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It is very hard to guess unless you tell us where you are, your climate and the aspect of the proposed site of the pot. BTW maples are deciduous.

David

I am in edinburgh near the coast we dont get bad winters summers are cool warm wet are any maples evergreen?

I don't know what the climate is in edinburgh and your description is rather vague so I cannot give specific help.

Try the local garden club or nursery who will know more than somebody a world away what will grow locally.

Also see:

Hi Mossie, you dont say what height you want this shrub to grow but assuming you only want something fairly small I would go for a Pieris forrestii, they are evergreen, have pannicles of very long lasting white pitcher-like flowers in winter and then the new growth is a flame red in the spring, giving a magnificent display, they then fade slowly back to green through, salmon, light pink and lime green. They grow about 4-6" per year, are quite hardy and thier only requirment is a slightly acid soil and an occasional feed. They are available about 2ft tall to start with and depending on the size of the tub, I would underplant with something trailing and evergreen, to give a contrast, like Euonymous fortunei (either a silver or gold low prostrate type) and this will look nice all the year around. best wishes Lannerman.

Hmmm... Are you sure it's not "Chinese" instead of "japanese"? Try google searching for "evergreen maple" instead of "maple evergreen" big difference in the search engines. From searching there does seem to be an animal, ok plant. Not sure about trees, but seems to have some shrubs.

A plant in a warm climate might be an evergreen and that same plant will not be an evergreen in a colder northern climate.

I did a google street view map of edinburgh, UK. Nice looking downtown street, of north bridge and High street. I like the looks of those double decker busses. Is that where your from?

I'd forget evergreen and look for "Full Moon Maple". in a container you could train it as a large bonsai.

Have Fun !

Even a very small bonsai... there are dwarf versions and Japanese maple grows excrutiatingly slowly... but none that I've ever met are evergreen

Have you ever heard of Google?

On the outside chance that you are truly helpless, "Most species are deciduous, but a few in southern Asia and the Mediterranean region are evergreen. Most are shade-tolerant when young, and are often late-successional in ecology"

Good luck.

I'm not one of the more experienced 'gardeners'