This was the second big box maple I got last year. Figured I would post pics and some notes here for no other reason than it's easier for me to keep track of my trees this way. As always, all comments welcome.
In a sea of plain vanilla Home Depot Japanese maples, this one stuck out for its smaller leaves and somewhat butterfly coloration. It's hard to tell from the pics, but its nebari is basically a perfect cross.
This was purchased really early on in my bonsai adventures and I was clueless about everything, including soil. I "box-cut" his roots upon purchase and planted it in potting soil and a good deal of perlite. By the time I actually learned something about bonsai soil it was the first day of winter. So, in my infinite wisdom (sarcasm), I repotted him into Bonsai Jack universal soil mix. Still not 100% comfortable with bonsai soil, I also add some powdered moss (not my best ideas, although it seems fine as it wasn't that much). Don't try this at home boys and girls.
The nursery pot was buried in the ground until I repotted him, at which point it went into the mulch pile for the rest of winter.
Much to my surprise, a great deal of radial roots from all along the tap root grew - literally a giant bowl of spaghetti. I cut off the tap root and everything below the root flare. What was placed in the grow box was a much larger root system than I have left for any other tree.
I was advised by the bonsai gurus to leave it be to grow through summer and then cut it down to about a foot to see what shoots grow. Great advice, but I'm still too impetuous for that. So I chopped his trunk this spring down to about a foot and hoped for the best. Went to check on it this morning and water, and lo and behold the bonsai gods have smiled upon me - a bud has appeared really low down (either that or it has a pimple). I had sealed the wound with the green paste, but it's bleeding pretty heavily now and washed off most of it.
Spring is in full swing down in the south shore of NY. I'll wait to see what pops and will likely cut it down again in the summer to regrow from a new shoot.
As an aside, I have been pleasantly surprised at the low growing buds on my maple chops. I assumed the buds would first pop higher up, but that has not been the case.
In a sea of plain vanilla Home Depot Japanese maples, this one stuck out for its smaller leaves and somewhat butterfly coloration. It's hard to tell from the pics, but its nebari is basically a perfect cross.
This was purchased really early on in my bonsai adventures and I was clueless about everything, including soil. I "box-cut" his roots upon purchase and planted it in potting soil and a good deal of perlite. By the time I actually learned something about bonsai soil it was the first day of winter. So, in my infinite wisdom (sarcasm), I repotted him into Bonsai Jack universal soil mix. Still not 100% comfortable with bonsai soil, I also add some powdered moss (not my best ideas, although it seems fine as it wasn't that much). Don't try this at home boys and girls.
The nursery pot was buried in the ground until I repotted him, at which point it went into the mulch pile for the rest of winter.
Much to my surprise, a great deal of radial roots from all along the tap root grew - literally a giant bowl of spaghetti. I cut off the tap root and everything below the root flare. What was placed in the grow box was a much larger root system than I have left for any other tree.
I was advised by the bonsai gurus to leave it be to grow through summer and then cut it down to about a foot to see what shoots grow. Great advice, but I'm still too impetuous for that. So I chopped his trunk this spring down to about a foot and hoped for the best. Went to check on it this morning and water, and lo and behold the bonsai gods have smiled upon me - a bud has appeared really low down (either that or it has a pimple). I had sealed the wound with the green paste, but it's bleeding pretty heavily now and washed off most of it.
Spring is in full swing down in the south shore of NY. I'll wait to see what pops and will likely cut it down again in the summer to regrow from a new shoot.
As an aside, I have been pleasantly surprised at the low growing buds on my maple chops. I assumed the buds would first pop higher up, but that has not been the case.
. In future LISTEN to helpful advice.
