Developing the next section of Trident maple

[jquast]

I've been growing this trident for several years now and have made a large cut to induce both taper and movement into the trunk. One thing that I have always wondered about this process is if it is best to allow the sacrifice section to run long (the leader on the right and currently it is about eight feet tall) or to cut it back each year and let the growth occur closer to the main trunk.

Does anyone have any advise on this?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[0soyoung]

I think that the trunk (at the point where the sacrifice starts and below) won't thicken much until the sacrifice is just about as thick. In other words, if all you have is a trunk and a sacrifice, the sacrifice will thicken and the trunk won't change much until the sacrifice is about the same. Then you are just thickening a cylinder, regardless of whether it is straight or wavy. But, if your trunk has extra branches, their contribution of auxin (stimulus to expand) and photsynthate (fuel and material to build the expansion) helps the trunk to grow faster (radially), the lower the point down the trunk.

In other words, a sacrifice drives thickening. Branches distributed along the trunk produce taper.

I think, one can also build taper by chopping a thick trunk, growing an apical shoot, and occasionally cutting it back - each time a little bit higher that it was cut the time before (but this really isn't a 'sacrifice'). I don't think the (chopped) trunk you start with will be much thicker, but this process would build a tapered stem.

 

[jquast]

Osoyoung,

The section marked in red is what I'm looking to further develop at this point of the trees path. Should I let this section continue to grow until it finally reaches the caliper that I'm looking for or should I make cuts above it each year forcing growth closer to that section of trunk? I know that if I let the branch to just grow without cutting that it will eventually get there but I was wondering if by reducing the sacrifice branch extensions closer to this section each year will add girth more quickly.

I'm happy with the size below the section in red and I'm not looking to get any additional girth or movement in it other than to start to develop the primary branching.

 

[Smoke]

I think, one can also build taper by chopping a thick trunk, growing an apical shoot, and occasionally cutting it back - each time a little bit higher that it was cut the time before (but this really isn't a 'sacrifice'). I don't think the (chopped) trunk you start with will be much thicker, but this process would build a tapered stem.

Can't do that with a trident. Could with an elm, which have adventitious buds along the bark. Tridents bud from nodes. Cut back inbetween the nodes and the stem just dies back. Always have to cut back to a ring node. If the part that has grown has not been prepared properly before growout then there will be no short node to cut to. I always allow the shoot that will be used as a sacrifice to sprout and then cut it back when it makes three pair of leaves. Cut back to first pair and then let what sprouts after that run as the sacrifice. When it grows large enough to cut back, there will be those areas at the base of the sacrifice to cut back to.

 

[Smoke]

Is there any way you can draw on the tree you just posted where you would like to get the tree to. Without knowing some sort of goal it is very hard for anyone to help make decisions for you. In my recent thread Sawgrass talked about the rut. He is absolutely correct. Everyone of those trees look exactly the same. Subtle difference yes, but basicly the same. COOKIE CUTTER if you will. Gonna be very nice cookie cutters, and I will be damn proud to own them. Heres the rub, when someone buys other peoples work one has to make the best use of the material as it is. When a grower continues to prune away broom style branching in favor of taper, they ruin an otherwise good tree for any style other than a cookie cutter pine tree styled maple.

You have a big trunk with a fork on top. You are at the cross roads. Cut one off, shorten one and your tree will be a modified pine for ever. You will continue to style as a first branch, second branch, back branch, repeat etc, etc.

Now you could drastically shorten both shoots to first node. Then allow everything that buds out of the nodes and cut end at the node to expand. Prune back at 6 pairs of leaves. Allow anything that comes out of the trunk to expand for a year due to the drastic cuts from the shortening of those two secondaries. There is a real maple tree in there...I can visualize it.

 

[0soyoung]

I was wondering if by reducing the sacrifice branch extensions closer to this section each year will add girth more quickly.

I don't think so.

It is the foliage growing on the sacrifice that is the fuel/material for its effect. Otherwise, the sacrifice is just plumbing that carries water and minerals to the leaves (xylem) and the fuel/material produced by them (phloem). You may want to cut it back simply because you cannot cope with the length of it.

Possibly you are thinking along the lines of: leaves draw water up, through the xylem, from the roots --> make a shorter path, yada, yada, yada. This will have a bearing on the efficiency of the foliage in the heat of the day when the humidity is lowest and transpirational stress highest. If you are seeing limp shoot tips, only on the sacrifice, for several hours of the day, you maybe should reduce the length of the sacrifice each year. Otherwise, if you can cope with its length, just let the damn thing grow .

 

[jquast]

Is there any way you can draw on the tree you just posted where you would like to get the tree to. Without knowing some sort of goal it is very hard for anyone to help make decisions for you. In my recent thread Sawgrass talked about the rut. He is absolutely correct. Everyone of those trees look exactly the same. Subtle difference yes, but basicly the same. COOKIE CUTTER if you will. Gonna be very nice cookie cutters, and I will be damn proud to own them. Heres the rub, when someone buys other peoples work one has to make the best use of the material as it is. When a grower continues to prune away broom style branching in favor of taper, they ruin an otherwise good tree for any style other than a cookie cutter pine tree styled maple.

You have a big trunk with a fork on top. You are at the cross roads. Cut one off, shorten one and your tree will be a modified pine for ever. You will continue to style as a first branch, second branch, back branch, repeat etc, etc.

Now you could drastically shorten both shoots to first node. Then allow everything that buds out of the nodes and cut end at the node to expand. Prune back at 6 pairs of leaves. Allow anything that comes out of the trunk to expand for a year due to the drastic cuts from the shortening of those two secondaries. There is a real maple tree in there...I can visualize it.

Thanks Smoke!

It is definately not my plan to train this to look like a pine and for it to look more like a broom style Trident. My plan was to allow the next section to get a bit thicker and cut it back to the bud circled in red for the new leader and develop the tree from there.

Two years ago I had to fix the roots so I ringed the trunk to get new roots to grow and buried the trunk deep to keep that section from drying out. I do have new roots that have grown from those sections and will be cutting the nursery pot down to start exposing them later this fall. The flare at the intended soil line is about seven inches and will increase with further root development. The height from the soil line to the circled bud is about 13.5 inches so this has the potential to be a short but powerful tree.