Kashima maple redux

[MACH5]

About 6 years ago I acquired this Japanese maple 'Kashima' from the well known Suthin Sukosolvisit. For years it did very well in my garden. BUT... in late February of 2011, in a stupid attempt to stall bud break, I left the tree outside without protection receiving that night temps in the low 20s. This of course proved to be a big mistake since trees loose their Winter hardiness once bud break has been initiated. As a result, many of the secondary branches and almost all of the tertiary ones died back within a month. Eventually I cut off all dead areas of the tree leaving only a sad shadow of its former self. Fortunately, during the growing season of 2011, the tree bounced back albeit slowly.

Below are a few photos of the tree as it appeared originally. The pics were taken throughout the seasons during 2010.


SPRING 2010

SUMMER 2010

FALL 2010

DETAIL OF TRUNK IN FALL

The mishap of 2011 forced me to rethink the design of this tree and began devising a new and more compact silhouette for it. In early Spring of 2012, I cut back the tree ruthlessly. Below is a photo showing the tree as it appeared in March of 2012 after it was newly repotted.

And below are different views of how the tree looked today, Wednesday 21 November 2012. The tree stands 14" high with a trunk diameter of almost 4" and the Nebari at 8" across. As you can see, the tree grew well and strongly this year. Come Springtime, I will prune back and cut away all unnecessary branches and twigs and will wire most of what's left. I think this tree needs another 5+ years before it starts looking like something again.

FRONT VIEW

LEFT SIDE VIEW

BACK SIDE VIEW

RIGHT SIDE VIEW

TRUNK AND NEBARI DETAIL

And lastly, below is a sketch of the intended final design.

 

[nathanbs]

wow what an improvement. What a difference a haircut makes

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

What a heartbreaker! It's a beautiful tree, luckily you were able to preserve the great nebari and mature trunk. Good to see its coming back strong, probably needs three more years, and you'll end up with better taper and movement in that upper trunk than it had before.

Nice pot selection too...might not be top shelf, but I like the clean lines and easy-to-use glazes of Yamafusa pots.

 

[fore]

That IS a beautiful tree! Very lucky to have saved the tree! Love the new virt too

 

[Brian Underwood]

Wow, that really is a shame, but luckily trees grow back! I agree with Brian, it'l be better when you're finished. Excellent thread.

 

[MACH5]

What a heartbreaker! It's a beautiful tree, luckily you were able to preserve the great nebari and mature trunk. Good to see its coming back strong, probably needs three more years, and you'll end up with better taper and movement in that upper trunk than it had before.

Nice pot selection too...might not be top shelf, but I like the clean lines and easy-to-use glazes of Yamafusa pots.

Thanks Brian! A heartbreaker indeed!! Yes I was lucky to have saved the most valuable parts of this tree. I am hopeful that I'll end up with a better design than what I started with even if it was forced upon me! As you can see in the original state of this maple, the branches had extended way too much making the trunk look less powerful. Also the apex lacked any real significant movement beyond about the middle of the tree.

Pot selection is in question now. I may end up with something a little closer to what's in the sketch? But as you mentioned, I do like these Yamafusa pots a lot!

That IS a beautiful tree! Very lucky to have saved the tree! Love the new virt too

Thanks Chris! Yes I am! I will not be so lucky next time!

Wow, that really is a shame, but luckily trees grow back! I agree with Brian, it'l be better when you're finished. Excellent thread.

Thanks Brian! Yes I agree that I think this tree will be better as a result of my stupidity... go figure! Well as they say: When life deals you lemons you make lemonade!

Looking at it now, I am much happier with the movement in the apex as compared to what it was before. I plan on keeping the design pretty tight and compact and allow the trunk to have more presence.

 

[nathanbs]

When i first read and commented on this post I did it from my iphone and i was mainly just looking at the before and after photos. I now just read your text and I stand by my comment. It is an improvement. When you development ramification this will be an amazing tree.

 

[Poink88]

As sad as it is...I think (and want to believe) it is a blessing in disguise. It looks like you will have a much better tree in the future.

I love the fall colors of your tree.

 

[MACH5]

As sad as it is...I think (and want to believe) it is a blessing in disguise. It looks like you will have a much better tree in the future.

I love the fall colors of your tree.

Dario this was a hard lesson to learn and almost lost my tree in the process! Somehow it turned out for the best or so it seems. I have high hopes for it Thanks!

 

[JudyB]

The flow is so good on this one.... love how my eye moves up and around.

This is probably a stupid question, but may I ask what the dog tag is for?

 

[MACH5]

Thanks Judy! Not at all a stupid question The tag is meant as a sort of ID for each tree. The info in it describes the type of maple, the year it was acquired (or been in training) and a designated number that's given to each tree.

 

[MACH5]

Update

This is an update of where this Kashima maple is now.



Below is the tree back in March of this year, at which time it was trimmed back and some branches wired.







And here it is in leaf. It is growing vigorously this Spring. The plan is to let it grow unchecked until June. At that time it will be trimmed back aggressively and defoliated to promote ramification.

 

[MACH5]

A quick update on the progression of this tree. It was defoliated today and all long shoots trimmed back to the first or second node. I cleaned up some of the forks where it had up to four shoots coming from the same point. Apex for now was purposely left long. I'd like to also get a few more areas wired while it has no leaves. Slowly but surely is starting to ramify well. Let's wait now for its second Spring!

Before



After

 

[misfit11]

This is a spectacular tree! I love the base/nebari and it's movement is sublime. Thanks for sharing.

Cory

 

[cmeg1]

The color is fantastic to look at when it is full of leaves in the spring,and when it grows back I bet it looks great.

 

[JudyB]

I love this tree. Glad that you continue to update this thread, and so glad the tree is going so well.
J

 

[Dan W.]

Mach5, how many times per year do you defoliate your JM's while developing ramification?

 

[MACH5]

Mach5, how many times per year do you defoliate your JM's while developing ramification?

Dan only once if that! Not into doing this normally but just in cases where I feel I need to speed things along a bit. Of course as you know well, only if the tree in question is very healthy.


My old teacher used to do it sometimes more than once a year with success. Have not tried that one yet! Perhaps on Tridents yes but JMs...

 

[Eric Group]

In my opinion, this tree already looks better than it did before the die back! I think it looks more mature with the lowered apex and you are going to be able to develope much better movement in the top... Losing those branches truly was a blessing in disguise for this one- AMAZING tree!

 

[Jason_mazzy]

have you tried the plucking method?