Amur Maple Progression

[Tidal Bonsai]

I bought this amur maple (acer ginnala) from Owen Reich. The tree was grown out for around 25 years by Randy Davis. Once I took a look under the hood, it has good structure and a great nebari! As with bonsai, more work is needed to take it to the next level! I hope to get this beauty show ready with the help of @MACH5 in the next few years!

Thought you nuts would appreciate the defoliation shots. Fall cutback to follow in a few weeks.

 

[MACH5]

This will be a fun project!

 

[Shogun610]

Nice, how tall is it?

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

Nice, how tall is it?

Currently it is 27 inches tall with a 4 inch wide trunk. The nebari is big, but it needs to be exposed more in the spring.

Here is the ubiquitous beer can photo for scale

 

[John P.]

Nice tree!

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

In only six months, this tree has had a massive overhaul! The previous owner chose a front that looked way too much like a slingshot, and didn’t bring out the best character of the tree. It got an angle change, and a round of branch selection in the Fall of 2021.



In the spring of 2022 the rootball had not been properly worked, so it took a sawzall and some heavy tools to get the rootball flat.



Finally I pre-wired the tree to save some time today when @MACH5 helped me set structure.

 

[MACH5]

Good friends, good food, laughter and bonsai. What else is there?

Great reset Sal. It will be fun to watch this one develop!

 

[Colorado]

Wow, looks great! The front change made a huge difference!

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

Last season the tree suffered some dieback, grew slow (for an Amur), and rammified very little. It was a season spent on rehab after a long overdue repot!

This season, the tree popped a month early, and had:
-Very little dieback after dormancy
-More budding/rammification
-Much better energy balance!

All the work I put into it last year is seeming to pay off!!!

Lower/upper branch last season

Lower/upper branch this season


Future progress shots to follow.

 

[luvinthemountains]

All the work I put into it last year is seeming to pay off!!!

That is great! I like this tree a lot. Keep the updates coming!

 

[vp999]

Nice tree Sal!

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

April 2022


March 2023

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

Since its vigour was restored last season, it got another overhaul this year. It was due for a repot, some wiring and two thread grafts. The buds are starting to move, and I cannot wait to see that beautiful neon yellow spring color!

 

[Dabbler]

It's a really great tree - Spring buds are always so much fun!

 

[The Warm Canuck]

Great tree, your new front is much better than the original.

Do you know if it was originally grown out in the ground?

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

Great tree, your new front is much better than the original.

Do you know if it was originally grown out in the ground?

It's been awhile, I honestly don't remember what Owen told me. It had some thick tap roots, so it is possible it spent some time in the ground.

 

[The Warm Canuck]

It's been awhile, I honestly don't remember what Owen told me. It had some thick tap roots, so it is possible it spent some time in the ground.

I have a few in the ground right not, the root growth is ridiculous.

I want to leave this one in the ground as long as possible, to heal up the wounds (around 2"), but I'm worried the roots will just be to aggressive. I'll pull it up this spring and make the decision based on how the roots look. (Sorry to highjack)

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

The two thread grafts are looking good!

 

[The Warm Canuck]

The two thread grafts are looking good!View attachment 531384View attachment 531385

Looking good, how was it getting it through with the bud that swelled?

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

Looking good, how was it getting it through with the bud that swelled?

It was threaded before the buds started swelling.