KASHIMA MAPLE

[MACH5]

Starting a new thread on this tree. There is an older one but due a reshuffling of photos on my image hosting site Photobucket, many of the images were deleted. You can find the old thread here: http://www.bonsainut.com/threads/kashima-maple-redux.9465/.

Here is a little backstory. In the spring of 2006, I purchased this kashima maple from Suthin at the Mid Atlantic bonsai convention. In the following years it did quite well and for the most part kept the original design as it was. Below are a few pics of the tree as it looked throughout the year of 2010.

Spring




Summer






Fall






In late February of 2011, in an attempt to slow down early bud brake, it was left outside in freezing temps for a few days. This proved to be a huge mistake, and the tree suffered greatly. As a result, the maple lost many of its branches and it was in a very weak state. Fortunately, the tree bounced back slowly that same year.

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 very aggressively. Below is a photo showing the tree as it appeared in March of 2012 after it was newly repotted.






This is a series of photos showing the tree's development from spring 2012 to fall 2014.






Here is the tree now after I worked on it a few days ago. It was wired again in some areas, only did some directional pruning in others while leaving some untouched for now. The long whip at the top will eventually be used for an approach graft while it will also help thicken the top portion of the tree.












This maple does not need much coaxing in order for it to wake up. Below you can see the buds beginning to swell and turn their usual bright red.






Here is a quick at-a-glance comparison.

 

[quietobserver]

Like it better now...looked to be "reaching" too hard to the right before imho.

 

[coh]

That's a fantastic recovery! I agree, I like the current form more than the original, which felt too off balance to me.

 

[barrosinc]

can you send some maple pixie dust to Chile?

 

[Adair M]

Excellent! The hard cutback you were forced to added taper to the branches.

The following paragraphs are a "stream of conscious" that went through my head as I looked at the tree:


It's a slant to the right. The trunk movement as it emerges from the soil is to the right. The apex movement should be in the same direction as the lower trunk. Right now, the apex seems to be moving left....

But then, your key branch is on the left, so the apex could move on the same direction as the key branch...

But then, that branch on the right is almost as long as the one on the left, just not as heavy...

Hmmm...


It certainly is an thought provoking tree! It will be interesting to see where you take it from here!

 

[JudyB]

The comparison photos made me actually giggle, what a great comeback for this tree. Won't be long till leaf out, this season is moving rapidly this year.

 

[erb.75]

mach, IMO, the tree actually looks much better now thanks to your skilled bonsai hand Good job and it looks great! I was thinking about getting a kashima myself. Any opinions on different japanese maples for bonsai? What has the smallest leaf? What is the most cold hardy?

 

[Nybonsai12]

Ya know i'm starting to get the impression you do pretty good work on these here J. maples....

What a great transformation you made in that 4 year stretch from 12-16. Where will the approach graft be going? I'll take a guess, the section where the new apex began in 2012?

 

[MACH5]

Like it better now...looked to be "reaching" too hard to the right before imho.

That's a fantastic recovery! I agree, I like the current form more than the original, which felt too off balance to me.

Yes thanks guys. This was also discussed in the original thread with everyone agreeing with this sentiment. I believe it is clearly better now. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger as they say.

 

[0soyoung]

What a Mach-ery of a bonsai!

 

[MACH5]

Excellent! The hard cutback you were forced to added taper to the branches.

The following paragraphs are a "stream of conscious" that went through my head as I looked at the tree:


It's a slant to the right. The trunk movement as it emerges from the soil is to the right. The apex movement should be in the same direction as the lower trunk. Right now, the apex seems to be moving left....

But then, your key branch is on the left, so the apex could move on the same direction as the key branch...

But then, that branch on the right is almost as long as the one on the left, just not as heavy...

Hmmm...


It certainly is an thought provoking tree! It will be interesting to see where you take it from here!

Thank you Adair! We shall see. Still in flux and development specially the top portion of the tree. You do have good points to consider.

 

[nover18]

Very impressive transformation in such little time. Did you do grafts on the right side of the tree (where the cut paste in the original chop back was) or were you fortunate enough to get those new branches to sprout from that location? Very nice. What is your thought process on branch selection? Do you work off of a virtual? I'm assuming there is more to that and I continue to struggle with that in the early stages of design; going from where you started in 2012 to 2016.

 

[MACH5]

mach, IMO, the tree actually looks much better now thanks to your skilled bonsai hand Good job and it looks great! I was thinking about getting a kashima myself. Any opinions on different japanese maples for bonsai? What has the smallest leaf? What is the most cold hardy?

Thanks! Kashima is good to have as bonsai. They can make spectacular bonsai as many maples can. Bill has probably one (if not the best) twin trunk kashima maple I have seen in the US. I would recommend many maples for bonsai. The one with the smallest leaf would probably be Kotohime. However, I would also say to be careful with the varieties you choose. Many are of the more rare and fancy varieties are not vigorous trees. Doing bonsai well is not easy. If on top of that you work with trees that do not respond well to bonsai techniques, you are bound to make your bonsai experience a very difficult and frustrating one. One, if not the best maple for bonsai, is the standard green mountain maple. They are incredibly vigorous, responsive and probably the most cold hardy.

As a side note, arakawa in my experience is VERY resistant to leaf scorch. I have had mine in full sun all season long without absolutely no damage to the leaves. This is a wonderful maple to have.

 

[MACH5]

Ya know i'm starting to get the impression you do pretty good work on these here J. maples....

What a great transformation you made in that 4 year stretch from 12-16. Where will the approach graft be going? I'll take a guess, the section where the new apex began in 2012?

Brian you are very good! Someone taught you well. I wonder who?? Yes you are correct. I plan on doing an approach graft right at the point where the big chop meets the top.

 

[MACH5]

Very impressive transformation in such little time. Did you do grafts on the right side of the tree (where the cut paste in the original chop back was) or were you fortunate enough to get those new branches to sprout from that location? Very nice. What is your thought process on branch selection? Do you work off of a virtual? I'm assuming there is more to that and I continue to struggle with that in the early stages of design; going from where you started in 2012 to 2016.

Thanks nover18! Only one graft has been made at the top. I will need to do at least one more at the junction of where the tree was originally cut and the new apex. It is tough to explain in simple terms my process for branch selection. I am not a very methodical person. I go more for feel and gut reaction to what's in front of me than checking off boxes from a rule book. Not better or worse but that's just how I am and work. I usually do let the tree guide me. I try and not go in with preconceived ideas but just let the tree tell me. All I look for in the end is that the image feels harmonious and balanced and has a natural appearance.

I use photography as part of my working method. It is a great tool to pick up on flaws like identifying negative spaces. It does of course flatten your image, but in some ways it does pick up on things you would not actually see in person. Strange how that happens but it does. Oftentimes I take photos when I am done working with a tree only to go back again and tweak it or change it. I create virtuals to try and envision what a particular tree may look like several years from now. Of course it is almost always a rough estimation but I do like to create them so that I have a plan of attack.

The process and the "art" of seeing a tree is not easy. It takes a lot of practice and experience. It is certainly not easy for me. It also takes talent of course much less so than hard work and commitment.

 

[MichaelS]

I would prefer if the tree was encouraged to keep growing to the right as before by moving the apex in that direction and reducing the left side. But, either way it's a great tree, great recovery and great work. Nice one!

 

[Paradox]

This is one of my favorite maples. I dream of having one just like it.

 

[Smoke]

It's a slanting tree. There are rules about that and this fits them. It is also a very beautiful slanting tree.

 

[erb.75]

Thanks! Kashima is good to have as bonsai. They can make spectacular bonsai as many maples can. Bill has probably one (if not the best) twin trunk kashima maple I have seen in the US. I would recommend many maples for bonsai. The one with the smallest leaf would probably be Kotohime. However, I would also say to be careful with the varieties you choose. Many are of the more rare and fancy varieties are not vigorous trees. Doing bonsai well is not easy. If on top of that you work with trees that do not respond well to bonsai techniques, you are bound to make your bonsai experience a very difficult and frustrating one. One, if not the best maple for bonsai, is the standard green mountain maple. They are incredibly vigorous, responsive and probably the most cold hardy.

As a side note, arakawa in my experience is VERY resistant to leaf scorch. I have had mine in full sun all season long without absolutely no damage to the leaves. This is a wonderful maple to have.

thanks for the info! confirming mostly what I thought about the green mountain maple. Might be what I get next. My kiyohime is teaching me patience...a very long and slow patience

 

[Eric Group]

Absolutely beautiful tree M5!!