Advice on maple, leader on inside curve

hinmo24t

hinmo24t

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Dartmouth Massachusetts
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do you think I should ditch this leader growing on "inside" of profile? I see new buds pushing below but not sure if its guaranteed to make it since I repot it and cut it a month ago... thanks

Its a green Acer from seed or cutting via craigslist lol bought a year ago

20210504_191820.jpg
 
Use as sacrifice branch. Something much lower that will make trunk movement/get rid of straight boringness should be new "leader" and start training on it soon after this years harden off while still thin.
 
That camera angle gives us very little to give opinions about.
A 'leader' can't actually be on the inside of a curve because it is a leader. In situations like that shown I would normally cut the old trunk down closer to the strong leader so the trunk line merges from old to new but I don't know if that's appropriate here because I have not seen the trunk bends, thickness or how high the leader is. Often beginners pick a new leader way too high and the trunk therefore has little or no taper.
The one below may be a better option longer term.

There is no single correct answer to this sort of question. So much depends on your ambitions for the tree.
 
Shibui said:
leader' can't actually be on the inside
Click to expand...

Can't be on ....but can have come from.

I personally don't like the double forward movement they then have.

I'm with the lower one.

Looks like it will make it!

Sorce
 
It would be helpful to see a straight-on view....showing from the substrate level to the current chop at the top. This will better show where branches are located, what height, what the curve really looks like and what an overall approach could be.
 
thanks everyone, ill try to get another picture up. i didnt have options for hardcut at the time aside from the two branches in the pic, but they werent in the greatest spot i thought.
it sounds like the lower one will be a better option - and that even though that smaller branch under the one i was thinking is still on the inside of trunk curve, it can still work for the future? i think that lower branch could be better for the height/girth/future as someone alluded to

the last pic was on a cloudy day, the tree is pushing hard and is healthy i believe, so im sure it could handle another cut to the lower branch as long as its positioning is fine. i thought branches or leaders growing from the inside trunk profile wouldnt be ideal for long term design; whatever that might be. i like broomstyle but would run cascade or literati if they are only options
 
tbh the 'curve' on this trunk is so minimal its not even worth following the 'guidline':D
will make zero difference aesthetically. this tree is obviously in the early stages of development and needs growth.
 
@sorce @Shibui @leatherback @Tieball @Potawatomi13 heres a pic from a good month ago when i repot and brought it down from 7' lol

it has a decent nebari and roots from what i remember, supposedly no graft
they guy and his girl were into gardening and had about 20 trees in large containers sunk into the ground, i got a kousa dogwood (in pic) as well
20210317_072032.jpg
 
BobbyLane said:
tbh the 'curve' on this trunk is so minimal its not even worth following the 'guidline':D
will make zero difference aesthetically. this tree is obviously in the early stages of development and needs growth.
Click to expand...
in which case id have no problem letting the thing grow as it sits now - so thanks for that input
 
BobbyLane said:
they all need to be grown out and cut back hard. i see a lot of leggy growth, long internodes and course growth.
Click to expand...
yes, good call. since i did all my repotting and moderate hardcuts in march in MA (3 days of freeze just after in fact, and 2 stepping) i planned on letting the plants take to containers (they were in nursery pots for a year of taking care of them) and then hardcut them back even more. down to 5" ish for that cornus and others, like my proposition in here on the maple

so after some more pruning back soon i will let them grow for awhile, since i know they all took to the rootwork repots and pruning
 
thanks for the feedback everyone - i got my answers, im going to let it grow or bring it down to the other/lower branch sometime soon
 
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