Acer Campestre Carnival Options
150-180cm : These are usually 2-3 years old and will be 150-180cm tall, depending on weather and time of year purchased. Pruned to be Half Standard.
180-240cm : These are usually 2-4 years old and will be 180-240cm tall, depending on weather and time of year purchased. Pruned to be Half Standard.
Acer Campestre Carnival
Another small tree which will appeal to those with smaller gardens or those who want to stroll around the back and feel taller. With a 10 year height of around 4 metres and a 3 metre spread, this will be an easy tree to look after.
The densely branched tree is slow growing with young leaves appearing pink and then turning a pleasing cream colour on the outside and a light to mid-green colour in the middle. Suitable for pot or container growing and will tolerate wet conditions.
The winged seeds are anywhere between seconds to minutes of fun for the grand kids depending on their sugar intake.
It is possible to have all white leaves but these rarely survive and the branch can die back.
With such striking features, it is no wonder the RHS gave it their Award Of Garden Merit.
Pale leaf Acer foliage can be prone to drying out in high temperatures and is nothing to worry about. This can be exacerbated when left in a box for a day or two with the couriers during the Summer.
Planting Acer Carnival In Pots
Acer Carnival is suitable for growing in pots or containers although more maintenance is required in terms of watering and feeding.
Planting Acer Carnival
Choose a partial shade position if possible as long hot Summers can burn the leaves. Plant, in fertile and well draining soil which can be chalk or clay, in a location that doesn't get below minus 15 degrees centigrade. Alkaline soils are likely to give you the best results.
Remove any competing weeds and other plants within 100cm of your Acer Carnival planting spot. Dig a hole as deep as your pot but break up the bottom 5-10 cm to allow the roots to spread a little easier. The purists will tell you to make the hole square to reduce the chances of the roots spiralling round, this is your choice. Make the hole wider than the pot, this is to follow the same principle as breaking up the bottom. Try and plant so the top of the rootball soil is level with the garden soil as you need to avoid bark that was previously exposed to air being buried. If you go slightly deeper, you can always make it slightly "dished" by having the outer edges higher than the middle. This would promote water being directed towards the tree so remember that when watering.
Water well after planting, at least 20 litres spread around the whole root system. If planting in Summer, especially long hot ones, regular watering will be important. If the soil is dry for the top 10cm or so, it will be time to water.
Keeping nearby weeds down for the first few seasons will help the young Acer Carnival and this can be achieved with manual removal, mulching, decorative stones, agricultural matting or glyphosate (weed killer).
Pruning Acer Carnival
It is always best to prune when you are expecting a few days of dry weather as this aids in the pruning cut healing and reducing the ingress of infection. You should always cut out dead, diseased or crossed over branches but other than that, Acer Carnival can be hard pruned at anytime although hard pruning in Winter will increase leaf size.
Ornamental Tree Roots In The Shade e.g. Behind A Fence
It is more important that that foliage (posh term for leaves) receives the sunlight than the roots. So if the canopy of your ornamental tree can sunbathe but the bottom of your tree thinks there has been a nuclear winter then that is ok. You might want to ensure you have good drainage as water and no sun is the start of algae and other such issues.
Do I Need To Stake My Ornamental Tree?
Our article on Tree Staking should help guide you.
Planting In The Corner Of A Garden
Air and light is reduced in this location which could promote fungus and bacterial issues. If the corner is of the house and a fence then you also have leeching issues to contend with from cement and wood preservatives. Also when it rains, that area would experience higher water levels so we advise against it unless the plant is very hardy.
