Building a trident

[bwaynef]

Coming up with a name for these threads is always harder for me than it should be.

Alas, I found a trunk that caught my eye. The lower portion was pretty impressive but the upper portion was going to have to be built from scratch. It had everything in the right place though, so I chose this one from the batch in front of me. (There was another I was considering that would be a quicker tree, but without as much fast taper or movement.)

Here’s the tree as I purchased it.

 

[bwaynef]

When I was looking at it I accidentally pulled it out of the pot. It was recently collected so I had to keep that in mind when building the scope of work for this tree. As a result, the first decision I made was to let it recover this spring and not repot it.

The second part of this was that I wanted to leave as much canopy as I could for as long as I could to rebuild those roots in preparation for the work I’ll be doing on it next spring at repotting time.

That goal was at odds with me wanting to begin building my eventual tree. I knew I’d eventually have to remove large portions of the tree to get the trunk line I wanted. I also knew it could take a while to heal those wounds, particularly if I chopped off all that upper growth.

I decided to cut halfway thru to allow callous to form while the full canopy was in place, and also allowing the roots the time and nutrients to rebuild and strengthen.

 

[bwaynef]

I don’t have these pictures handy, but I could tell callousing was happening as it continued to push the putty I’d sealed the chop with. Every 2-3 weeks I’d notice the putty had separated a little so I’d press it back down to seal it again. I did this 3-4x.

Looking at it today, I thought I’d gotten significant callousing so decided I’d finish the chop to give it the rest of the year to develop new callous and maybe push a little vigor into the primary branches I have planned for this tree.

(Please don’t judge me by my garage. With four kids we’re just trying to survive anymore.)

 

[leatherback]

Nice fatty you have there!
Do you have pictures of the cut sites, see how it looked?

I would cover the big roots though. Or maybe better, repot?

 

[Caryboy]

nice tree

 

[Shibui]

Bold chops but I think they are the correct ones to get the best tree out of the trunk.
Definitely cover those roots to keep them alive and active. The big one really needs to be cut way closer to the trunk at some stage. Also consider leaning the whole trunk a little toward that big root so the initial trunk section is not so vertical. I think that ill give a better flow along the new curves. Leaning it that way should also display nebari a little better by raising any roots on the other side so they are more level with the big ones showing.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Now is not the season, but as soon as you get the chance get it out of that nursery pot and into a shallow flat container. Of course I know you already know this

 

[bwaynef]

For everyone concerned about the roots, it's not at its final potting angle now. The long root off to the right will be greatly reduced as (available) roots permit. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it into a final pot this first time or if there'll be an in-between step. Now I'm just going to dump water and fertilizer to it. While you can only really see the front chop toward the apex, there's the beginning of a branch at the perfect spot on the chop that's to the rear so I just need to invigorate what's there. If this year's anything like years past (I can't really wrap my head around how big an "if" that is based on what 2020's held so far), I've got 'til about late October or November until it drops leaves. We'll see.

If I added this already, apologies. If not... The branch that's toward the front will likely be removed, though right now its eventual scar doesn't concern me so I'll let it remain simply so the tree continues to move resources.

 

[Smoke]

I would not even work with that base. I would make a top cut based on planting angle and ground layer a whole new bottom on. Do it in a colander to keep it compact and pot it in appropriate pot straight away when time is right. Your going to spend a lot of effort on the top when the bottom is terrible. Get the bottom right and work the top at the same time. They can take it.

 

[bwaynef]

I've considered that as well, but want a better look at what the base looks like. You're probably right.

 

[leatherback]

concerned about the roots, it's not at its final potting angle now.

If you cover the nebari completely you have a good chance of your roots developing nearish to the trunk, which can help you when you eventually cut back, which is why I commented on covering the roots

 

[Shibui]

If you cover the nebari completely you have a good chance of your roots developing nearish to the trunk, which can help you when you eventually cut back, which is why I commented on covering the roots

Agree. Chances of any small roots developing on uncovered roots is zero. Cover and there is a good chance of some small roots closer to the trunk. Even if there are no small roots this is a trident maple. Provided the root is healthy (should be covered with soil to maintain health too) You an just cut short and new roots will grow from the cut end, even if there are no side roots at all.
Whether it needs all new roots will depend on what else is there.