Just another trident

[Smoke]

This maple started in 2012 as a bagged bare root maple. I put it into a cut down five. It was purpose grown for bonsai as it had been cut back amny times and pruned for SOME taper. In fact this one has earned the name "Bulldog", not because I like naming trees. I do it because I have folders with headings like All Maples and All Junipers. It is easy to find the particular tree with a name then opening up 27 files with Ed Clark no. 1 thru 27 on them. That does not even include the Benny Kims, DaSilvas and the Muranakas. That would be about 50 tridents.

This one happens to be Ed Clark no. 2 Bulldog.

 

[Smoke]

All the branches were either cut off or cut very short to induce back budding of my choice. The tree progressed and was looked at in the Fall of 2013. It was just a ball of foliage.

 

[Smoke]

The Fresno snail ravage of 2014 set me back a year at least with the snails eating every leaf off the plant. Once the snails eat the leaves off a couple times the branch just dries out and dies. Currently, I am spending a lot of time pruning dead branches out of tridents that did not bud this year. This shot was in the fall of 2013 and the tree did not look much different all year.

 

[sean f]

where are you going to take it from here? it has a lot of branches in the right spots,will you prune back to just a basic structure and go from there? or just let it grow must have posted at the same time. your pictures answered my questions

 

[Smoke]

This year. The tree came back pretty good by fall of 2014 and had grown enough branches that a form was beginning to emerge. I decided to put it into a large ceramic pot to grow this year and shape the root ball. The tree had been growing in a colander all of 2014 so I had a very fiberous root structure with no large roots. Next year it will go into a much smaller pot.
This evening I took the tree and cut some long shoot back and just trimmed some shape into it. I plan on getting a much better structure this year as I had no damage from snails on almost all of my maples. A couple had a few nips here and there but I just moved them to a dryer location and the problem is solved. So far this is what I have managed to get out of this tree in three years. I can't wait for the next five, by then I'll be ready for retirement.

 

[Smoke]

OH...BTW this tree misses the pp contest by a 1/4 inch. It is 2.75" across the waist.

 

[fraser67]

That's an impressive amount of growth for 3 seasons, minus one for slugs...
I see sawdust in post #2...do you cut your branches with a saw? I'm picturing a saw z all with a 12" long blade lol

 

[Smoke]

That's an impressive amount of growth for 3 seasons, minus one for slugs...
I see sawdust in post #2...do you cut your branches with a saw? I'm picturing a saw z all with a 12" long blade lol

Yes, I always saw. Never cut a branch larger than 1/4 inch with even concave cutters. The cutters no matter how sharp will always shatter the end of the branch. It might not look shattered but inside it is. Sawing does the least amount of damage and will provide a good starting point for new growth and it will heal faster. Cuts down flush to the trunk are OK when larger because it does not damage the tissue like midway on a branch.

 

[Adair M]

Yes, I always saw. Never cut a branch larger than 1/4 inch with even concave cutters. The cutters no matter how sharp will always shatter the end of the branch. It might not look shattered but inside it is. Sawing does the least amount of damage and will provide a good starting point for new growth and it will heal faster. Cuts down flush to the trunk are OK when larger because it does not damage the tissue like midway on a branch.

Interesting...

When I remove a branch, I leave a little stub when I make the primary cut. Then come back with a pair of sharp knob cutters, the spherical kind, to nibble away until I get it cut back to the trunk like I want. That leaves a smooth cut to heal. Sawing would leave a somewhat jagged line of cambium.

 

[Dav4]

Interesting...

When I remove a branch, I leave a little stub when I make the primary cut. Then come back with a pair of sharp knob cutters, the spherical kind, to nibble away until I get it cut back to the trunk like I want. That leaves a smooth cut to heal. Sawing would leave a somewhat jagged line of cambium.

I try to saw larger branches, then come back and clean the branch up with sharp knob cutters and a grafting knife, as needed.

 

[MST]

So it's been three-and-a-half years now. Some news on Bulldog please?