Advice for sick maple

[Greenpoint Vince]

Hey there. New to the forum. Fairly new to Bonsai. I have a maple I acquired a few months back that is worse for wear. To be fully transparent I repotted and then got a little agressive in pruning. I also feel like I overwatered it. For now I’ve planted it in some sphagnum moss and have placed it in the shade. Does anyone out there think it may make a recovery or should I just give up on it and take it as a lesson. Any advice is much appreciated. Cheers.

 

[Dav4]

Your tree looks dead- dead leaves clinging to a branch is never good. Can't be sure why but lots of possibilities. Time to get another maple but be sure to research how to properly maintain them here before doing anything other than watering.

 

[Greenpoint Vince]

Thanks Dave. I got a little cocky. Lesson learned. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

[RODERLO]

I also think this one is sadly passed on to a better place.

Perhaps I’m being too frank, but your styling job wasn’t top notch either. There’s a lot of bar branches (two opposing branches at the same point on the trunk). You want branches in an alternating pattern. You’ve also got very little branching towards the back and front, which causes a lack of depth in the composition.

You’ll do a lot better on your next attempt, I am sure. Just take this as good practice!

Also, in terms of your recovery method: I wouldn’t plant it into pure spaghnum, especially not when you’re correcting for overwatering problems. Spaghnum is extremely moisture retentive, so you’ll likely worsen the problem.

Best is to put a small layer of spaghnum on top of your base layer of regular bonsai substrate, then place your tree and fill with bonsai substrate again. It’s just a simple subtrate-spaghnum-substrate sandwich.

 

[Greenpoint Vince]

Thank for your reply! Not too Frank at all. Still very new to all this, and I’ll take all the advice I can get.

I’ll be on here asking for advice and also joining a club in the future to gain more experience before doing anything drastic.

Thanks for taking the time!