Acer tree

allsmanley

Our acer tree has suddenly lost a lot of its leaves they have curled at the edges and gone dry its been fine for 10 years its not been moved and is in a large pot please help!

Joy*

Has it had enough water? 

Bijdezee

Wind drying it out? Too much sun? Or like Joy said - not enough water. I have a 2.5 metre Acer in a large tub, I have to water it twice a day in the summer. To be honest I don't know what to do about it, I grew it on from a small plant when I lived in a woody shaded area, we moved and it is suffering because our garden is windy and exposed, the leaves are crispef at the edges 

purplerallim

Acer does not like wind. This year the temperature has been up and down, wet then hot, the poor thing won't know if it's coming or going, so stress will make it loose leaves. There is nothing to be done for this year, just keep watering it , and hopefully it will come back next year.

B3

I had an acer whose leaves got burnt to a crisp a couple of years ago. I planted it out in dappled shade and it's doing fine now. The leaves didn't reappear until the next spring.

Joy*

I would agree that just keep it watered and in as much shade as possible if it is really hot. If th soil at the top of the pot is old and compacted, replace the top couple of inches with some new and top dress with some bark. I'm currently using up some orchid compost which is surplus to requirements. My acers started off in SW France, in pots. Keeping them going was difficult so to save the life of one of them which had dried up leaves, I planted  it in the ground. The hole became a sump in winter and the poor tree had a pond which came up the trunk by several inches. (I had planted it below grass level so that when watered in the summer,  the water didn't run off.) The next year it grew significantly but the deer got in and ate the new growth near the bottom, making a browse line. I later dug it up to bring it back to the UK and all the soil dropped off so the roots went into a plastic carrier bag. I planted it in a pot, kept it watered and it's now about 4 feet tall having grown several inches in the last 4 years. It usually gets a bit crisp around the edges but I keep it watered and replace a couple of inches of compost annually, give it bit of Osmacote fertilizer and cover the compost with some fine bark. They are quite resilient if mine is anything to go by.  It's a dark red leaved variety.

allsmanley

Thank you!