$35 Japanese Maple project

[Dav4]

The Atlanta Bonsai Society met yesterday and one of the members brought several of these. They're potted Japanese maples from a neglected nursery in Alabama that were allowed to escape into the ground and left there for at least 5 years. The price was right and the base and trunk were, in my opinion, worth mucking around with, so I took this one home. I started the work on it today by chopping it down further.

 

[drew33998]

Very cool.

 

[small trees]

You should have picked up an extra for me Looks like a good buy. What will your next step be? Root work/repot or let it be for the summer?


edit: Oops. I gave it a few minutes before posting.

 

[Dav4]

You all posted while the pictures were uploading at a snail's pace....

Now, the roots needed to be addressed. The pot needed to be cut from the root ball, exposing the heavy roots that were hidden below the surface. Once free of the pot, I washed away the superficial layer of soil to get a better idea of what was there...or wasn't. I was hoping to find more small roots closer to the trunk and root collar, but no luck. It was ugly to say the least, and needed to be severely reduced...and that's what I did. You can see the pile of useless roots that were cut away from the tree. Not a lot of roots left, but I was only into it for $35, that nebari was no good and I didn't feel like waiting a decade to fix it. The root stumps were liberally brushed with rooting hormone, packed with sphagnum moss, planted in the Anderson flat, and the soil surface around the trunk was covered in more moss. Hopefully, we'll see some buds popping further up the trunk in April.

 

[barrosinc]

tough tree to work on

 

[Smoke]

When it started out...I was going to say I see a nice maple batt in your future.

Then I see the shorter chop. Now I see a damn nice billy club!

I though I was rough with maples but I see you have no fear. Some of those roots would even stall a chipper!

Come on buds!

 

[lordy]

Dave, what method did you use to cut off the heavy lumber? Hand saw? Reciprocating? And what is your soil mix to start on a rebuild like this?

 

[Dav4]

When it started out...I was going to say I see a nice maple batt in your future.

Then I see the shorter chop. Now I see a damn nice billy club!

I though I was rough with maples but I see you have no fear. Some of those roots would even stall a chipper!

Come on buds!

No guts, no glory! Yeah, if the material had a better nebari, I might have been a bit less aggressive wacking back the roots, but once I saw the nebari needed a total redo, I went for it. I've spent the better part of a decade trying to salvage the nebari on nicely trunked maples grown out in the ground...never again. If the tree croaks, I'm out $35, but I've got the next 10 years to find a better tree/deal to replace it.

 

[Dav4]

Dave, what method did you use to cut off the heavy lumber? Hand saw? Reciprocating? And what is your soil mix to start on a rebuild like this?

I contemplated using the reciprocating saw for this one but I went old school with the folding hand saw and have the blisters to prove it. If I had another set of hands to hold the tree, the sawz all would have been my choice. I've used them reducing roots on other trees before by myself, but without being able to properly stabilize the tree, the tree and trunk get smashed up pretty good. This went into a mix of 1 part turface, 1 part lava, and 2 parts pumice.

 

[Adair M]

Did you trim on the bottom of those heavy roots so that they would be flat on the bottom?

I would have.

And then tried to screw the trunk onto a board. Also open up windows on the trunk where I wanted roots And apply more hormone.

The alternative is to just air layer a complete new root system.

 

[Dav4]

Did you trim on the bottom of those heavy roots so that they would be flat on the bottom?

I would have.

And then tried to screw the trunk onto a board. Also open up windows on the trunk where I wanted roots And apply more hormone.

The alternative is to just air layer a complete new root system.

I might try the board option next year, but right now I'm just hoping it throws out some buds and grows this summer. I've successfully ground layered a few maples before but didn't think that was a good option for this one right now...maybe in a few years if the material warrants it.

 

[bwaynef]

The root stumps were liberally brushed with rooting hormone, packed with sphagnum moss, planted in the Anderson flat, and the soil surface around the trunk was covered in more moss.

I always thought using rooting hormone on roots was at best redundant, if it wasn't outright harmful. (I don't recall where I got that idea though.)

 

[Dav4]

I always thought using rooting hormone on roots was at best redundant, if it wasn't outright harmful. (I don't recall where I got that idea though.)

I believe Mark Rockwell would be the source of that information, or at least, I heard him state as much on more then one occasion. To be clear, the only reason I called them "root stumps" was because they were below grade when the soil was removed. Other then that, they are more trunk like then root like. I sincerely doubt there would be any harm in painting root stumps devoid of smaller roots of any sort with rooting hormone, and me and the tree have nothing to lose at this point.

 

[Nybonsai12]

Good stuff Dave. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread with great interest. Hope it buds out for you. I have a slightly smaller yardadori j. Maple I will be chopping and throwing in a grow box too. That is if it ever stays warm here. Calling for more snow tonight or tomorrow.

 

[discusmike]

Nice clean base

 

[M. Frary]

Why don't you try setting it on a heating pad set on low. I would think you would treat it like a giant cutting right?

 

[Neli]

That was a serious root chop! Good luck!

 

[JudyB]

Will be a good experiment for us all to watch and see how it responds.
I would give it bottom heat as well...

 

[Dav4]

Thanks for the input, everyone. The local weathermen say lows in the mid 20s F tonight, then no more freezing weather and a warming trend is on the way with temps in the low 70's by the end of the week. This one is going into the garage for a few days, then back out into the full GA sun. Bottom heat would be nice, but I probably won't need it.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I think your maple will develop without any trouble. One like that in my climate would do just fine.