ACER GRISEUM
When I had a bigger garden many years ago, I used to delight in plant hunting. I would drive many miles to try and find a particular herbaceous plant, tree, or shrub that I wanted, or discover plants that I had never before heard of. I remember the first time I saw the Mexican Cosmos that smells like vanilla and chocolate: Cosmos atrosanguineus. My main passion back then was hunting down small trees. Although my garden was reasonably big by ordinary suburban standards, it wasn't so big that it could easily accommodate large trees such as oaks. The likes of poplars, willows, and other talls trees that have potential to undermine the foundations of buildings was never on my list either. No, I wanted small trees, under 35ft when mature, slow growers. Acer Griseum (commonly known as Paperbark Maple) is such a tree and it took me 2 years to find one back in the 70s when you couldn't just look a plant up online, buy it online, or order it that way.
Acer Griseum is elegant as well as being hardy. It always reminds me of Japanese maples. Its bark is very red and peeling and the leaves are like oak leaves, changing from green to shades of red, orange and yellow in autumn. It's a deciduous tree but in winter you have the wonderful contrast of the red bark if, and when, it snows. According to the Royal Horticultural Society, Acer Griseum has a mature height of between 8-12 metres (taking from 20-50 years), likes well-drained or moist/well drained soil and is tolerant of all types of soil from acid to alkaline; and chalk, clay, loam or sandy. It likes full sun or partial shade.
When I grew mine, it had partial shade and was planted at the lower end of the garden where the soil tended to be more moist (not wet) than higher up in the garden. It was protected from strong winds by other shrubs and a nearby hedge.
Acer Griseum is elegant as well as being hardy. It always reminds me of Japanese maples. Its bark is very red and peeling and the leaves are like oak leaves, changing from green to shades of red, orange and yellow in autumn. It's a deciduous tree but in winter you have the wonderful contrast of the red bark if, and when, it snows. According to the Royal Horticultural Society, Acer Griseum has a mature height of between 8-12 metres (taking from 20-50 years), likes well-drained or moist/well drained soil and is tolerant of all types of soil from acid to alkaline; and chalk, clay, loam or sandy. It likes full sun or partial shade.
When I grew mine, it had partial shade and was planted at the lower end of the garden where the soil tended to be more moist (not wet) than higher up in the garden. It was protected from strong winds by other shrubs and a nearby hedge.
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