Arakawa project, grafting advice needed

[Nicotine]

I recently purchased this Arakawa which was previously owned by an older gentleman with Parkinson’s and unfortunately it was a bit neglected. It has a lovely trunk which is what attracted me to it, but the branches have gotten way too leggy and there are too few of them. It’s going to need many grafts to bring it back to shape.

I’m thinking of doing grafts in the following places, and perhaps airlayering the branches on the left eventually.

Does anyone have any advice about grafting Arakawa? I’m worried about the thick hard bark cutting into the the graft branch as it grows and not letting it grow properly, I can picture the bark making the graft bulge at the exit point. So do I have to make allowances for this? Like drilling off some bark around the exit hole of the graft?

 

[Firstflush]

That trunk has a lot of character, that’s for sure. Others will chime in for sure. Have you considered guy wires to pull the lateral branches down little by little over a few seasons to the locations you want them in

 

[Nicotine]

That trunk has a lot of character, that’s for sure. Others will chime in for sure. Have you considered guy wires to pull the lateral branches down little by little over a few seasons to the locations you want them in

Thanks, even if I pull them down, the branches are way too leggy, so I think only thing I can do is graft as the bark prevents any chance of back budding

 

[Canada Bonsai]

I think you can add another 40-60% of trunk line/height. The mass you currently have is nice, but I personally would want to stretch it out over a greater distance to end up with a longer, more elegant trunk with a more gradual taper:

@kokufu_maples on Instagram: "Rough bark Japanese Maple (92cm) in a taishowatari namako pot with the title of Important Bonsai Masterpiece (Kicho bonsai), by Tamikichi Ogasawara from Gunma prefecture, Kokufu 69 (1995), previously exhibited at Kokufu

468 likes, 2 comments - kokufu_maples on September 22, 2021: "Rough bark Japanese Maple (92cm) in a taishowatari namako pot with the title of Important Bonsai Masterpiece (Kicho bonsai), by Tamikichi..."

www.instagram.com

Looking at your sketch, you might end up with something like this:

@kokufu_maples on Instagram: "Rough bark Japanese Maple (63cm), by Ayano Ishizu from Shizuoka prefecture, Kokufu 69 (1995) #盆栽 #bonsai #bonsais #bonsaï #bonsailovers #bonsaioftheday #bonsailife #bonsaigarden #bonsaiart #bonsaiworld #bonsaigram #bons

497 likes, 2 comments - kokufu_maples on September 22, 2021: "Rough bark Japanese Maple (63cm), by Ayano Ishizu from Shizuoka prefecture, Kokufu 69 (1995) #盆栽 #bonsai #bonsais #bonsaï #bonsailo..."

www.instagram.com

I mention this because it will likely influence your decision regarding the branches

 

[Nicotine]

Yes the top definitely needs to be grown out to add a more gradual taper, wasn’t planning adding 50% but that’s a possibility. The top is a bit of a funny shape too as u can see in second pic which needs to be sorted.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Thread grafting is easy and very effective with these. I have a thread here showing details.

Japanese Maple, 'arakawa'

Here is a stock plant I bought in fall '08, worked down the roots pretty hard in spring '09, and stuck it into a big wooden box and forgot about it for a couple years, except to layer a couple branches out of it. Yesterday I noticed it was pushing growth pretty hard, so I decided to repot...

www.bonsainut.com

No need to chip away bark, just drill the opposite way you intend to thread the branch through. Don’t let it get too thick on you either, your you’ll have to start over. Nice trunk on this one.

 

[Nicotine]

Don’t let it get too thick on you either, your you’ll have to start over

You mean the branch to be grafted? Don't let it grow too thick before grafting?

Also, If a graft fails, can i use same hole to try again for another graft?

Thanks for the link btw

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

You mean the branch to be grafted? Don't let it grow too thick before grafting?

Also, If a graft fails, can i use same hole to try again for another graft?

Thanks for the link btw

Don’t let it get too thick after grafting. This one circled in red got away from me last summer, so I’ll have to cut it back. Fortunately it has a good bud on the back.

And if it fails, use a new hole. But success rate should be 100%. Just make sure you don’t strip off any buds as you’re threading it through, meaning the hole needs to be bigger than you think.

 

[Nicotine]

Don’t let it get too thick after grafting. This one circled in red got away from me last summer, so I’ll have to cut it back. Fortunately it has a good bud on the back.

Oh i was planning to let it grow out as long and thick as possible then cutting back hopefully to a node near the base of the graft, then letting it grow out again to create taper to the branch. I was planning to graft into the two existing primary branches on the left and right and they're already quite thick so the graft needs to match them somewhat