Norway maple progress

Forsoothe!

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No, you won't. It will thwart you at every turn. You can do your thing, and it will do its thing. Mother Nature will kick your ass. Remember, you heard it first here.
 

hinmo24t

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No, you won't. It will thwart you at every turn. You can do your thing, and it will do its thing. Mother Nature will kick your ass. Remember, you heard it first here.
Its from two 3' thick old trees in front yard. I have messed around with tiny ones and a big collected one and I want to bring this down to an inch or so above notch
They grow strong up here lol in fact have to chop down one soon that is now 15' tall after a few years along back fence
This one was 1 or two season along bulkhead ripped up w nice roots just a month ago w defoliage and kept in shade until recently

You have tried a few norways?
 

hinmo24t

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You could be right btw my huge one had caterpillar damage this year and tiny ones didn't make it through winter im pretty sure or after 2 years didnt...well see w this one. I was expecting taproot and weeding it but it had a rootspread on it somewhat and was 5' tall
 

Forsoothe!

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The leaves don't reduce. You can denude 23 leaves and 15 bigger ones will return. Cut the 15 off and you get 9. Ad infinitum.
 

Eckhoffw

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I just cut down 5 big volunteers in the yard. Thought about digging them up next year but,..., ah seems like a disappointing endeavor. However, I do have 1 I’ve been caring for.
 

Eckhoffw

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Sometimes just witnessing the growth and development is reward enough.
 

hinmo24t

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Sometimes just witnessing the growth and development is reward enough.
True. I like maples in general and would like some Norway examples for the long term so maybe actually keeping better care of this one wi be fun

This is another one from today of Acer
20210911_191636.jpg
 

hinmo24t

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This guy is 2 years old. View attachment 397243 Almost pitched it earlier this year, but didn’t have the heart.View attachment 397244
Left to grow, the trunk has easily doubled in size this season.
Could cut to first node in spring and it'll have full feeders out in no time...semi sun.The trunks can be nice on them I have one with a 12" elephant foot base but not sure what my plans are for it. Hard cut too late possibly for cut to blend in
 

meushi

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You could make a pretty large tree out of it by field-growing it for a few years.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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You know, as soon as you say something can not be "bonsai-ed" you know sure as **** someone will post a magnificent example.

Actually I vaguely remember seeing a few images out of Europe of well done Norway maples, Acer platanoides. It has different "common names" in EU as it is native to all of the EU, not just Norway. If memory serves me right, the examples are all of fairly large trees as bonsai go. All were over a meter tall. Check Walter Pall's website, good chance he has one in his collection.

My suggestion would be move your "seedlings" to wide but shallow grow boxes. You want the boxes large enough to hold more than 5 gallons of media, but you want the depth to be less than 6 inches. Wide, flat nebari is what you need. You also need enough media to support a tree that is allowed to get to 10 or 15 feet tall, then cut back, then allow to get to 10 or 15 feet tall then cut back again. You need to develop a substantial trunk before you really begin the "bonsai techniques phase". Leaves and leaf petioles will reduce only some, maybe 50%, so the large size tree is needed to keep proportions correct. Walter Pall's "Hedge Pruning Techniques" will work to develop Acer platanoides. But go big, a hedge 3 or 4 feet in diameter might be your developmental goal until the trunk is large enough in diameter to begin to think about initial styling. For a 3 foot tall bonsai, a trunk over 6 inches in diameter is not unreasonable. This is the problem with platanoides, most beginners don't think about a large enough diameter trunk.

Notice you often have long internodes, then a segment with short internodes. Always cut back to eliminate long internodes. Keep branches that are mostly short internodes.

Their native range runs through zone 4. There should never be any issues with winter hardiness. If you loose one over winter it is likely because the tree was replanted or heavily pruned too late in the summer. New growth did not have time to harden off. Don't transplant after August 15, and no hard pruning after Aug 15, until first frost. After leaf drop pruning can be resumed. If you do prune or repot out of season provide winter protection.

I will admit I have not worked seriously with this species. I dabbled while I was a beginner, and stopped when I did not get good results. As @Forsoothe! said, it will frustrate you. But I will add that it can be done if you follow the European's lead, and go big.
 

BobbyLane

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You know, as soon as you say something can not be "bonsai-ed" you know sure as **** someone will post a magnificent example.

Actually I vaguely remember seeing a few images out of Europe of well done Norway maples, Acer platanoides. It has different "common names" in EU as it is native to all of the EU, not just Norway. If memory serves me right, the examples are all of fairly large trees as bonsai go. All were over a meter tall. Check Walter Pall's website, good chance he has one in his collection.

My suggestion would be move your "seedlings" to wide but shallow grow boxes. You want the boxes large enough to hold more than 5 gallons of media, but you want the depth to be less than 6 inches. Wide, flat nebari is what you need. You also need enough media to support a tree that is allowed to get to 10 or 15 feet tall, then cut back, then allow to get to 10 or 15 feet tall then cut back again. You need to develop a substantial trunk before you really begin the "bonsai techniques phase". Leaves and leaf petioles will reduce only some, maybe 50%, so the large size tree is needed to keep proportions correct. Walter Pall's "Hedge Pruning Techniques" will work to develop Acer platanoides. But go big, a hedge 3 or 4 feet in diameter might be your developmental goal until the trunk is large enough in diameter to begin to think about initial styling. For a 3 foot tall bonsai, a trunk over 6 inches in diameter is not unreasonable. This is the problem with platanoides, most beginners don't think about a large enough diameter trunk.

Notice you often have long internodes, then a segment with short internodes. Always cut back to eliminate long internodes. Keep branches that are mostly short internodes.

Their native range runs through zone 4. There should never be any issues with winter hardiness. If you loose one over winter it is likely because the tree was replanted or heavily pruned too late in the summer. New growth did not have time to harden off. Don't transplant after August 15, and no hard pruning after Aug 15, until first frost. After leaf drop pruning can be resumed. If you do prune or repot out of season provide winter protection.

I will admit I have not worked seriously with this species. I dabbled while I was a beginner, and stopped when I did not get good results. As @Forsoothe! said, it will frustrate you. But I will add that it can be done if you follow the European's lead, and go big.
no he doesnt lol i have not scene any good examples of this species as far as getting the leaves or nodes to reduce. field maple is a better choice.
 
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