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Japanese maple or flowering cherry

Updated: October 2026

You are choosing between a red Japanese maple and a flowering cherry for one spot, and the two Carbeth plants in this set do different jobs. The acer is sold for leaf colour in partial shade. Prunus Brilliant is sold for spring blossom and a seller estimate of about 2.5 × 2.5 m in 20 years. This page is only that pair. Bay, wattle, silk, redbud, and pine stay on the [hardy ornamental trees comparison](/hub/trees-and-palms/hardy-ornamental-trees). Products Compared used the amazon.co.uk listings of 16 October 2026 and RHS species guidance. Neither parcel has an Award of Garden Merit in this capture. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are choosing between a red Japanese maple and a flowering cherry for one spot, and the two Carbeth plants in this set do different jobs. The acer is sold for leaf colour in partial shade.

Our top picks

Carbeth Plants Carbeth bay (Laurus nobilis)

Best overall

Carbeth Plants Carbeth bay (Laurus nobilis)
5.6/10about £11.99
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Carbeth Plants Carbeth Prunus Brilliant

Preis-Tipp

Carbeth Plants Carbeth Prunus Brilliant
4.7/10about £9.79
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Carbeth Plants Carbeth red acer Atropurpureum

Alternative

Carbeth Plants Carbeth red acer Atropurpureum
4.4/10about £13.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.They are not substitutes
  2. 2.Sun, shelter, and scorch
  3. 3.What you pay for this week
  4. 4.When to pick neither

They are not substitutes

A flowering cherry is a spring event: flowers, then leaves, then a crown that casts light shade. A Japanese maple is a foliage plant: colour through the season, and a shape you look at when nothing is in bloom. Carbeth’s red acer Atropurpureum, B0987P1XL4, is £13.99 in an 11 cm pot, with a height attribute of 40 cm, partial shade on the listing, and autumn named as the planting period. The bullets claim deep red to purple-red leaves and a sheltered spot in moist, well-drained soil. They do not print a mature height. Carbeth’s Prunus Brilliant, B09TTJV83B, is £9.79, supplied at 20–30 cm, with pink-white flowers described in April and a seller estimate of about 2.5 × 2.5 m in 20 years. The listing does not state a sun requirement. If you want bees on blossom in April, the cherry is the plant that talks about flowers. If you want red leaves from spring into autumn, the acer is the plant that talks about foliage. Buying one because it was cheaper, or because both are called ornamental, skips that split. The RHS small-garden award trees are a third list again, and neither of these ASINs is named on it.

Sun, shelter, and scorch

The RHS growing guide for Japanese maples asks for shelter from wind. Red and purple leaves need some sun if they are to colour, and harsh sun, dry soil, and exposure scorch the fine foliage. Leaf scorch rarely kills the tree and it does spoil the season you bought the plant for. Acer palmatum is H6 on the species page, which is a species rating, not a winter trial of this 11 cm pot. Pots are colder, and the RHS says to wrap containers in winter. Purple leaves that turn green can mean too little light. An RHS page for Prunus nipponica var. kurilensis ‘Brillant’, spelled Brillant there, describes full sun and about 2.5–4 m. The amazon title says Prunus Brilliant, estimates 2.5 × 2.5 m in 20 years, and does not print nipponica. Do not treat them as the same clone. A blossom cherry of this stated size wants a brighter spot than a maple the seller has already marked partial shade.
Carbeth Plants Carbeth bay (Laurus nobilis)

Testsieger

Carbeth Plants Carbeth bay (Laurus nobilis)
5.6/10about £11.99
View offer

What you pay for this week

The acer is £13.99 and 3.4 out of 5 from 463 ratings, the largest file in the set and a low star line. UK reviews include healthy plants that grew on, and also twigs, light green leaves instead of the red photograph, and deaths within days or after about six months. The cherry is £9.79 and 3.8 out of 5 from 68 ratings. UK reviews include flowers and growth, and also a twig, a weak stem, and a replacement. The plant-type attribute also says Chestnut. The pot question is asked and not given a specification answer. Choose the cherry when you want April blossom and a stated crown of about 2.5 m in 20 years. Choose the acer when you want red foliage in partial shade and shelter, and you have already read 3.4 from 463. Neither is the top pick of the whole set. That is the bay, for a different job, on best hardy ornamental trees.

When to pick neither

Pick neither if the only spot is a north-facing yard that is also exposed to wind, or if you want an evergreen through winter. Both are deciduous. The culinary bay is the evergreen in this set, at £11.99 in a 10 cm pot, if you clip it. Both parcels are youngsters, 40 cm on the acer’s attribute and 20–30 cm on the cherry. Silk, wattle, redbud, and the 15–30 m pine are a different brief on the main table. Planting depth and a dormant twig belong on how to plant an ornamental tree, once you have decided which of these two, if either, belongs in the hole.

Common questions

Which one if I want flowers?
Choose Prunus Brilliant. The listing describes pink-white flowers in April and a small-garden habit, at £9.79, supplied at 20–30 cm. The acer is sold for red foliage, and its bloom attribute says autumn, which on that page is leaf colour rather than a flower display. Some cherry reviews report flowers. Others report a twig, so flowers are the aim, not a promise for the week it arrives.
Which one if I want red leaves?
Choose the red acer Atropurpureum, and only with shelter and some light. The bullets claim deep red to purple-red leaves. UK reviews include plants that arrived green instead of red. The RHS notes that purple leaves can turn green in too little light, and that harsh sun and dry soil scorch maples. The cherry’s show is blossom, then bronze to green to autumn colour, not a red summer canopy.
Which one is more likely to scorch?
The maple, if the spot is windy, dry, or in harsh sun. RHS guidance on acer leaf scorch names frost, drought, wind, hot sun, and waterlogging, and says the damage usually spoils the look more than it kills the tree. The cherry listing does not carry that warning. A bay review in the wider set mentions sun and wind scorch, which is a third plant, not this pair.
Which listing states a mature size?
The cherry does. The seller estimates about 2.5 × 2.5 m in 20 years, against a supplied height of 20–30 cm. The acer prints a 40 cm height attribute and an 11 cm pot, and it does not print a mature height. An RHS page for a similarly named Brillant cherry gives about 2.5–4 m, and this amazon listing does not prove it is that clone.
Is the £9.79 cherry the better buy only because it is cheaper?
No. It is the better buy if you want April blossom and a stated crown around 2.5 m, and you can accept twig reviews at 3.8 from 68 ratings. The acer costs £13.99 and has more reviews, at 3.4, with deaths and colour misses in the sample. Pay the extra only if red foliage in shelter is the point.

Related pages

Hardy ornamental trees buying guide

Ornamental trees for small gardens

Hardy ornamental trees

Best hardy ornamental trees: who each plant suits you

How to plant an ornamental tree without burying it

Sources

Public UK sources, last checked on 16 October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk figures checked that day. Mature sizes and H ratings are RHS species guidance unless a seller estimate is named. They are not a trial of these seedlings.

  1. RHS: trees for smaller gardens (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  2. RHS: hardiness ratings (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  3. RHS: Acer palmatum (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  4. RHS: bay tree growing guide (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  5. RHS: buying trees and shrubs (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  6. GOV.UK: Tree Preservation Orders and conservation areas (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  7. Forest Research: trees around buildings (retrieved 16 October 2026)
  8. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9 (retrieved 16 October 2026)