Acer palmatum 'Shishigashira' Design Questions

[MACH5]

Another thing Jphipps that I would highly recommend, specially if you stay where you are with bitter cold winters, is the use of cut paste on the larger cuts (I use it on anything larger than a 1/8" cut) to prevent possible problems like bacterial infections. It also promotes faster healing of the wounds so in general I believe this to be a good practice.

 

[Jphipps]

How much difference is there in wound sealant (as I mentioned earlier), and cut paste?

 

[MACH5]

Sorry I missed where you mentioned it in post #18. Glad that at least you applied some sort of sealant. As far as what's best I think most do a similar job and all work to one degree or another. However, I have tried many and in my experience the traditional grey cut paste has worked best for me.

 

[barrosinc]

Why did you get so much dieback? On the Acer Palamtums I have when using cut paste, I barely get any if I even get some.

 

[Jphipps]

I'm not exactly sure, that's a question for someone more knowledgeable than I. I took a chance on this tree because I got a pretty good deal on it. After scouring as much info online as I could, I decided to go through with the chopping in June I believe. Of course I found info that said that is preferred and others that said the opposite. It's tough to find a consensus. Something like -"Chop during growing season and it may bleed more but heal quicker".

If I had to guess, it may be this cultivar itself doesn't take that kind of aggressive work so well? Not sure. I used a wound sealant on all the cuts but this tree didn't seem to care that it was even on there. My other Maples had very very little dieback compared to this one.

 

[MACH5]

I'm not exactly sure, that's a question for someone more knowledgeable than I. I took a chance on this tree because I got a pretty good deal on it. After scouring as much info online as I could, I decided to go through with the chopping in June I believe. Of course I found info that said that is preferred and others that said the opposite. It's tough to find a consensus. Something like -"Chop during growing season and it may bleed more but heal quicker".

If I had to guess, it may be this cultivar itself doesn't take that kind of aggressive work so well? Not sure. I used a wound sealant on all the cuts but this tree didn't seem to care that it was even on there. My other Maples had very very little dieback compared to this one.

Yes, this variety is no where as vigorous as other types specially compared to the standard green Japanese maple thus it will react very differently to being aggressively chopped as you did with your tree. My experience with Shishigashira has been similar. When I would cut back a branch at a certain point it would die back instead of budding as is common with other maples.


As far as best time to chop back, well it seems many of us have somewhat different answers. In the northeast I have had best results doing all the heavy work in early spring. We all must find what works best in our areas unfortunately sometimes by trial and error.