Some local friends have given us two Japanese Maples, or Acers as they are now more commonly known. These were not the cute little yellow offerings in pots in the foyer of the local superstore (although they started that way). One had been dug up by our friend's husband and the other was dug out and greatly cut back by my husband who root pruned it in order to make it fit into a large container on our front patio.
For some weeks I felt it was touch and go. The root pruned bushier one with delicate leaves was the first to recover and now is beginning to form buds on its solid branches which in time will fill and spread. The second one, about three to four feet high, eventually responded and is now in leaf.
Watching these new trees outside our front window made me much more aware of the surrounding sycamores in the road leading to ours. These also have been hacked back, this time by the council, and yet here also the bright leaves are fanning out in the hedge, day by day.
We would not normally take such drastic action on our acers but it seems that we have saved two out of three of the originals and although they will have to remain in pots they will retain something of their natural form and grace.
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