Japanese Maple progression, from Randy Knight

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I made a work/trade deal with Randy Knight six years ago, he was moving his stock from a remote location that he was leasing to his new farm. He had started quite a few trees on tiles and this one was one of those, it was probably 15 years old or so in May 2014 when this picture was taken. I helped dig, prune and heel in many of his Shimpaku, it was hard work but a learning experience too. I had previously had years of experience as a landscaper, so he trusted me for some reason.

In any case, he told me that a couple years previous (2012ish) Ryan Neil had styled this maple as a workshop demo for one of his classes, then given it back to Randy, who had unwired it and let it sit a year. It was in the Anderson flat shown. I dug around with a finger to check for roots where you see the moss at the base, and though I thought I felt some, it turns out that they were actually coming up from below, and no roots were growing on that side.
 

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That same summer I decided to add one root graft per side to start out with, thinking it would cause minimal root disturbance. I used Harry Harrison's method of a brass screw and a staple, this side was a success but the other failed, I think because the staple cut into the grafted trunk.
 

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This is the successful graft this February, arrows showing where it joins the trunk. I used larger stock on this side thinking the larger roots would blend in better. To the right you can see two new thread grafts to create roots on the front side which lacks nebari.
 

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This is the front on March 26, 2015, it's not oriented properly in the training pot due to some large roots I've been slowly reducing. You can see the failed graft site at the base of the trunk. The tree is about 20" high here with a 3 1/2" trunk and 8" nebari. I had let the branches run the previous year thinking that the grafts would join faster this way, but in retrospect that was a bit of a mistake because they grew too thick. In this photo they've been cut back.
 

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0soyoung

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Thread grafting doesn't strike me as being a good method for root grafting. Have you had success with it previously?
 
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The tree in July 2018. Note that the scar caused by the failed graft has healed. From 2015 I've been developing ramification, defoliating every year because it's growing very strongly.
 

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Thread grafting doesn't strike me as being a good method for root grafting. Have you had success with it previously?
Once, but I've only ever tried it once. My logic is to establish roots on the front side of the tree, this is a bit of an experiment which is why I'm posting this thread. If it fails, people can judge it as perhaps foolish, and if it succeeds, perhaps less so.

I've seen people use thread root grafts in progressions on the internet with success, so we'll see.

In any case, I'm also planning on adding the more standard approach root grafts in late June, but this time I'll try Ryan Neil's method with the V-notch.
 
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This photo was taken in May 2019, when I had tried another root graft. This one failed as well, but for different reasons. I don't think that I scraped enough cambium from the donor tree, or perhaps the cambium layers weren't aligned quite right. In any case, two things happened: the donor tree healed completely and pulled away from the main tree, and the wound on the main tree got much wider as it grew. The problem may have started when I used the same site as before, even though it seems other people have had good luck doing just that. Since there are almost no roots on the front of the tree, I added four thread grafts in the hope that at least one will take.
 

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Last October 30 (2019). I had forgotten a bit that the actual front is slightly to the right, which means that the thick low branch on the right will have to be cut back and regrown because otherwise it pokes out too much directly to the front. Since July 2018, I've done only leaf cutting and partial defoliations, as the tree is slowing down a bit and also gets less sun. It still got thinned out quite a bit in the fall.
 

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This root was the culprit, the one that curls around. It should have been cut back when I first repotted the tree. Oops. It's scored several times because I was breaking up heavy roots that came out of it, then everything just got cut off.

In the second photo you can see that the thread grafts are positioned in a row where no roots are issuing from the trunk. They are all about at the final soil level. In addition, I made a couple cuts that I packed with sphagnum to promote root growth.
This is a bit of a strategy of throwing everything at it to see what sticks. In the summer I'll poke around to see how things are growing, and probably add an approach graft on the right side.
 

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This is the tree today. The pot is deeper than it will be in the end, but I wanted to be able leave it in this pot a few years if necessary. It has at least five years before it's a really nice tree I think. I'm kicking myself over the big scar at the base where two grafts failed, because otherwise it would be a scarless trunk from the front.20200327_131259.jpg

Hopefully in five years or so it will be healed, along with the scars leftover from sacrifice branches that have slowly been healing for the last six years. Some of those have healed, and a couple are almost healed, but it sure does take time.
 
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This is the tree today. The pot is deeper than it will be in the end, but I wanted to be able leave it in this pot a few years if necessary. It has at least five years before it's a really nice tree I think. I'm kicking myself over the big scar at the base where two grafts failed, because otherwise it would be a scarless trunk from the front.View attachment 291753

Great tree! What’s the 411 on that pot? Like it!

Hopefully in five years or so it will be healed, along with the scars leftover from sacrifice branches that have slowly been healing for the last six years. Some of those have healed, and a couple are almost healed, but it sure does take time.
 
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Time for partial defoliation already! I pinched the tree this year, and waited for the weak buds to extend a bit before defoliating. Fertilizer was added a week ago.
I forgot to take a before shot, so this pic of the back, part way through the work, will have to do.
 

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The front after defoliating and wire removal. The largest branch is being re-worked, thus the extension to the right that I've wired.
 

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I'm sure that most people know this already, but in case you don't, partial defoliation is a must on a maple tree this dense. If you let it go, tiny buds in the interior that are shaded will either fail to open or die out. This picture shows some buds that still haven't opened yet.

I've fully defoliated this tree a couple times, but since I repotted this year I'll wait until next.
 

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0soyoung

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While I don't have a real Japanese bonsai (yet), my observation is that Japanese maples bud prolifically in spring. So, at this point, I don't understand all this 'defoliate to keep interior buds' stuff.

Tell me what I am not appreciating. I'd really like to know before I waste years I really don't have to waste before I understand.
 
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While I don't have a real Japanese bonsai (yet), my observation is that Japanese maples bud prolifically in spring. So, at this point, I don't understand all this 'defoliate to keep interior buds' stuff.

Tell me what I am not appreciating. I'd really like to know before I waste years I really don't have to waste before I understand.
You can also hedge prune, or prune one leaf per pair to let in light. These are all types of defoliation. Here's what I've observed, and it's a bit of a nuance: if you are trying to reduce internode length by not fertilizing in spring, the tree will reabsorb the sugars and chlorophyll from interior shaded branchlets to use for the extending shoots. Weaker buds will die out. If you want to retain them, then you have to do two things, give them light, and address an auxin imbalance.

By fertilizing, you can actually keep those little buds alive for awhile, but then the overall internode length will increase, even if you prune the tree. Trident maples seem less fussy than Japanese though, and interior buds don't die off as easily.
 
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