Chop advice - new Kashima maple

ysrgrathe

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This is a A.p. "Kashima" I just received from Mark Comstock. I was thinking to do a pretty severe chop in the spring to improve the taper / bring the ramification in closer. I was planning to make this a broom. Any advice? The other four pics show the view from each side...I'd be curious if others see a better front.
 

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0soyoung

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I would completely remove those three branches you've indicated.

Judging by how high you have it potted in a pot that ought be be too deep, I'm guessing you've got a tap root or a mess of heavy roots from field growing. This would need to be addressed over the next several seasons, IMHO. I caution you against ground layering it because the roots will not be fed and will live only on stored starches - if layer roots do not appear in one season (and there is no guarantee they will), you'll likely loose your whole tree. Instead, you will need to progressively trim off the tap root over a few seasons; heavy lateral roots can be individually cut or ground layered each season. Meanwhile, your trunk thickens and/or you work on canopy development over the next few seasons.
 

MichaelS

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I would not be in a hurry to remove entire branches at the moment. But you will need to bring them all back quite short. This is a long term project and it will take a few years.
I would be inclined to cut here somewhere:....and basically build branches from the beginning. That way you will have nice movement where there is none now. 10 years............
You can even cut further down without problems. (I would) It all depends on you ultimate goal...excellence or mediocre.
I would also avoid layering. The safer option is to prune under the roots hard each year and a nebari will form naturally. You can always graft seedlings to fill empty spaces later.
Plant it in a deeper pot and keep the roots well covered.

kash.JPG
 

discusmike

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Be careful cutting back hard,if there are no buds below where your chopping you could lose the tree,acer cultivars won't produce buds like the species I learned this the hard way many years ago
 

MichaelS

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Be careful cutting back hard,if there are no buds below where your chopping you could lose the tree,acer cultivars won't produce buds like the species I learned this the hard way many years ago
You won't necessarily see buds on older branches but as long as there is a node it should shoot. Very important to cut roots at the same time to stop bleeding and die back however.
 

0soyoung

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Very important to cut roots at the same time to stop bleeding and die back however.
No, it is not.

  • Die back occurs because of an inadequate polar auxin flow in the cambium.
  • Bleeding arises because of amylase converting starches in the xylem parenchyma to sugars that are dumped into the xylem lumens. Osmosis then generates trunk pressure that will abate after pruning - the loss of a bit of sugary xylem sap doesn't cause any harm and will easily rinse off the outside of the tree. If you don't like it anyway, don't prune when light frosts occur at night.
 

Les

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Sorry if I'm wrong but I thought kashima maple were very similar to Kiyohime when it comes to having the same tendancy of being weak at the top and strong on the lower branches. If that the case you need to prune lower areas harder and be carefull with the top of the tree, or it will die out.:)
 

discusmike

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Even if there are nodes sometimes they won't bud,if it were mine I'd cut it back less drasticlly
 

ysrgrathe

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Thanks for all the advice.

@0soyoung the roots probably aren't as bad as you fear -- I slip potted it and added some soil on top because I may want to develop some roots that were exposed when I received it. The root mass seemed pretty compact and fibrous but I didn't want to tear into it if I end up chopping severely in late winter.

I think Kashima is a pretty vigorous dwarf, but this is the first time I've had one so I appreciate the advice to be cautious. I might cut more like @MichaelS recommended as that's less risky. I bought this to get some immediate practice in building ramification...I have lots of other trees that I'll be waiting years on, so I'd like to start making mistakes in refinement now so that I can learn from them. ;)

the loss of a bit of sugary xylem sap doesn't cause any harm and will easily rinse off the outside of the tree
Everything I've read says the same: trees can't bleed to death. This is a really excellent, science-based book that dispels a lot of rumors about pruning. It's quite expensive though:
https://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Guide-Pruning-Edward-Gilman/dp/111130730X/
 

MichaelS

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No, it is not.

  • Die back occurs because of an inadequate polar auxin flow in the cambium.
  • Bleeding arises because of amylase converting starches in the xylem parenchyma to sugars that are dumped into the xylem lumens. Osmosis then generates trunk pressure that will abate after pruning - the loss of a bit of sugary xylem sap doesn't cause any harm and will easily rinse off the outside of the tree. If you don't like it anyway, don't prune when light frosts occur at night.
I've grown and pruned over 1000 Japanese maples in preparation for bonsai over the last 30 years. This is the advice given by the Japanese, and the method I use because it is best practice. If you think you know better, knock yourself out. The only time you can safely avoid bleeding without root pruning is at the end of leaf fall. This is my experience in this climate. I have had much die back from excessive bleeding in the past. I have observed bleeding taking place from the same cut non-stop for many weeks until the twig dies. Cutting roots stops this dead. Therefore, cut the roots.
 
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ysrgrathe

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I'm not sure if it is better, but it's much shorter now. ;) The soil might look mounded but that's just the moss on top.
 

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