What soil for Japanese Maple? Anything in particular?

I'm going to buy a half whiskey barrell planter today for my lace-leaf orangeola japanese maple tree. Our backyard is not yet finished but i need to get it out of it's planter bucket so i figured this half barrell would be a good fit and I'd still be able to move it around the yard. My question is, what kind of soil should I buy to put in the planter that would best suit this tree? Thanks!
Lisa

Hi Lisa, I am not too sure about your particular Maple/Acer, but I have all mine in an acidic soil, not too sure about your winter conditions, but the cut leaf or lace leaf ones like a sheltered site or they suffer from wind burn on the tender leaves, and give a bit of dapple shade, they are tremendous foliage trees, slow growing, but the winter foliage is so good, even spring where I live, the new shoots and unfurling leaves are most attractive, now they have types that have almost maroon coloured leaves and also a lime green one which I love as it shows up well against my hostas, good luck, WeeNel.

Mom2Josh,
Hi, I live here in Utah also...
I have always loved the Laceleaf Japanese Maple Trees and been a little afraid to plant them after looking at them all dried up and fried on the tips in nurserys and some yards.
But I got brave this year and purchased a Green Filigree Japanese Maple tree, (which is one of the most tempermental) It is beautiful and does look stunning with hostas.

I planted it in the spring and it is doing so good, I have new growth and its considerably taller than when I originally planted it! I worried about the location I chose, they need shelter from wind and full sun - I planted it in a location where it is sheltered a little from the wind but receives full sun the majority of the day, and only receives shade late in the evening.

One of my favorite "gardening guru's" told me to deep water this tree about twice a week, especially in this heat. I've been deep watering it twice to three times a week since our temps have been 95 to 100 for a while now. I just put the hose a little away from the trunk and let it trickle for about an hour (mine is in the ground though you wouldn't want to water it for that long in a container).
He indicated maples take a good year to get established, people tend to water them well for a month or so, then just water occasionally or with sprinklers after that, which is often the cause of the burning on the leaves.

As far as soil, I have clay, so I used a good top soil plus from a nursery; (a mix of compost, soil pep and topsoil) seems to be working, my tree looks happy :)

My friend planted 5 maples in containers last year, they are really struggling, he put an umbrella up just for them, but has decided to transplanting them into the gound in the fall.
I've seen alot of maples in containers, I wonder if maybe they don't receive enough nutrients from a container as they do in the ground, and I imagine the containers gets hot.
They are definately a favorite of mine, I hope to get a red laceleaf soon, but I'm going to wait until it cools off a little.
Good luck!

This message was edited Jul 23, 2007 9:11 PM