Acer of shades

Add vibrant colour with maple family

SET off some fireworks in your garden – and no matches needed.

Deciduous trees are exploding into colour for their autumn show right now.

And possibly the most spectacular are acers that turn shades of gold and crimson before dropping leaves to make a soft, vivid carpet on the ground.

Check out the varieties Sango kaku for the brightest yellow leaves, and Osakazuki for glorious shades of scarlet.

For extra appeal, plant the paperbark maple with its cinnamon-coloured peeling bark and autumn colour, or the Japanese maple Bloodgood with red-purple summer leaves that go red in autumn.

These acers are perfect for a small garden, provided it is not blasted by cold north and east winds or lingering frost.

To thrive they need well-draining acid soil. And while dappled sunlight is best for the yellow-leaved varieties, which easily scorch, purple-leaved trees will produce richer shades in sunshine.

If there is space, combine the scarlet leaves of Japanese maples with trees such as larch, birch and ginkgo that glisten with gold as the autumn draws to a close.

Dinosaur

A survivor of the dinosaur age, Ginkgo biloba is super tough and can even last for years growing in a pot on the patio. This small tree has an attractive, conical outline and unusual fanshaped leaves that resemble those of a maidenhair fern. The stag’s horn sumach, or Rhus typhina, can also be relied on for autumn impact when its lance-shaped green leaves turn shades of orange, red, yellow and purple. The velvety red shoots, which resemble the antlers of a stag, and its strong outline make it a good choice for a specimen in a sunny lawn or you could make a feature of it in a wild prairie-style planting scheme. Unfortunately this broad-spreading, shrubby tree produces lots of suckers. For this reason you need to have at least a medium-size garden, or grow the Rhus variety Laciniata, which is less vigorous. Witch hazels are a must-have for any size of garden. Not only are the bare stems clothed in winter with long lasting, spicyscented yellow flowers, but their shroud of green summer leaves turn vivid shades of orange or yellow in autumn. Hamamelis Arnold Promise variety can be grown in a pot to brighten a doorstep.