Japanese acer quandary

Digging-it · 5 January

I have a lovely Japanese acer in a large pot. There’s still plenty of room in the pot for another year’s growth but for the last 2 years I’ve just scraped away and then topped up the top couple of inches of soil. Should I repot it or can I do the same for another year?

thevictorian · 5 January

If there is still room for the roots to grow then you can keep it in the pot. People keep acers in the same size pot for many years and sometimes need to root prune them to give them more room. If you intend to keep potting it on and let it develop into a larger plant then I wouldn't let it get to cramped in the pot but as long as there is enough soil and it's not just roots, you should be fine.

Digging-it · 5 January

Thanks for your recommendation, I’ll carry on topping up the soil for now. The pot and tree sit so perfectly in my small courtyard which my kitchen overlooks, I’m not keen on it becoming too large very quickly. I had previously considered planting it in my garden but it does so nicely in the pot that I’m inclined to leave it alone……don’t fix what’s not broke…as it were!

Fairygirl · 6 January

Yes - it'll be fine for a long while, as already said. Just keep doing what you're doing

I have one which only gets repotted every few years. I intend planting it out this year, but the fact that they're mostly slow growing shrubs/trees, means they're happy to stay in the same container long term as long as the soil and conditions are healthy.

Japanese acer quandary

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