ACER PALMATUM BENI-MAIKO

I seem to have a serious addiction to Japanese maples / acers, as I have now yet another. Acer palmatum 'Beni-Maiko' has joined Katsura, Jordan, Moonrise, Osakazuki, Orange Dream, and Sango-Kaku in my small garden. Most have the Royal Horticultural Award of Garden Merit (AGM), including Beni-Maiko. All except Katsura and Jordan are container grown. The foliage colour in spring starts bright red, then pink, green during summer, then red in autumn before all leaves are lost on this deciduous tree.  

Acer palmatum Beni-Maiko - late spring

Japanese maples are not the easiest of plants to care for, particularly when young and particularly when grown in pots.  If you only have a small garden, with little spare room, there isn't really any option but to grow them in containers and restrict their growth by root and top/canopy pruning in the way that bonsai trees are created. I love the delicate leaves on them but they can be prone to scorching so even when such as the RHS says that they can have full sun or partial shade, they really mean partial shade, not full sun all the time.  This is a link to the RHS webpage for Beni-Maiko and this is a link to Ornamental Trees for Beni-Maiko. Note the differences. 

Beni-Maiko is unfussy about soil type, apparently, but prefers acid or neutral pH levels. It is small at maturity, has foliage interest from spring to winter, tolerates any aspect except north, needs shelter, is hardy down to H6.

Beni-Maiko in plastic pot within a Monachou terracotta pot

Light and Shade meaning