Japanese maple raft project

[Dav4]

It was so cool to see this tree in person at last year's ABS/Michigan all-state show - amazing.

Several seasoned folks in our WM Bonsai Club mentioned the tree and how it was deserving of more attention. Passers-by might miss that this is a raft when it's in full leaf!

Spring is here...

I appreciate you saying this. It was the tree’s first show in over five years and I was expecting a bit more conversation about it as its development has really taken it off since that first showing. Unfortunately, it was placed literally two or three spots down from where Bill Valalvanis had his maples displayed, and it was almost a certainty to be overlooked, I suppose.

 

[BonsaiMatt]

Love this tree!

Have you thought about removing the lowest central branch to show off the raft a bit more? Looks great without leaves, but the raft gets a bit lost behind that branch when in leaf.

Enjoying the progression!

 

[Dav4]

Love this tree!

Have you thought about removing the lowest central branch to show off the raft a bit more? Looks great without leaves, but the raft gets a bit lost behind that branch when in leaf.

Enjoying the progression!

That’s a grafted branch that I started about 4 years ago. When the tree was showed last May , I grabbed Suthin Sukosolvisit to get his thoughts on the tree and he suggested the same thing. I’m torn truthfully, as I think it adds to the winter image 3 dimensionally, but may hide aspects of the raft when in leaf. We’ll see…

 

[Gonzoe]

View attachment 96887 View attachment 96888 Considering there weren't any roots in the right side a year ago, I'm pretty happy with where the roots are today.

I wonder how many ppl
Got that reference lol