Maple fusion: fad or real deal?

Lars Grimm

Chumono
Messages
837
Reaction score
1,604
Location
Durham, North Carolina
USDA Zone
7
Hi All,

I see these maple fusions advertised on Facebook auctions periodically with 15+ saplings all tied together. After searching on the internet, I see a lot of posts for people who have tried it but very few examples of it working or anything remotely close to a finished product. Is the general consensus that this is a 'valid' technique or is it more of a gimmick? Personally it seems like tridents with their more rapid growth habit would be a good species to use, but I mostly see regular green maples.

Thanks,
Lars
 

namnhi

Masterpiece
Messages
2,590
Reaction score
4,541
Location
Houston TX
USDA Zone
8b
The method is real but the bonsai is 'fake'!
 
Messages
1,611
Reaction score
3,419
Location
closer to the door
USDA Zone
5A
Maples will fuse together over time. You can achieve a clump with a fused base and have it look very good. You can fuse a bunch of trunks to achieve a single trunk but it will take awhile for it to look good but probably less time than growing a single tree to the same size assuming you are making a "big" trunk. Its like anything else, it takes time to do it right. Frankly, there are a lot of people on the 5 year cycle; they get into bonsai, pursue it all gung-ho, peak, then fade out and disappear. Fusing trees takes more than 5 years to be good....
 

Adair M

Pinus Envy
Messages
14,402
Reaction score
34,873
Location
NEGeorgia
USDA Zone
7a
Maples will fuse together over time. You can achieve a clump with a fused base and have it look very good. You can fuse a bunch of trunks to achieve a single trunk but it will take awhile for it to look good but probably less time than growing a single tree to the same size assuming you are making a "big" trunk. Its like anything else, it takes time to do it right. Frankly, there are a lot of people on the 5 year cycle; they get into bonsai, pursue it all gung-ho, peak, then fade out and disappear. Fusing trees takes more than 5 years to be good....
When it's done with seedlings, the results aren't so good. The leaves will all be different. The best way is to start with a lot of cuttings from a single donor tree. That way, once they're fused, all the leaves will look the same. Of course, this adds a couple years to the project!
 

markyscott

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,111
Reaction score
21,370
Location
Delaplane VA
USDA Zone
6B
Doug Philips used to keep a website documenting his Trident maple fusion products. Some of them looked quite good. I don't think that the leaf shape problem is all that big of a deal - you could always graft all the branches on after the trunk has been completely developed if you wished to create a more uniform foliage, I'd guess. Anyway, his website has been gone for a couple of years, but you can still find it with the Way Back Machine.

http://web.archive.org/web/20020917233841/http://www.dugzbonsai.com/
 

lieuz

Chumono
Messages
753
Reaction score
1,314
Location
Fairfax, Virginia
USDA Zone
7
Like @markyscott mentioned about thread grafting, aren't massive maple nebari done through fusion? I know the nebari can be achieved through many years of root pruning and arranging. So to cheat time, saplings are thread grafted.
 
Messages
1,611
Reaction score
3,419
Location
closer to the door
USDA Zone
5A
Doug Philips used to keep a website documenting his Trident maple fusion products. Some of them looked quite good. I don't think that the leaf shape problem is all that big of a deal - you could always graft all the branches on after the trunk has been completely developed if you wished to create a more uniform foliage, I'd guess. Anyway, his website has been gone for a couple of years, but you can still find it with the Way Back Machine.

http://web.archive.org/web/20020917233841/http://www.dugzbonsai.com/

He, or someone doing the exact same thing, was selling trees like that on ebay within the last year or so. I don't recall the price. So, yes, not everybody gives up, and yes the process does work.
 

Smoke

Ignore-Amus
Messages
11,668
Reaction score
20,724
Location
Fresno, CA
USDA Zone
9
This is an elm fusion of five trees. One died and now I am hoping for a bud. I won't let the four trunks get me down though. The tree is just starting branch structuring.

DSC_00240002.JPG

A two trunk trident fusion. This one just starting branch training.

DSC_00260004.JPG

Another smaller two trunk

DSC_00270005.JPG DSC_00280006.JPG

A three trunk trident.

DSC_00290007.JPG

DSC_00300001.JPG
 

Smoke

Ignore-Amus
Messages
11,668
Reaction score
20,724
Location
Fresno, CA
USDA Zone
9
This is a different three trunk trident, working on branches now.

DSC_00310009.JPG

pruned back

DSC_00340012.JPG DSC_00330011.JPG



A five trunk trident also beginning the first branch work. On this one I will just continue to let the base melt together. See what I get in another couple years...
The part that has grafted together on the base is now about a four inch circle out from the trunks. I suspect the individual roots are grafting more each year left undisturbed.

DSC_00350013.JPG DSC_00360014.JPG
 
Top Bottom