Amur Maple

[coachspinks]

I have a small Amur Maple that is about to leaf out so I will be repotting. How aggressive can I be on root pruning? Sorry I don't have a picture but it is a fat little (4") tree that is the size and thickness I want so I'd like to put it in a bonsai pot. When scratching around the top of the soil I found a larger root I'd like to take off.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I frequently see people say that they can be pruned hard. I've pruned mine hard.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I've pruned mine hard, major pruning of the roots in spring.

 

[Soldano666]

I've done heavy root reductions on a few small amur leaving very few feeder roots. I've read about dieback but saw none. Timing might have been key as they were about to leaf out. So they diddnt sit damaged until growth started. Aftercare is another factor, when my trees start to wake up I face the threat of the last few frosts for the year. I placed them in a make shift green house that only got morning sun, and dappled shade from a nearby tree but still bright, and brought into the garage if night temps dropped. The old tree shuffle. Everything went according to plan and they leafed out and grew all season... i say go for it

 

[leatherback]

How aggressive can I be on root pruning?

Acer ginnela repot in mid-winter because .. Well, just because..

It sits in the orginal container, which was solid roots...
It laughed at me and started growing as if I had slipped it into a bigger container..

 

[coachspinks]

I've done heavy root reductions on a few small amur leaving very few feeder roots. I've read about dieback but saw none. Timing might have been key as they were about to leaf out. So they diddnt sit damaged until growth started. Aftercare is another factor, when my trees start to wake up I face the threat of the last few frosts for the year. I placed them in a make shift green house that only got morning sun, and dappled shade from a nearby tree but still bright, and brought into the garage if night temps dropped. The old tree shuffle. Everything went according to plan and they leafed out and grew all season... i say go for it

This is what I am going to have to do. With temps in the 70's this week it will be in full leaf by next weekend. But, we will have some more freezes.

 

[coachspinks]

Next question, I need to chase some of the top growth back, not a chop. Do it now or wait until later in the spring?

 

[0soyoung]

The conservative approach, IMHO, would be to cut no further back than a visible bud. Of course, cut just a bit above the bud. If it isn't as far as you would like, more buds further back will likely occur before bud break. If not, let the tip buds break, harden, and feed the branch for a while before cutting more. One can always be more aggressive, but every now and then, a branch will die back further than you might want (and another g**d*** $@!#!@!#@ year is lost toward getting there).

 

[coachspinks]

I repotted this tree and it is responding real well. I'll try to get a picture of it soon but because of the cold the last few nights it is in the garage. I cut the primary branches back to the desired length. New shoots are pushing and the leaves are opening. I think I want to reduce the inter nodes. Do I cut back to two leaves now? I have searched and have found several different ideas. Keep in mind the tree itself is only 4" tall with a well developed trunk.

 

[coachspinks]

I realized I never posted the picture. This is from today. I did get aggressive with the roots and it responded fine.