Garden Senkaki rescue- what next?

[AJL]

Any advice please? Ive rescued this Acer Senkaki from a garden where it wasnt wanted and wondered what any of our Acer experts can suggest on what to do next?
The graft union isnt too bad, but should I attempt to bonsai the whole tree, chop it hard back or plant in the ground as a landscape tree and air layer three main branches? Or air layer above the graft? Ive already cut it down by 4 foot to fit in my car, then Ive planted all the offcuts in the hope that some will root.
Does Acer Senkaki ever make a convincing bonsai? Internodes are rather long on this tree and Im wondering if they can be reduced ?

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[0soyoung]

Reddish bark. Sango Kaku is the name by which I know it.

As you can see around the lowest branching, internodes can be quite short. One can make this happen by keeping it root bound, which is fine when you've reached maintenance, but not in development. For development, I've observed the shortest internodes occur with the last growth of the season which, for me, occurs after an August pruning. Then you can wire that growth after leaf fall and cut back once this is as thick as you want/need - rinse and repeat.

Were it mine, I would air layer the larger branches next year. If you're not a fan, you can just prune them off next spring. Aside from my personal love of air layering, I think it important for you to see, firsthand, how readily it does/doesn't root, before you attempt to layer it just above the graft union in spring 2024, say. Of course, you could, instead, go for it this coming spring, but I think it will seriously risk loosing the entire tree -it needs to grow a lot of new roots which requires auxin and carbs from foliage. .

 

[AJL]

Reddish bark. Sango Kaku is the name by which I know it.

As you can see around the lowest branching, internodes can be quite short. One can make this happen by keeping it root bound, which is fine when you've reached maintenance, but not in development. For development, I've observed the shortest internodes occur with the last growth of the season which, for me, occurs after an August pruning. Then you can wire that growth after leaf fall and cut back once this is as thick as you want/need - rinse and repeat.

Were it mine, I would air layer the larger branches next year. If you're not a fan, you can just prune them off next spring. Aside from my personal love of air layering, I think it important for you to see, firsthand, how readily it does/doesn't root, before you attempt to layer it just above the graft union in spring 2024, say. Of course, you could, instead, go for it this coming spring, but I think it will seriously risk loosing the entire tree -it needs to grow a lot of new roots which requires auxin and carbs from foliage. .

Thankyou for the advice- much appreciated. I think will ground grow it for at least a year to get it growing vigorously and see how it recovers before trying to airlayer 2024.
Senkaki seems to be the name commonly used here in garden centres but Im sure Sango Kaku is the same cultivar!
I chopped it back quite crudely before lifting it -would you recommend sealing the pruning wounds ?
Have you found this variety air layers easily?

 

[0soyoung]

Pruning cuts expose cambium. The exposed cambium cells will desiccate and cause die-back until a new epiderm has formed. Then regrowth 'healing' will proceed over the course of the following seasons. On the other hand, if a moisture barrier (which could be damp paper towel covered with saran, for instance, or just saran for that matter), the die-back is largely arrested, which means a season or two of time is saved in growing over the wound. It only needs to stay in place for a couple of weeks, but doesn't do much of anything if not 'immediately' applied.

The exposed wood self-seals, but after some time will likely be affected by some kind of rot fungi. Once this deadwood becomes soft and corky ('punky') it will stop 'healing' growth closing atop it. One can apply a wood hardener (such as PC ) to prevent this OR at some time in the future dig out the rot and replace it with epoxy or even common cement.

would you recommend sealing the pruning wounds ?

No, because it is already too late to matter.