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Trees & Shrubs - Australia

Will maple trees in Perth do well?

22 years ago

I recently bought 2 young maples - a Japanese and a Canadian, each about 1 1/2 metres tall. There are no leaves out yet (though I think there's a bud on one of them) so all I have are 2 tall bare sticks in the pots.

Is the Perth climate conducive to these maples and will they turn red in autumn? I am near the beach - about 3 mins drive away and my soil is very sandy.

I am about to transplant the trees - and just deciding on the best location. I am planting the Canadian maple on my plot and the Japanese on my mum's which is only round the corner. Both our plots are similar in size with just a small front garden, enough for just one small tree, I would think. Our homes are the typical single-storey houses on about 600 sq. m. plots and a tree planted near the road kerb. Not being an Australian, I am not familiar with plants for these residential estates and concerned that the maples may be too big for a front garden. Any comments appreciated by this novice gardener!

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Comments (4)

conifer_nut
22 years ago
Hi.I noticed no response to your question so I thought I'd give a response however I'm no maple expert and I'm not really familiar with Perth climate.I don't have a canadian maple but do have a few Jap maples.From my experience maples prefer a sheltered position from any hot,dry winds and regular water to help avoid damage to leaves in summer.Unfortunately I think you might not get good autumn colour as they need some cool nights in autumn to promote colour and being on the coast I feel the temp might not get cool enough.I've read that tapering off the water starting late summer can help colour so you could try that.The jap maple is not a large tree and is a nice tree even if autumn colour doesn't happen for you.I think the Canadian maple would grow into a larger tree than the jap maple.Give them a go however as you won't know unless you try.Good luck,hope this helps, C.N.
ithaca0706
Original Author
22 years ago
Thanks for your response, CN! I asked my garden guy and he assured me they do turn red in Perth as he has planted several. Since my suburb is near the coast, I'll just have to try and see for myself. He also told me the reason I haven't seen any in Perth is because people usually have them in the backyard. I'm planting mine out front as it's rather bare, being a very new housing development and several lots are not built up yet.
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conifer_nut
22 years ago
Go for it!Make sure they get regular water especially when first planted.They do like regular water however that said,I have seen good specimens in non gardeners gardens which only receive rainfall and nothing else.I'd stake them well in addition as they can be a little brittle in early years.May I suggest if you can also place wire tree guards supported by steel star pickets it might help stop the footpath vandals from walking past and ripping them out of the ground (I speak from experience here)good luck,regards C.N.
Paul Gregory
10 years ago
I know it's been 12 years since you wrote this post but I live in Perth and I have a Japanese Maple and a Katsura being delivered to me and I really would like to know how this experiment worked. If the tree survived it should be very well established by now.

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