Japanese Maple Nursery Stock

BBZZZZTT

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Hello, I'm new to this website as well as bonsai.

I came into possession of a rather large bloodgood Japanese maple and was hoping I could get some advice on basically what to do next.

First of all--Will this tree be able to be turned into a bonsai? I've never worked with anything so large and I'm not sure where to even start.

Second, should I leave it to grow for a year or something? I hear a lot of people saying to let it grow for a while first, but I guess I don't really see the difference in letting it sit a year or just starting to trim now.
If I should let it grow, should I re-pot it or just leave it in the container it's in?

Third- When I do end up trimming, does anyone have any suggestions of how to shape or where to cut?
Like I said, I've never worked with a large stock before so I don't really know where to start.
I've been looking around online, so I'm kind of getting a feel for it, but advice specific to the tree I have would be awesome :)

Thanks!
2012-08-28_16-04-45_7.jpg2012-08-28_16-04-28_535.jpg2012-08-28_16-05-00_111.jpg
 

0soyoung

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If you are eager to get on with making it a bonsai, I suggest that you cut it down to a size you are comforable with sometime after the leaves fall and before the buds break next spring. Alternatively, you could make one or more air layers after the leaves have emerged and hardened next season - this will give you some additional number of clones to play with and otherwise put you in the same position as just chopping it, but with a year's delay.

On the other hand, bloodgood has rather large leaves that don't reduce much. This begs a rather thicker trunk than I see in your photos. Getting a thicker trunk will require letting it grow for a few years. You can do this in a pot or you could plant it in your landscape.

It is all a matter of what you want to accomplish. Maybe you should sit an look at your first picture for a while and sketch how that would become your bonsai - a little foliage here, another bunch there? .... a bell shaped canopy of foliage sitting atop a tuning fork? You've got months yet to decide.
 

BBZZZZTT

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Good idea...I think I'll sit down with it tomorrow and draw something.

As for air layering, I think I might go that route.
That will also give me more time to brainstorm...And to see how it looks next spring with less nursery stress :p
And of course see the branches without leaves in the way. :D

See? All I needed was a slight push to get my act together. Thanks for the suggestions! Haha
 

Paulpash

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Hi,

Here's my advice. Firstly let me direct you to an excellent developmental article here:

http://www.nebaribonsai.com/Nebari_Bonsai_112109/Projects_files/Japanese Maple arakawa.pdf

He had a very similar fork shaped beginning shape and elected to air layer at 2 points - you could employ this approach.

When removing the air layer leave a 'stub' of maybe 3 inches so that if die back occurs it won't eat into your trunk. It's difficult to see where the next internode is on the section that will become the new leader but I have drawn a plan for you if it helps:

Key: Red denotes the fork to air layer (and possibly higher too on the other fork above the next blue section (leader) of the trunk if you want to do a dual layer). The black line indicates the point to which the branch should be pruned back to the trunk (on the pic I don't think this can be retained as the beginning of a branch as it looks to be as thick as the trunk at this point which won't be believable in terms of scale)
Green denotes new shoots to develop as branches (lowest green shoot is a sacrifice. If it pops in this area gross grow this shoot to add a bit more bulk to the trunk down low - this is a bonus if it happens but no biggie if it doesn't. The lower it pops the better!!)
Blue is the possible area where you want to develop the next (tapered) section of your trunk. Again this needs to be gross grown (it could be several years before it gets sufficient girth in this shoot before the next chop). Look at the internodes (the little horizontal 'lines' across the trunk) - there is one opposite the first branch on the right fork. These are where your shoots will pop so if my leader is not in a viable position and the next internode is way higher you may have to consider a thread graft and chop back to it later.

Hope this helps :)Bloodgood.jpg

Plan the height of your tree - remember a taller tree - circa 24 inches or so will be more in keeping with the leaf size. IF you decide on 24 inches as a final height the first branch should be around a third of the total height (give or take a few). In terms of bonsai, a trunk ratio of 6:1 or greater (height: trunk diameter) will give the impression of the tree rising up above the viewer. These are just 'rough' numbers but something to keep in mind when designing raw material.

Maybe check out the nebari (surface root formation) as Brian did in the article in early spring by gently raking out just before bud break (but don't prune anything). We need a strong tree to power the air layers if you decide on this. Red varieties tend to be weaker and defoliation is not recommended, especially as even this technique does not noticeably decrease leaf size).
 
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BBZZZZTT

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You really think I should cut that one off all the way down to the fork? That is the larger of the two branches.

Thanks for the article, those are really helpful to see. I've seen a couple like that but not that one yet :)
 

rockm

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"You really think I should cut that one off all the way down to the fork? That is the larger of the two branches."

Yep. Using the smaller extension forces taper into what would be a very boring, ugly the trunk line. The larger fork is just a continuation of the lower one, making for a boring trunk. It's also not at a terrific angle. Using the smaller, gets rid of the monotony and makes a more eyepleasing tapering trunk.
 

Paulpash

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As Rock said you are trying to create movement and taper which will be achieved if you chop at this point. The fork is a junction where reverse taper is evident, doesn't look pleasing at all. By using the right fork you get taper AND bring movement and stability back into the design (initial movement is to left & counterbalanced by the change of direction back to right). The biggest gamble doing this is dieback so as i said before - leave a stub so the stub dies back and doesn't girdle the trunk.
 

iant

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But don't chop until you're satisfied with the girth of the lower trunk. If you want a bigger tree just let it go wild until you get close to the base trunk diameter you want.
Ian
 
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