Help with Japanese Maple Renovation

[GarrettZ]

I need assistance with renovating a Murasaki Kiyohime Japanese maple. I won this tree at an auction for what I think was a good price. I really like the trunk and the nebari is pretty good too. The tree looks great leafed out, as shown in the first picture. Unfortunately, its branch structure leaves a lot to be desired.

A couple days after I got home, more than half of the leaves died (we had the hottest days on record, I missed a day of watering, and who knows how much water they were getting leading up to the auction). I know it’s not the best idea to defoliate a Japanese maple, but my hand was kind of forced in this case. The second picture shows the tree after defoliation. I left a bit of foliage in some places in case I wanted to encourage growth/sacrifice branch.

As you can see, there are many problems with the branching:
- There are some really leggy, straight branches.
- There are long lengths without any division.
- There is some insane callusing from improperly treated wounds.
- One primary branch is way thicker than the others and this size discrepancy continues throughout the tree.

At this point, I have to think the course of action is basically starting over on the branching. Even with all of the grafting in the world, I don’t see how I could make this a good tree otherwise. If anyone thinks this is salvageable in any way, please let me know.

I’m hoping to get some advice on the best way to go about cutting this tree way back. I would love to save some branching, even just a portion of the primary branches. The one big, gnarly branch seems like it will always be a problem, though (see photo). Should I just chop the trunk right below the branches? Or is there a way I could potentially carve the large branch down to a more reasonable thickness? Or maybe I should just leave the thick branch and try to get the other 2 branches to catch up (I’d have to clean the wounds as best as possible)?

Also, I have some concerns about the horticulture of such an action. Will this tree spring back from a trunk chop? Whatever I decide, I would like to do it soon before it uses all of its energy to leaf out again. Or maybe I have to wait until next year to chop the tree?

Any advice on the styling and/or the horticulture would be totally appreciated!

 

[jkd2572]

I would do nothing else to it this year and hope it's not dead. Something seriously weakened this tree and anymore stress would not be good.

 

[Kodama16]

I would do nothing else to it this year and hope it's not dead. Something seriously weakened this tree and anymore stress would not be good.

I second that. Then next year I'd remove the two larger main branches and leave the third to heal the wounds. Then a few years down the road, and with lucky back budding, select new branches. At that time you remove that last large branch.
This is easly a ten year project tree. But could turn out real nice.

 

[Brian Underwood]

Yup, it's pretty darn ugly! Because of the health I would let it be this year, and next spring really start in on it. Plant it in a large pond basket in some good soil, and chop it all back in order to make a nice broom out of it. The branching is pretty bad as-is, and starting over is probably the easiest option (see pic)... Should be a fun project though!

 

[Neli]

I see this tree more in this style.

 

[choppychoppy]

I see this tree more in this style.

The example tree shown is deceptive - It is over 4ft tall and the canopy is huge.

 

[Eric Group]

I need assistance with renovating a Murasaki Kiyohime Japanese maple. I won this tree at an auction for what I think was a good price. I really like the trunk and the nebari is pretty good too. The tree looks great leafed out, as shown in the first picture. Unfortunately, its branch structure leaves a lot to be desired.

A couple days after I got home, more than half of the leaves died (we had the hottest days on record, I missed a day of watering, and who knows how much water they were getting leading up to the auction). I know it’s not the best idea to defoliate a Japanese maple, but my hand was kind of forced in this case. The second picture shows the tree after defoliation. I left a bit of foliage in some places in case I wanted to encourage growth/sacrifice branch.

As you can see, there are many problems with the branching:
- There are some really leggy, straight branches.
- There are long lengths without any division.
- There is some insane callusing from improperly treated wounds.
- One primary branch is way thicker than the others and this size discrepancy continues throughout the tree.

At this point, I have to think the course of action is basically starting over on the branching. Even with all of the grafting in the world, I don’t see how I could make this a good tree otherwise. If anyone thinks this is salvageable in any way, please let me know.

I’m hoping to get some advice on the best way to go about cutting this tree way back. I would love to save some branching, even just a portion of the primary branches. The one big, gnarly branch seems like it will always be a problem, though (see photo). Should I just chop the trunk right below the branches? Or is there a way I could potentially carve the large branch down to a more reasonable thickness? Or maybe I should just leave the thick branch and try to get the other 2 branches to catch up (I’d have to clean the wounds as best as possible)?

Also, I have some concerns about the horticulture of such an action. Will this tree spring back from a trunk chop? Whatever I decide, I would like to do it soon before it uses all of its energy to leaf out again. Or maybe I have to wait until next year to chop the tree?

Any advice on the styling and/or the horticulture would be totally appreciated!

If it is drying out, you might consider a humidity tray underneath the roots.

Put it in a shady spot where it is mostly protected from wind- scorching sun and wind can destroy Maple leaves especially in a hot and dry environment. Hopefully it comes back.

 

[GarrettZ]

Thanks guys. I don't think it is really in that bad of shape health-wise. Some of its leaves dried out but I got to it within hours of that happening. It was freak weather for that time of year more than anything. I have a shade structure and the capability to mist if it gets really hot again. I also have some supplements to help prevent this from happening again. My other maples are doing fine

Point taken about letting this go for a year, though. I agree that it needs some time to gain vigor to have the best chance of surviving a cutback.

Brian, thanks for the picture. I was hoping to do something exactly like what you showed. I'll plan on that next year.

Neli, thanks for the styling idea. I agree that the curve in this trunk doesn't lend itself to a pure broom style. I think something like the tree you showed is appropriate.

So my follow up question is, what is the best thing to do to help this tree gain vigor? Should I prune back some of the fine twiggyness from this year on the end of all the branches? Or should I just leave everything? I'll probably at least clean up some of the wounds that are near the trunk...

 

[Kodama16]

Leave it be. If it jumps back (and should do so in a month) with its new leaves that's when you can't start to fertilize. Don't cut anything because your planing on removing it anyhow next year. So let it grow and get healthy. Next year address the problems. This year is feeding and boosting its energy store for the cutback.

 

[GarrettZ]

Ok, thanks Kodama16. I'll let it be.

Assuming it is healthy by next winter/spring, does it make sense to repot during the same season as cutting the tree back? It needs to be repotted, but I don't want to decrease the energy reserves. I suppose I could repot without doing any root pruning to minimize impact...thoughts?



Also, while I have the attention of some Japanese maple experts....I got another maple (some sort of green dwarf cultivar) at the same auction which still has its leaves. It's trunk isn't as nice, but the branching is way better so I don't have to cut this one way back. I know the normal recommendation for building ramification on a Japanese maple is to cut the middle but at the beginning of spring and then remove one of the leafs on each side. Unfortunately, the new growth started before the auction, so all of this year's shoots are 4+qq nodes long at this point. In order to get the most out of the time left in this season, what should I do? My thought was to basically cut back to the first node on each of these shoots, except for any I want to use as sacrifice branches. I'm assuming that this will cause these shoots to divide? Does this make sense? Should I also remove one of the 2 leaves I cut back to for light/air penetration? Or should I just let the shoots extend for the rest of the season before cutting them back?

 

[Brian Underwood]

Yeah, either leave it or slip pot it into something much larger and fertilize like mad. Just make sure you don't mess with the roots AT ALL.