Montpelier Hard Cut or Layer HELP

[Geology]

Hi All,
I have this Montpellier maple. Id like to get rid of the long branches and make the nice trunk into a bonsai (obviously).
Im in the UK.
Do i hard chop now before buds break, or later in the year before second flush. Ive had varying advice from non specliasts when asked.
Ive also the opportunity to air layer, but understand this can take a loonnggg time with a montpelier. Is this true, when theyre so related to field maple?

Appriciate any advice. Thanks all x

 

[Geology]

Forgot the latin name - Acer monspessulanum

 

[eplov90]

I prefer to chop my maples mid to late summer after they have had a chance to pick up vigor and energy from the whole plant's growth through the first flush, so it can better respond to the chop. That also gives the tree enought time/growth to get the callous rolling before the fall. I have only applied that to Japanese and trident maples.

 

[Geology]

@Shibui an old comment said you were a maple pro. Do you work with this species ever? Thanks

 

[MaciekA]

The response written by @eplov90 is professional-grade advice and true for all maples/deciduous species, FWIW.

 

[BobbyLane]

You would get varied advice, because this isnt a Japanese maple, its more like a Field maple and they're as tough as old boots.

 

[JudyB]

I’ve had Montpellier maples, and they are slow growers, they are a single flush tree, or at least mine were. So think on that when you plan your pruning.

 

[Shibui]

@Shibui an old comment said you were a maple pro. Do you work with this species ever? Thanks

maybe some people have overestimated my knowledge and abilities. I grow a lot of tridents and JM but still don't consider I know everything.
I've only ever had a couple of Field maples and no Montpelliers as they are not so common down here.
The field maples I found slow and reluctant to ramify as mentioned by @JudyB Maybe just the individuals I worked with but I would not bother to grow more of either species.

Do i hard chop now before buds break, or later in the year before second flush. Ive had varying advice from non specliasts when asked.

The maples I do work with seem to 'bleed' profusely if pruned soon before bud burst. There's conflicting ideas as to whether that's a problem or not but I prefer to prune after leaves open and harden or soon after leaf drop because I don't get bleeding at that stage. My other go to is chop and root prune in one operation. As soon as the roots are cut, any bleeding stops immediately.
Can't tell you if this applies to Montpellier so please take it only as possible advice.
Given all that I'd defer the chop until the leaves are well open.

Ive also the opportunity to air layer, but understand this can take a loonnggg time with a montpelier. Is this true, when theyre so related to field maple?

Can't give you info on how ell the species layers BUT, consider that a layer takes most of 1 season. While that's happening you cannot take the tree forward toward bonsai. Is it really worth the delay to get another tree with little or no potential? How much would it cost to buy a new tree similar to the layer you'll get after 6 months or a year's delay?
When assessing any part of a tree for potential for layering a bonsai please be aware:
It always looks much better than it is. Very hard to judge taper and bends when it's part of a larger tree structure. When you start the layer it will look fantastic. By the time you remove the layer you'll question whether it was worth it. After you pot the new layer up you'll be absolutely certain you've just wasted a year of your life. In my experience, very few layers achieve the greatness we saw initially.

 

[JoeR]

I have been reading about maple pruning timing a lot recently.

For me, it seems I have a terrible time dealing with fungus on my deciduous. So, I felt I needed to reevaluate my techniques.

Previously I would root prune and trunk chop/prune at the same time, before bud break.

I have purchased several new bonsai books. Two or three of them give a seasonal chart for pruning. They all suggest early winter, or summer for heavy top pruning.

The main supporting logic was that trees are most susceptible to pruning wound infections at spring bud break. Further, if you prune late winter, the stored energy from the roots has already moved into the branches, so by pruning in spring you are literally cutting off all the stored energy that was just mobilized from the roots into the branches. Summer, not fall, gives the tree time to heal wounds before winter.

So, this year, I repotted but did not chop any of them yet. I'm going to be fertilizing very heavy to pump them up before a summer chop. No personal experience yet, but I know what I have been doing hasn't been working well, so I can report back next year.

Is it inappropriate to post a picture of the charts from these books

A good resource that would probably have wisdom on this is the Andrea maple book, but I do not have that one.

 

[Gabler]

I've had much better luck chopping in late winter than any other time of year.