Air layering a topped A. Palmatum

[electraus]

My parents purchased a new vacation home up in hills last December and they were so excited to show me around when I went home for the holidays. It’s definitely a really nice place, but I very quickly lost interest in the home itself upon seeing the practically prehistoric Japanese maple in the backyard.

I was so excited to air layer a few branches and get some really nice (and free) JM material. I came to visit them for the week today and was 100% ready to start the air layering only to find out that my dad topped every singly primary branch on the tree and when I exasperatedly asked him why he would do such a thing, he responded with “because your mom said so.”

While I can’t help but admire his dedication to making his wife happy even after 25+ years of marriage, I really wanted to air layer that tree but I’m pretty sure I will no longer be able to do so this year. Am I correct in this assumption? If so, how long will it be before I can? Thanks!

 

[Shibui]

No problem layering branches that have been chopped. The extra growth would probably help form roots but the chopped branches should shoot back pretty quick and provide growth and auxins to help the new roots.
With luck your dad will have inadvertently given you some bends and taper in the branches. Beginners often make the mistake of layering long, straight branches with few side branches and very little taper.
I say go ahead now. If no success this year there's always next spring.

 

[electraus]

No problem layering branches that have been chopped. The extra growth would probably help form roots but the chopped branches should shoot back pretty quick and provide growth and auxins to help the new roots.
With luck your dad will have inadvertently given you some bends and taper in the branches. Beginners often make the mistake of layering long, straight branches with few side branches and very little taper.
I say go ahead now. If no success this year there's always next spring.

Thanks for responding! Yeah, at this point, all that’s left are the primary branches of the mother tree, which as you can probably imagine with such an old tree, have a good amount of girth to them.

For the sake of being able to develop movement and taper, I think I’m gonna make the air layers relatively short because, after the cutback my dad did, even the thinnest branches are straight logs with a diameter of around 3-4 inches at least, so these are gonna turn out to be some pretty hefty trees once the trunks finish developing.