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Plants in pots
I've had an Acer Palmatum Dissectum for 17+ years, regularly re-potting it in larger pots. It's now in a 21" pot and the Acer is approximately 24" tall. On the face of it the pot should be large enough but it has a very large root ball and is now quite severely root bound. I have tried it in a 24" pot and it looks silly! Can I prune the roots to fit the existing pot, or is it time to plant it in the garden?
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If you wait until the buds are about to open in the spring you can repot and prune away up to a third of the roots. Prune the top growth a bit at the same time to keep it in balance and it will be quite happy. Bonsai growers do this for their trees routinely every couple of years to keep them healthy and vigorous.
Thank you pansyface, Daryl2, Buddyboy and Verdun for your helpful advice. I'm looking at re-arranging some of the garden to take it - and some other large specimens that are outgrowing their pots - but in the meantime I have teased out the roots and used a fractionally larger pot with new John Innes No3 mixed with ericaceous compost until ready to plant out
Think of your Acer as a bonsai.These are regularly root pruned to allow them to stay in small pots.If your Acer looks good in the pot it's in just root prune so it fits.Google for more info!
My English Elm is doing very well after 20 years in a pot!
That was my suggestion too but I think that non bonsai people are not so happy with that idea. If it was a bonsai acer it should not have been repotted at this time of year. As 'bonsai' means a tree in a pot (which this acer is), I hope this tree survives the repot. Spring would have been a better time.
Be very wary of pruning Acer branches in Spring, they are well known for bleeding, which can lead to disease and / or death.
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