Today I bought 2 Acer Atropurpureum, just 14 inches tall. They are for planting in a large, wooden plant box with a trellis behind, against a west-facing wall. The plant explanation on the card say: height 150 cm, spread 100 cm. How come everything I read in internet on this plant says it gets enormous?
The card is wrong. Mine is already close to twice that size. It will take some time to get "huge" though...many years... I'm not in front of The Book, so I don't know what it says, but from what I recall it will form more of a spread out tree than a tall upright. That's what mine is doing. It's probably as wide or wider than it is tall.
Growing it in a box will also slow its growth some, as compared to planting it in the ground. Also some sources give the height after 10 years and others refer to the size after 20 or 25 years etc.
Thanks for your replies. I'll just plant them and wait and see what happens. I can always just keep them cut-back if they grow too much.
A sunny wall in Spain may be way too hot for this tree. While there is a specific 'Atropurpureum' clone of superior characteristics that has been vegetatively propagated for years in Europe, otherwise atropurpureum (as in Acer palmatum f. atropurpureum) serves to cover any and all otherwise normal Japanese maples with purple or red leaves. These vary in growth habit, leaf shape and coloring, and so on. One in Tacoma, WA, was measured as being 30' tall, with an average crown spread of 49' during 1990. One in nearby Lakewood, at Lakewold Gardens, was found to be 39' tall, with an average crown spread of 45' during the same year.
Wow..thank you all for the replies. I'm starting to get a bit worried now...the plant box is in the shade, under a balcony which is only about 12' high!! Oh well, I can always stick it in the middle of the garden, in the hole left after just removing a 25' palm tree!!
