Field-grown trident

JoeR

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Wow that is a big difference. Thanks for sharing that with us. Saved me some years in trial and error time.

You've convinced me!
 

markyscott

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Spring 2016 update of this trident. Here's what it looked like after the early spring push.

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You'll notice that, although I thought that removing the upper part of the trunk proposed in 2015:

I like what you have done. The base looks good with the removal of the heavy wood. Start it in a colander and the root pad will develop really well for the correct size pot.
If this picture is the last point it has been trimmed to, I would take it back to the two red lines I show. The large chop is a no brainer and the small cut is right above a line node which will push a bud once chopped to that point. Make sure to seal the small one to preserve the line node. The large chop I show is to shorten the segment. If left as long as it is in the picture, it will show a long non-tapered neck there when in winter sillouette and you will not be happy with that.
View attachment 68093

was the right choice, I held off last year so I could graft a new branch where the lower part of the chop would be. Like this:

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Here's the graft today.

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It grew very fast and I was able to separate it in the fall. It's well fused and pushed some strong spring growth. So I feel that I can go ahead and execute the chop between the apical branch and the grafted side branch.
 

markyscott

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So here goes nothing.

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I like the new line. As we discussed before, when you cut, try not to go over a 45 degree angle - the size of the cut will grow, causing it to take longer to heal. And you'll end up with a flat spot on the trunk that will look unnatural. Also, be generous with the cut - you don't want to remove too much with the saw. Once it's gone, you're done, but if you leave a bit too much you can work it down with the knob cutter. We're going to do that anyway.

I really like these pull saws for doing this kind of work:
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They come in a range of sizes and have coarser and finer teeth depending on how aggressive of a saw you need. Affordable and very good quality saws.

After you've made your cut with the saw, you'll want to work it down with a good quality pair of knob cutters.
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I rough it in by removing the excess wood left over from the saw cut. Then work the center, making it slightly concave. And then go carefully around the edge and cut across the edge of the cambium like in the picture above. You want a nice clean cut with a sharp exposure of the cambium.

Then cover it with cut paste - I use top jin, but whatever is your favorite.
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Wired out and cut back, but leave all of the growth on the new apex. We'll want to let that grow strongly for the next year to establish the new trunk line.
 

thumblessprimate1

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Let me try to get this straight, so with Tridents, the wound should be slightly concave?
 

Tieball

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Don't let the roots grow wild. Dig it up every few years to work the base or you'll spend years trying to correct a bad nebari.
Do you do the root pruning while the tree is still in the ground developing trunk thickness? And then return the tree to the ground? Follow-up to that question......When still growing for trunk thickness, and you prune the roots, do you leave the top growth alone to continue thickening efforts?....letting the tree continue to grow tall and wild....taller tree equals thicker base?
 

markyscott

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Do you do the root pruning while the tree is still in the ground developing trunk thickness? And then return the tree to the ground? Follow-up to that question......When still growing for trunk thickness, and you prune the roots, do you leave the top growth alone to continue thickening efforts?....letting the tree continue to grow tall and wild....taller tree equals thicker base?

Yes. I dig it up every couple of years and cut back the roots then plant it back in the ground. I grow in the ground to develop the trunk and in the pot to develop the branches. It didn't take too long to grow the second trunk section after the initial chop on the nursery tree. Maybe two years. In my climate, it will grow 7-8 feet in a year. So I just let it grow, and chop back in early spring as the buds begin to swell. Sometimes I dig it up and work the roots at the same time. Cutting back in early spring result in vigorous growth. All of the trees energy gets directed into just a few buds and you get vigorous growth, big leaves and long internodes. Digging it up every couple of years or so is important - otherwise you get runaway root growth that's difficult to deal with down the road.
 

Tieball

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Yes. I dig it up every couple of years and cut back the roots then plant it back in the ground. I grow in the ground to develop the trunk and in the pot to develop the branches. It didn't take too long to grow the second trunk section after the initial chop on the nursery tree. Maybe two years. In my climate, it will grow 7-8 feet in a year. So I just let it grow, and chop back in early spring as the buds begin to swell. Sometimes I dig it up and work the roots at the same time. Cutting back in early spring result in vigorous growth. All of the trees energy gets directed into just a few buds and you get vigorous growth, big leaves and long internodes. Digging it up every couple of years or so is important - otherwise you get runaway root growth that's difficult to deal with down the road.
Thanks! It's been a couple years since I have root cut any of my ground growing trees. This spring, I know it will get here one of these days, I should pull the trees out and cut the roots back. I still need to thicken the lower trunk so I have hesitated to cut anything....above or below the ground. It's a growth area I am uncertain about.
 

markyscott

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Thanks! It's been a couple years since I have root cut any of my ground growing trees. This spring, I know it will get here one of these days, I should pull the trees out and cut the roots back. I still need to thicken the lower trunk so I have hesitated to cut anything....above or below the ground. It's a growth area I am uncertain about.

For what it's worth, here in Houston I did not notice any difference in top growth when I cut back the roots. It grew 8 feet a year whether I worked on the roots or not. Just avoid giant roots developing. You'll end up with an unbalanced nebari setting yourself up for a big air layer job or years of repair to the root base.
 

Tieball

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For what it's worth, here in Houston I did not notice any difference in top growth when I cut back the roots. It grew 8 feet a year whether I worked on the roots or not. Just avoid giant roots developing. You'll end up with an unbalanced nebari setting yourself up for a big air layer job or years of repair to the root base.
Thanks. Very encouraging. I understand the long big roots....and the problems.
 

markyscott

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justBonsai

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The silky saws are excellent. Probably among the best production "pocket" saws out there.

It's a popular choice for people who enjoy bushcraft--outdoors knife and woodwork.
 
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Tieball

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Silky Pocketboy 130

http://www.amazon.com/Silky-Folding...id=1459999812&sr=1-4&keywords=silky+pocketboy

That's the fine tooth saw. They come more aggressive as well. Good saws.
I use the PocketBoy 130 with the extra fine saw blade. The handle is a purple color on mine....I believe designating the saw tooth type. Anyway, excellent saws. Last a long time. The blade extends with two different positions. The blade lock is very secure. My cutting has been on hardwoods American Elm mostly. Has a nifty plastic snap-shut case. The blade is replaceable...but on Amazon it's only about three dollars more to buy the entire saw. Very clean smooth cutting. image.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpeg
 

markyscott

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Do you do all this kind of cutting with the fine blade ? I cant decide fine or medium....?

Hi fredman. I use the fine teeth on everything - it's a great saw. You can certainly use extra fine or medium if you want. The trade off is that the finer teeth are safer because they cut more slowly through the branch and make a cleaner cut. But the teeth gum up more quickly. The medium teeth are more aggressive and will cut through a branch really rapidly and the teeth won't gum up, but the cut won't be quite as clean and you'll have to be extra careful to when cutting to make sure you don't damage anything you didn't intend to when the blade goes through the branch. It'll happen quicker tha you think.

I also have the Silky Gomboy 240. I use it for collecting or when I'm REALLY mad at that branch.
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It is a fantastic saw. If you break it out at a bonsai workshop, you will impress all of your friends and win the "my saw is bigger than yours" contest by a mile. See - look how pitiful Boon looks with his puny saw.

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