Best Acer Outdoor Trees of 2025

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Acer Outdoor Trees are a popular choice for those looking to add a touch of natural beauty to their outdoor space. These trees are known for their spectacular foliage, which changes colour throughout the year, providing a stunning display during every season. They are easy to grow and maintain, making them a great option for both novice and experienced gardeners. Acer Outdoor Trees come in a variety of sizes and shapes, so you can choose the perfect one to suit your needs. Whether you want to create a focal point in your garden or add some extra interest to a patio or balcony, Acer Outdoor Trees are an excellent choice.
At a Glance: Our Top Picks
Top 10 Acer Outdoor Trees
3 x Acer Trees - Japanese Maple Shrubs
The Acer Trees by GardenersDream offer an impressive selection of Japanese Maple varieties. These trees provide stunning colour from spring to autumn, enhancing the beauty of your garden throughout the seasons. You can easily spruce up your outdoor space by placing these delightful trees in strategic locations to create a captivating display. They thrive in sun or partial shade, requiring minimal care while needing well-drained, moist soil. This makes them a convenient choice for both novice and experienced gardeners.
Acer Plant 'Atropurpureum' for Borders or Pots
The Acer 'Atropurpureum' is a stunning addition to any garden, featuring deeply lobed, red-purple leaves that transform into a brilliant scarlet in autumn. This slow-growing tree thrives in brighter spots, producing deeper purple hues, which can enhance your outdoor space. If planted in shadier areas, you can expect greener foliage, providing versatility in your garden design. Grown in a 12cm pot, it is strong and ready to plant directly into your garden, making it an easy choice for any gardener looking to add beauty and colour.
Acer Tricolour Japanese Maple Tree Trio
The Acer Tricolour Maple is a stunning addition to any garden, offering a beautiful array of colours that can enhance your outdoor space. This unique tree features three varieties in one pot, allowing you to enjoy diverse foliage without taking up too much room. It is ready to plant upon arrival, making it convenient for you to get started right away. With its manageable size, this Acer is perfect for small gardens, offering elegance without overwhelming your landscape.
You Garden Japanese Maple Acer palmatum 'Orange Dream'
The You Garden Orange Dream Maple is a stunning acer that transforms your garden with its vibrant colours throughout the year. You will appreciate its fully hardy nature, ensuring it thrives even in the coldest winters. In spring, you can enjoy bright orange new growth that adds a delightful touch to your outdoor space. This Japanese maple features slow-growing, easy-to-maintain foliage that makes it perfect for small gardens or large pots, allowing you to create a beautiful focal point in any setting.
YouGarden Japanese Maple Acer Shirasawanum 'Jordan'
The YouGarden Japanese Maple offers a stunning addition to your garden with its unique fan-shaped foliage that changes colour throughout the seasons. You will enjoy watching the leaves transition from pale orange to lime green and finally to orange-red, providing vibrant scenery year-round. This slow-growing tree is also winter hardy, making it an ideal choice for gardens in colder parts of the UK. The small crimson flowers that appear in summer add extra charm as the tree matures, enhancing your outdoor space beautifully.
Acer Hime Shojo Japanese Maple Tree
The Acer Hime Shojo Tree adds a vibrant focal point to your garden with its stunning red foliage, which deepens throughout the seasons. It is perfect for small gardens and patios, effortlessly bringing a burst of life and colour to any outdoor space. Caring for this tree is simple; just place it in full sun with slight shade and water when the soil feels dry. Ideal for beginners, its adaptability makes it an excellent choice for those new to gardening.
Acer palmatum Sumi Nagashi Japanese Maple Tree
The Sumi Nagashi Maple is a stunning deciduous shrub that can also be grown as a small tree. Its unique vase shape and striking foliage add beauty to your garden, transitioning from purple-red in spring to bright red in autumn. This variety thrives in partial shade, making it perfect for various garden settings. With a height and spread of up to 4m, it offers a substantial presence. Additionally, the small flowers in spring and potential winged fruit in autumn provide further interest throughout the seasons.
Acer palmatum Wilson's Pink Dwarf Tree
The Wilson's Pink Dwarf Tree is a stunning deciduous shrub, featuring bright pink foliage in spring that transforms to vibrant green in summer, providing a lively display in your garden. In autumn, the leaves turn to a beautiful mix of red, orange, and yellow, creating a captivating seasonal change. This tree can reach a height and spread of up to 1.5m, making it a lovely addition to any outdoor space. It thrives in partial shade and is adaptable to various well-drained soil types, ensuring easy maintenance for you.
Acer palmatum dissectum 'Garnet' Japanese Maple Tree
The Garnet Japanese Maple is a stunning addition to any small garden. Its distinct pink foliage, finely dissected and feathery, transforms into a striking scarlet in autumn. This tree holds its colour better than most acers, providing a vibrant display from spring through to autumn. With an ultimate height of around 2m and a spread of 3m, it fits perfectly in various garden spaces. Ideally, it thrives in full sun but can also tolerate partial shade, making it a versatile choice for your outdoor area.
Acer Orange Dream Plant - Japanese Maple Tree
The Acer Orange Dream Plant is a stunning addition to any garden. Its foliage changes colour throughout the year, providing a vibrant display that enhances your outdoor space. The bright orange growth is particularly striking, transforming into a lovely yellow in autumn. This fully hardy plant, reaching up to 3 metres in height over 20 years, is perfect for creating a focal point in your garden. However, do keep in mind that it will be leafless during the winter and early spring months.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Can acers stay out in winter?
Acers are extremely susceptible to cold wind. For this reason, where possible, pot grown Acers should be planted in a suitably site. Otherwise, move the pot to a more sheltered location.
2. Do acers like sun or shade?
Purple and red leaved trees require a decent amount of sunlight to develop their rich, dark complexion, whilst green-leaved Acers tolerate full sun but do best with light shade at the hottest part of the day.
3. Where is the best place to plant an acer in the garden?
Plant acers in a sheltered spot where the foliage is protected from the strongest midday sun and cold or drying winds that may damage the leaves. Young foliage can be susceptible to late frosts.
4. Do acers come back every year?
There is nothing to worry about and next spring your Acer will again come into full leaf. If your tree is growing in a container it is important to protect the young leaves from prevailing winds - the leaves can quite easily suffer from burning and wind scorch, and Acers do prefer to grow in slightly dapple shade.
During our acer outdoor tree research, we found 58 acer outdoor tree products and shortlisted 10 quality products. We collected and analyzed 6,340 customer reviews through our big data system to write the acer outdoor trees list. We found that most customers choose acer outdoor trees with an average price of £22.52.
The acer outdoor trees are available for purchase. We have researched hundreds of brands and picked the top brands of acer outdoor trees, including GardenersDream, Carbeth Plants, YouGarden. The seller of top 1 product has received honest feedback from 10,637 consumers with an average rating of 4.7.

Toby Butcher is a Horticulturist, and he earned his title as a Master Gardener in 2016. Toby has acquired a 25-year experience as a home gardener planting, designing, grooming vegetables and flowers. He is the leader of a plant group in Durham. Toby owns a blog where he publishes articles on growing and growing your flowers at home, in a vase, or in a garden.