It seems the consensus is to reduce it down to a single trunk and rebuild from scratch. I agree this is the best approach in the long term and the short term goal would be to heal all the massive scars. Perhaps 5 yrs down the line and after 2 repots, I can start working and grafting primary branches. My hesitation in chopping it back to a single trunk are the carving and grafting to make it presentable and elegant. My understanding of tridents were that they're more masculine unlike acer palmatums which are elegant and feminine. It's a shame because single trunk that was not my original intent when selecting this tree. Dave has so many trees (95%) grown with single trunk design in mind and only a handful for multi trunks. I wasn't looking for a trident initially, but this look so gnarly in the field and I figured I would be going against the norm to make this a multi trunk, hence the initial styling. However, as it stands after all cleaned up, it's not really impressive as a multi trunk either. It's a dilemma to know my shortcomings which make it hard to accept that the tree will be mediocre or average in my care.
After several more heavy branches removal and craving, I’ve settle this to be my front. I’ve left some lower growth near the base as sacrificial and in case I need it for grafting to speed up healing. Is it recommended to start root grafting at this stage too or wait until next spring?
After I posted the pictures in early spring before leaves push, I went back a few days later and reduce the height of the three main branches drastically so that the overall profile is more stumpy. After the initial foliage push and hardening, I decided to trim back the foliar mass to slow the thickening in certain areas at the expense of roots development. I damaged the apex bud/branch during my relocation so now I got to wait and see if it will redevelop another bud in the ideal location or will I have to do an approach graft which is why I left one runner shoot just in case. I’ve never done an approach graft before, and I rather not test that theory until perhaps next spring. Anyways, while I do prefer the base to be significantly thicker for that sweet taper transition, I don’t think I can wait another decade before transitioning it to a nice pot. I probably will repot it into a decent training pot in the spring for personal enjoyment rather than it being on my concrete pavement. I’m never going to showcase or compete these trees. I’m content with my trees being average or slightly above average while enjoying the journey. See you in the winter for the strip down and structure pruning.
