Hi everyone!
I just came back from a tree nursery with this rather large Acer palmatum shishigashira. They had a lot of japanese maples for 'garden use' in stock and I remembered this cultivar being used for bonsai. It was on sale, so I didn't really hesitate.
The base and cultivar was what caught my eye... Base is 12 cm (4.7 inches) at its widest.
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Plenty of new growth near the base.
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Three large branches emerging from the same point. The plan is to air-layer it in a couple of places.
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It's pretty big! 130 cm from the soil level (4.2 feet)
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Good growth. I thought they were slow growers, but some of the shoots are 20+ cm.
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I have no experience with this cultivar, so I do have a couple of questions:
Do they air-layer well?
How do they take root pruning and repotting?
I'd like to take a few air-layers next year. Should I repot it first, then air-layer? Or no layering and repotting in the same year?
I usually don't buy trees from regular nurseries (anymore) because of the potting soil... But I'm afraid that I'll have to prune it severely if I want to repot it in spring.
If I do that, I won't be able to take the large air-layers I want.
Anyways, I'm glad I found this tree!
