Acer palmatum fireglow project

[Anton78]

I got this fireglow last year current height 60 cm base 10. The trunk and the base are good but the nebari is bad, so I will graft on some palmatum seedlings there. The bigger problem is the new leader where to cut it. The tree already has a huge cut on the back, where I removed some subtrunks. First I went with pic 2 as the new leader, but wasn't too happy with it.

 

[Anton78]

Checking the tree again I came up with the pic 3 option. The tree has some flexible long branches so drilling a few holes in the trunk and grafting these branches would
probably work. Pic 4 is a possible outcome.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

What front has the best nebari currently? If youre chopping it, Id chop with the best nebari in mind.

 

[Anton78]

Simple answer is.. none lol
The nebari is bad from all sides the best option in my opion is to graft some seedlings there. I have some 2 year old artopurpureum seedlings that would do the job. But if you know another way to improve the base and the nebari let me know.

 

[Jrmcmich]

Can you remove those single roots over multiple repots assuming you have sufficient feeder roots? Feel like that could improve nebari over time

 

[Anton78]

Yeah I see your point. Maybe I was too focused on the grafting. I never did it myself but saw it years ago in a workshop. They simply took some seedlings and fixed them with a piece of wood and 2 nails on the trunk, so they can fuse together. I saw the grafted tree later again and it seemed that it had fused, although the trunk and the new roots had different color. Here's a pic what I mean.

 

[JRidge]

It might be a bit risky but an air layer works well on many AP. Not sure about this variety.. could try a branch to see how it responds and if it takes you could do it to the base of the tree. I have encouraged roots by layering only the portion of the trunk that is without roots. It is a more conservative option.

 

[Anton78]

Right that would be an option too. I would loose 3-4 cm of base thickness though. The fireglow is grafted on a AP as far as I can tell, so it wouldnt be a problem.. You can see the v cut of the grafting in pic 4. Fortunately the grafting was well made so it's pretty inconspicuous.
Edit: I missread your post. How did you do the partial layering?

 

[JRidge]

Aha! I see that now. Good graft.
In light of that I would say @Jrmcmich idea of improving over several repots is the best option to improve the nebari and if you bury the trunk a bit with some light scarring and rooting hormone it will encourage roots in areas lacking.

Pic 3 looks like a good direction forward for the progression of the tree.

 

[Anton78]

I see. The partial layering is indeed something to think over. Thanks for the tip.