Is this trident worth it?

[ForeverRaynning]

So, after an overfertilisation incident, I think I’ve lost my two seedlings, and my two junipers may eventually succumb as well (but hoping they pull through). My birch is clinging on (it avoided the fert incident but not the heatwave and bad watering) and my kataura/candyfloss tree is droopy (again, avoided the fert, but not bad watering and heatwave) and probably isn’t brilliant material anyway.

I’m now looking at getting a new, slightly more developed piece of material that may have some potential. Specifically looking at this trident maple.



These are the only site images. It would cost me around £98/$130/€113 (rounding roughly here) inc delivery.

There are a couple others listed. One has a rather straight trunk and what to me look like quite a knobbly section of pruning scars (here), another has what looks like a section of pancake nebari just on one side and not much else (here), another doesn’t have much movement and to me seems to be planted too high in the pot (here), another looks to have a big region of inverse taper (here). So I’ve narrowed it down to this one, the movement is there and close to the base, I don’t see any glaring root issues so presume a radial nebari should be feasible to work on (apparently tridents/maples are very tolerant of rootwork, do that sounds good)

However this would be my most expensive piece of material, and I’m a bit apprehensive. I’ll admit don’t know what makes a good bit of material. I initially dismissed these until another member said they didn’t look that bad and showed me a £60 straight trunk much thinner than this from elsewhere, so I realised that in comparison this may actually be decent value for a trident here?

Apparently tridents are a bit easier to keep here in the UK compared to Japanese maples. I have no experience with either.

Would plan to be repot in Spring into a larger container, not sure what substrate this is in but this is the place that sells a very popular mix here in the UK but hard to tell if thats what may be under the surface. Either way, it’ll not stay in that pot long. Then eventually trunk chop as that top section is far too straight (do I need a branch in place to become a new leader when the time comes or can I just hope it backbuds?). Not sure how thick it is currently or how thick I’d want it to become. Also no idea how the pruning sites will change over time, will they get lost in the tree as it grows or will it always have bumps here and there?

Would love people's thoughts. Obviously it’ll need a lot of development but is it enough of a solid foundation do we think? Appreciate the insight our experienced members can provide.

 

[leatherback]

KLaizen bonsai has been around for a long time. Their substrate can be trusted afaik.

I do not kow why trident would be better than Japanese mpaple to be honest..

Trident is rare in european gardencentres for some reason, so you mostly are confined to bonsai trade. That being said, just recently I saw regular nursery stock sold for 8 euro for a 2 year old tree. So these seem to be OK for the price asked. Not amazing though. For comparison, take a look at bonsai plaza in the Netherlands. They have tridents in all sizes and prices. Been holding off on getting tempted to buy one of theyr root over rock rough stock, just to do a development video. But I have good root over rock tridents myself, and too many trees. [need to keep repeating that mantra!].



If you go ahead with your purchase (and the others on the website do not offer a better deal I think), please keep in mind you would probably have to drop the top down, make a new cut. Right now you havea bit of an awkward straight section on a nicely curved lower trunk. The nebari you will need to study. I would probably remove a few roots that sit seemingly in a very low bend on the trunk, but as said.. You need to have the tree in front of you to decide.

In the end, it is in line with regular prices, trader is as far as I have experience -when GB was EEA- reliable. If you want a trident and you can afford it it is not a rubbish buy. Also not a steal, mind you.
Have you tried visiting a social media auction/for slae group based in the UK and put up a want to buy?

Do reach out to @BobbyLane too, as I know he develops a lot of trees and sells them on. He may be able to give you guidance to alternative sources that are viable in the UK. I know he also has purchased from Kaizen and give you pointers/experiences too.

 

[ForeverRaynning]

Thank you for your insight, Jelle.

I was told tridents grow faster (in general, I imagine) and are ‘more forgiving’ in my climate (which is likely not too dissimilar to yours). So I assume they are less temperamental/more tolerant of the general conditions and the changes in said conditions. Suppose I can’t go wrong either way, JM or Trident.

Had a look at Bonsai Plaza and nothing caught my eye, at least in a price range that felt comfortable at this stage. But good to compare pricing-wise.

Glad you said that the others don’t necessarily offer any better value.

I wasn’t necessarily looking for anything specific, just seeing what was available and I know maples are a classic, seemingly for good reason, been reading threads on here where branches or roots have been thread grafted in, the leaves are nice and small too.

I had a look on a UK buy and sell bonsai facebook page, a suprising amount of nice sized material in the 100-150 range but thats a bit more than I’m comfortable spending at this stage in my journey and again nothing really caught my eye in a way that felt worthwhile pushing the budget, but will keep it in mind in future for sure.

 

[Shibui]

Trident grows to be a large tree so just a bit too big for small gardens. Therefore little demand from general gardeners so not stocked by most urban nurseries.
JM is smaller and has a reputation for good colour so is popular even in small gardens and therefore stocked by most nurseries.

Trident is much better for beginner bonsai. Trident is hardier = less likely to die. Trident grows and develops much faster than JM. Trident responds to pruning much better than JM. Trident ramifies much better than JM. JM produces bunches of new shoots which can quickly thicken ends of branches or trunks unless you know and deal with the problem. If you have some problem or need to reduce size, trident responds to hard chop much better than JM.

Assuming the cup is standard size that tree would probably be close to what I would ask for similar. Branches a bit further apart would be nice but not a deal breaker.
Definitely needs some growth to try to even out the taper from lower trunk to new apex but you've already identified that and have plans to try to rectify.

 

[ForeverRaynning]

Thanks Shibui!

Sounds like I can’t really go wrong then. I bought it last night, won’t ship till middle of next week. From what I’m hearing these are pretty hard to come by in the UK and it’ll be wise for me to airlayer instead of plain trunk chop and propagate anything else I cut off when it gets to the point of being able to remove branches and shoots and whatnot, so may be able to get a couple trees out of it eventually.

Great to hear the advantages of trident over JM. Looking forward to this tree even more now.