How about a super-dee-duper maple thread?

Dirty Nails said:

Speaking of maples, I want some more. Where do you recommend buying good pre bonsai acers online?

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I bought from Don @ http://www.gregorybeachbonsai.com/index.html

jkl said:

Wow! I guess no one on B-Nut gives a damn about copyright and lifting other folks' stuff?

I was brung up to not use other people's work without acknowledged permission.

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Can't go wrong when the picture is your own and the tree is all your own work.

Poink88 said:

I bought from Don @ http://www.gregorybeachbonsai.com/index.html

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Thanks Dario. I have tridents. To be more specific looking for Acer Palatum, non grafted varieties that will hold up to our Tenn summers.

Mike

Dirty Nails said:

Thanks Dario. I have tridents. To be more specific looking for Acer Palatum, non grafted varieties that will hold up to our Tenn summers.

Mike

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Telperion farms or Brussels which is around you. You can also get good material from House of Bonsai in LA. But the best way is to actually be there to sort through the hundreds of trees available to find your gems.

I can vouch for Telperion -- one of my best purchases made there.

Hey guys

I apologize if I am dire ting these questions at a higher caliber of artist than myself. But I am a novice and I tried looking for beginner maple threads and couldn't find any. So I sincerely apologize if I'm addressing beginner questions to seasoned artists. I have been wanting to do bonsai for a very long time and I now am in a place in my career where I have some time and money to invest in my hobby. I've been at it for about eight months now and I admit I have be one obsessed. I have a green mound juniper that is doing very well, I have a ginseng ficus that is doing very well. Both have been repotted and pruned. I saw a photo onlo e of a shishigashira maple of the informal upright style and fell in live with it. I came across one in a local nursery and it resembled the photo I loved and I. Luke not help myself. I bought it and brought it home. I did a lite research and found out what I could on this lite tree. I live in Southern California, I live inland away from the salty air of the coast. I have a spot on my balcony where it receives some sun but mostly shade, I repotted it as soon as I got it home in a slightly larger pot than the 1.5 gallon plastic container that it came in. I didn't disturb the root ball or prune any roots. I did however prune some small branches. I did t prune any main ones. I understand that they are slow growing. So I am open to any advice or constructive critisism anyone might have. I'll try to upload a photo of my new tree. Thank you in advance...Medicine Man

Hi Medicine Man! And welcome to the forum. No need for apologies we are all learning together. You are in a good place here as there are many experienced folks here as well as some fantastic artists!

I love shishigashira maples! Although I have limited experience with them, I have noticed that they do not bud back quite as readily as other maple varieties. They are beautiful and more rare to find good examples in bonsai partly because they are slow in growth.

I think you did the right thing with your tree although I would make sure your soil is not the standard heavy stuff you get at garden centers but something more open that drains well. Many places have soil specifically blended for deciduous bonsai if you don't want to mix you own.

I personally would not do any styling at this point. I would let your tree be for now and let it gain strength. Later (next year perhaps) you'll need more aggressive pruning to force growth lower on the tree. I see also what it may be a graft union (indicated with red arrow)? If it is, this will need to be corrected by airlayering right above the graft. Grafts do not get better with time and you'll always see an ugly bump. Do not worry about any of that right now. All in good time. No rush. The health of the tree is most important.

Hey Mach...thanks for the advice. I meant to add the soil info on my original post but forgot. I got a bag of reputable azalea Camilla mix and I added some fine cut orchid bark to the mix to make sure it drains well. I noticed the graft and had hoped it would resolve over time, so that's a little disappointing. I haven't touched it since I brought it home so that it could gain strength and establish in its new pot. I have it on a watering schedule of every ten days...(roughly a week and a half)...and I can adjust that schedule according to my geographical location as it pertains to hot weather. I live in San Diego, so it can get pretty hot here. As far as the grafting scar goes...is that something I can live with or is it something that will be detrimental to the overall health of the tree...?

"Those who say it can't be done are constantly surpassed by people doing it."
(Anonymous inspirational poster)

Medicine Man said:

Hey Mach...thanks for the advice. I meant to add the soil info on my original post but forgot. I got a bag of reputable azalea Camilla mix and I added some fine cut orchid bark to the mix to make sure it drains well. I noticed the graft and had hoped it would resolve over time, so that's a little disappointing. I haven't touched it since I brought it home so that it could gain strength and establish in its new pot. I have it on a watering schedule of every ten days...(roughly a week and a half)...and I can adjust that schedule according to my geographical location as it pertains to hot weather. I live in San Diego, so it can get pretty hot here. As far as the grafting scar goes...is that something I can live with or is it something that will be detrimental to the overall health of the tree...?

"Those who say it can't be done are constantly surpassed by people doing it."
(Anonymous inspirational poster)

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Yes of course no problem! I would not go by any strict watering schedules and more by what the tree tells you. If its dry (or drying) then water, even if this means watering 3 times a day. In your case (and with your soil and size of pot) I doubt it but you get it.

No the graft unfortunately will not get better with time. Certainly if you can live with the "ugly bump" then I will leave it alone. The graft in no way impacts the health of the tree but rather addressed from an aesthetics point of view. If you wish to "fix" it, then at a later point in time you can always air layer the tree right above the graft joint

Ok cool. I think I can live with the graft for now. Later on when I gain some experience and if I start to dislike the graft scar then I can air layer it. For now I think (in my opinion) it gives it a little character. Is my soil mix appropriate? I just went with what I read online, so if its not then I can change it. I like this little tree and would hate for it to die because of my inexperience. I wanna give it the best shot I can. I will keep an eye on how the soil does with the watering schedule and I can adjust it as it needs. I didn't use any fertilizer because the consensus online was that it would burn the roots...so I left it alone. I am going to let it alone for a year or so before I prune and pot it up in a bonsai pot. I am unsure about the depth of the pot I should get and the amount of root pruning necessary to get it to fit in the pot without killing it. Any insight on these points?

"You can't help anyone that doesn't want to help themselves first."
(Unknown)

Not too familiar with your soil. Most folks use combination of pumice, akadama, fine bark mulch, crushed granite, etc. I myself use straight up akadama but it can become costly. The point being is that it needs to be a very open soil mix that retains moisture but drains freely. Most trees do not like their "feet" wet.


I'd personally wait to place this tree in a bonsai pot. Don't be too hasty (although I know it is tempting) to make a bonsai out of your tree before it's ready. This tree in my opinion needs much more development before even considering making a bonsai out of it. Let it really grow and develop and you'll ultimately will increase your styling options later.


As far as root pruning, maples can take quite bit of it with no ill effects as long as it's done at the correct time. I would do a search on google and see examples of root pruning deciduous bonsai. Also you can see Brian's blog (Brian Van Fleet) for excellent step by step demo on this subject.


There is a lot of info that needs to be absorbed in this art. I hope this helps. Also you may want to start your own thread on your tree in this same forum. This particular thread you're on is intended to view masterpieces of maple bonsai

Thanks very much for the input. I will heed the advice. Sorry to take up forum space.

Medicine Man said:

Thanks very much for the input. I will heed the advice. Sorry to take up forum space.

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No worries at all MN! You might even get more help by starting your own thread of your tree

Got a little geeked when I found a photo of that Shishigashira dormant.

I think this one needs a new home... in my garden! ... in my dreams...sigh...

Tell me about it. If I didn't have a family, I would be living in Japan.

Got some more for you guys n' gals.

First, here's one Peter Tea sent me a while back. One of my favorite trees by far. I'll also include a drawing my friend drew of this tree:


Matt Ouwinga's tree which was exhibited at Kokufu this year:

Various others (from sales areas and exhibitions)

Incredible raft:

And one last one from Jonas' blog:

If I could figure out a way to send some yamadori over there in trade for some maples like these I certainly would! -- I have a very nice trident from Don, and a couple of other decent maples, but really good ones have been hard to find here in the states so far. I'm sure they are out there because some members share them from time to time... I would say that of the members here Brian, Al and Mach5 have displayed some of the closest to Japanese quality maples I can think of. (I'm sure there are others of you, I'm just drawing a blank at the moment.)

I think one of the biggest issues is simply the years of refinement that have gone in to the trees. When I look through my Kokufu books I'm amazed at how flawlessly the trunks and branches taper; again, I'm sure time is one of the biggest factors. The mature bark covering these trees is an obvious testament to their age.

How are yours from Don doing?

Edit: Sorry I posted a couple pictures and then decided to remove them.