Japanese Maple #15

Cadillactaste

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The trick is that I do nothing in spring. I just let grow and defoliate and hedge prune six to eight weeks after bud break. Thus the tree is very strong and has no problem to cope with the full defoliation. It answers with many more new buds than would come normally - because it has lots of energy for this. Traditional methods which are used by most folks lead to weaking of trees on purpose. Weak trees can react very negatively to full defoliation. Therefore they tell us to avoid this, especially on the smaller leaf varieties. No problem with my methods.
Thanks for explaining...I've heard you say before you allow them to grow. I've come to allowing trees to become quite unkept and then pulled back into shape later...for healthy strong trees. Thank you sir...for explaining more. I was just telling a friend today...your method of allowing trees to be trees and to grow strong. Then you work strong healthy trees. This just again goes back to your previous comments. But I do appreciate your comments in explaining the method for defoliating.
 

markyscott

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Hi Walter. To my eye, this is a more traditionally styled tree than the many of the more informal broom type trees that you often share here. But the caliper of the branches on this one top to bottom is very similar. In fact, some of the upper branches are quite a bit thicker than some of the lower ones. I know you’re not wedded to traditional styling, but to me it visually imparts a sameness to the branch structure that takes away some of the impact it might have if there was simply more girth on the lower branches and more of a difference in branch caliper top to bottom. So my questions are these - do you see this as an issue? If so, do you plan to correct it? If you did want to address this issue, how would you go about it using the techniques that you teach?

Thanks
Scott
 

Walter Pall

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Hi Walter. To my eye, this is a more traditionally styled tree than the many of the more informal broom type trees that you often share here. But the caliper of the branches on this one top to bottom is very similar. In fact, some of the upper branches are quite a bit thicker than some of the lower ones. I know you’re not wedded to traditional styling, but to me it visually imparts a sameness to the branch structure that takes away some of the impact it might have if there was simply more girth on the lower branches and more of a difference in branch caliper top to bottom. So my questions are these - do you see this as an issue? If so, do you plan to correct it? If you did want to address this issue, how would you go about it using the techniques that you teach?

Thanks
Scott


Sure this is an issue, and I addressed it from day one. Trees like this one are made by letting a tree grow in the field and cutting back all branches to just leave a nice trunk with some taper hopefully. Then there will be buds all over the trunk and eventually many shoots. Then comes the selection of the shoots that are useful and the rest are discarded. With these remaining shoots a bonsai is built then.

The big problem is that these shoots are all of the same age and the upper ones due to apical dominance grow much stronger than the lower ones. If you don't work hard against this natural tendency right away you get a tree that has thicker branches on top than on the lower parts. This is a big fault in my eyes . But extremely hard to correct.

This kind of tree looks good with foliage but you see the faults without foliage. Therefore these are affordable while looking impressive. So I got it in full knowledge of the faults. Now I am working on correcting them for more than five years already. Unfortunately this is the variety Benichidori, I believe. It is extremely difficult to get to be dense .

The trick is to let the lower branches grow as long as they want to go over summer. The upper branches you cut back rather soon. Over summer this tree looks very strange. Eventually the lower branches will get thicker while the upper branches stay as they are. This can be done in a few years with many varieties. This variety , while it is lovely otherwise, makes the correction very difficult.

I will accept the challenge and continue working on this and hopefully you can see the progress over the next years.

I believe that this fault is more visible if you style a conventional bonsai looking tree. In fact very old natural trees quite often do have rather thin branches everywhere also in the lower parts. So in the Naturalistic Style this is not that much of a fault if at all.
 

markyscott

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Sure this is an issue, and I addressed it from day one. Trees like this one are made by letting a tree grow in the field and cutting back all branches to just leave a nice trunk with some taper hopefully. Then there will be buds all over the trunk and eventually many shoots. Then comes the selection of the shoots that are useful and the rest are discarded. With these remaining shoots a bonsai is built then.

The big problem is that these shoots are all of the same age and the upper ones due to apical dominance grow much stronger than the lower ones. If you don't work hard against this natural tendency right away you get a tree that has thicker branches on top than on the lower parts. This is a big fault in my eyes . But extremely hard to correct.

This kind of tree looks good with foliage but you see the faults without foliage. Therefore these are affordable while looking impressive. So I got it in full knowledge of the faults. Now I am working on correcting them for more than five years already. Unfortunately this is the variety Benichidori, I believe. It is extremely difficult to get to be dense .

The trick is to let the lower branches grow as long as they want to go over summer. The upper branches you cut back rather soon. Over summer this tree looks very strange. Eventually the lower branches will get thicker while the upper branches stay as they are. This can be done in a few years with many varieties. This variety , while it is lovely otherwise, makes the correction very difficult.

I will accept the challenge and continue working on this and hopefully you can see the progress over the next years.

I believe that this fault is more visible if you style a conventional bonsai looking tree. In fact very old natural trees quite often do have rather thin branches everywhere also in the lower parts. So in the Naturalistic Style this is not that much of a fault if at all.

Thank you Walter. I very much appreciate your thoughtful and detailed response as well as some insight in to how you plan to deal with this in the coming years. Look forward to seeing it’s development.

Thanks!

Scott
 

Brian Van Fleet

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The trick is to let the lower branches grow as long as they want to go over summer. The upper branches you cut back rather soon. Over summer this tree looks very strange. Eventually the lower branches will get thicker while the upper branches stay as they are. This can be done in a few years with many varieties.
If this is the answer to Scott’s question, why was it fully defoliated? From the most recent photos, it doesn’t look like lower branches are being treated differently than the upper branches.
 

Walter Pall

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If this is the answer to Scott’s question, why was it fully defoliated? From the most recent photos, it doesn’t look like lower branches are being treated differently than the upper branches.

Sure, derfoliatoin and letting lower branches grow are two separat issues. But it can be combined. What one cannot see on the pictures is that I do cut back upper branches sometimes soon after appearance while I let lower branches grow. After full defoliaton and hedge pruning one cannot see this anymor.e Ony over many years there will be an effect.
 

baron

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Hey Walter,

Very nice tree nonetheless!

I'm doing the same with a plain Acer to thicken the lower branches.
I've been thinking about taking it out of the growbox and putting it in a proper pot, but then I always reconsider and decide to leave it for another year and repeat the growing out.
I know my tree isn't as well developed as yours yet, but is there a reason you don't put it in a wooden box for a few years to speed up the process? Would that mess up the current ramification too much?
Also, do you cut back the branch every year or is letting it grow out two or three consecutive years an option?


qwq37ve7x9r51.jpg
 

Walter Pall

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Trees do not necessarily grow better in wooden boxes than in bonsai pots. When the box is too big they grow worse. Branches must be cut at least once a year at the refinement stage. Yours is in the early develpment stage.
 

Mr. Bonsai

Yamadori
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It looks like you have way more than enough bonsai's over there. :)

I'll take one off your hands...so just send me this one as pictured below ! 😄

All kidding aside though as with all your other bonsai displays, this one is simply beautiful. ;)

You sir are definitely a master! 👍

Japanese Bonsai Red Leaf Maple tree.jpeg
 
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