as the palmatums we have this little feature in our small lawn.
    I think the brick circle sets it off and is an aid to mowing (no edging)
    We have a sambucus there in the spring and summer.



    Then swop it for a mimosa in the autumn and winter.
    The tree azaleas at the bottom of the garden sit on round pavers from B&Q and the birdbath on one of the stepping stones from the path to the pagoda. So the lawn there could be re-instated if we chose.
    The various features attract the eye and  disguise the fact that what you can see in the photo below is less than fifty feet long.






  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'd certainly want to take my time with those dissectums. They're not as forgiving as many of the others, and as they're almost always grafted, it can trigger growth from below the graft, so you effectively lose the shrub/tree.  :)

    Ideally you'd do the 'digging round/root pruning system', leaving them in situ for anything up to a year [depending on the maturity of the plant etc] before digging up, which is a recognised way of successfully moving very established shrubs, but I expect that you don't want to wait that long   ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • justandnobodyelsejustandnobodyelse Posts: 128
    Thankyou all @thevictorianzFH0qqPW @Fairygirl @Doghouse Riley for continued advice and encouragement. I’m sure i will move them at some point this winter before they leaf up in the spring. I will have to source a couple of large pots though, which are far from cheap.
    I might pot them as a temporary measure until I can find a suitable home.

    I do like the way your lawn @Doghouse Riley has the additional pots and plants placed to catch your eye and break up the expanse of lawn. We have similar sized lawns that I have often thought needed something adding. Acers always look better when you can see them from all sides in my opinion, not like mine that are barely seen at all.

    How large are those interchangeable sambucus / mimosa pots? I do like the idea of doing something similar but the Acers would be impossible to move I think. I might need to look into potting something else with a reasonable height that would remain small enough to stay portable!


  • Doghouse RileyDoghouse Riley Posts: 347
    edited October 2021
    justandnobodyelse said:
    Thankyou all @thevictorianzFH0qqPW @Fairygirl @Doghouse Riley for continued advice and encouragement. I’m sure i will move them at some point this winter before they leaf up in the spring. I will have to source a couple of large pots though, which are far from cheap.
    I might pot them as a temporary measure until I can find a suitable home.

    I do like the way your lawn @Doghouse Riley has the additional pots and plants placed to catch your eye and break up the expanse of lawn. We have similar sized lawns that I have often thought needed something adding. Acers always look better when you can see them from all sides in my opinion, not like mine that are barely seen at all.

    How large are those interchangeable sambucus / mimosa pots? I do like the idea of doing something similar but the Acers would be impossible to move I think. I might need to look into potting something else with a reasonable height that would remain small enough to stay portable!



    Thanks for the kind words.

    The pots for the mimosa and sambucus are about 50cms in diameter. I think I got them in the local Wyevale garden centre, maybe ten years ago, long before it was taken over.

    They are a sort of soft plastic, like neoprene, so not brittle like some smaller pots, they do have small handles molded into the sides. They sit on a couple of bits of York stone. But I drive two of those long green plastic or whatever, stakes down near the rims and through the bottom to anchor them to the ground so the wind can't blow them over.
    My idea was that the ring of azaleas would hide whichever  pot I put there which for a number of years, were different plants we had, a pear tree, a morello cherry, etc., ringing the changes as they flowered. But the azaleas "have  taken an unconscionable amount of time in doin' it."

    The tubs are  heavy, but I only have to move them twice a year and not far, just to the small patio behind the shed, where they become unseen from the French windows.

    We've had the mimosa for a long time, this was it ten years ago. It never lets us down.


    It used to spend its flowering season on the patio next to the house.


    But to get it down the garden I had to drag it down the path under the pergola on the side of the garage, which was a bit of a pain, so I no longer do it as I've let it get too tall for that now.


  • justandnobodyelsejustandnobodyelse Posts: 128
    Wow, that mimosa looks fantastic.
    I am definitely warming to the idea of some lawn features or potted trees, shrubs.

    I shouldn’t get too far ahead of myself though. I have a long list of promised DIY projects to sort out in the house before I get involved with something else outside! Maybe next year.
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