Nursery Japanese Maple

[sikadelic]

I bought this guy last fall. I thought the base was very interesting and could give me the opportunity to get my hands dirty and learn.

I chopped it during the dormant season and had planned to keep the multi-trunk design. Once I chopped it, I could see that the damage to the tree wasn't just superficial. I decided that a twin-trunk would be a better fit since those wounds wouldn't heal.

 

[sikadelic]

Fast forward to yesterday and the weather was nice enough to go ahead and repot it. I decided to remove that lateral root on the right because I felt it was too high and looked out of place. There was also a smaller root that should fatten up nicely and help to fill in the gap.

The roots were a real pain in the ass, but I eventually worked them down to a place I felt comfortable stopping.

 

[sikadelic]

While working the roots down, I focused on tackling the hard roots directly below the trunk. The knob cutters I was using snapped like a twig. The cutters were part of a cheap Stanwood set so I really didn't expect much.

I potted it up in turface, pumice, and pine bark fines. I plan to eventually shorten the thinner of the two trunks. I want to let it recover a bit a put on new growth so I can pick a new leader. I am not sure if that small branch on the right will be low enough so I will just wait and see what I get.

 

[Dav4]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but based on your previous posting, I've always assumed you were new to the bonsai game. With that said, I think you have done a GREAT job working this piece of nursery stock down appropriately to its bones to set it on it's way to being a very good bonsai. Most newcomers are too cautious working the roots or cutting down the trunk. You were very aggressive with both, which in the end, will speed the development of this one along nicely. This one has a great base. I'll be looking forward to updates of this one later this spring after it's leafed out. Good luck with it.

Dave

 

[pwk5017]

I agree with Dave, pretty aggressive on both fronts, which isnt always a bad thing! Now you need to let it sit for a year or two and see what the tree gives you. I decided to spend five mins in photoshop and whip up what I would have done with your original stock. Im with you, the nebari is pretty good! excellent for a nursery find--I hope you got a good price on it. So, congrats on having an eye for picking material. I would have kept it to a single trunk though. You just dont see many multiple trunk bonsai with the trunks emerging from halfway up the trunk. There are rules against this yada yada yada, but the one you need to concern yourself with is the flow of the design. All those trunks emerging at that point befuddle the eye. So, food for thought, and maybe a discussion/lesson to learn from in for the future? I think you had the makings of a pretty straight forward informal upright in there. True, big scars that would have to heal over, but they would heal in 5 years with proper care. If the trunk is 2" just above the nebari those trunks cant be anymore than an inch. Nice pick!

(cudos to MACH for the branches. I like his photos with the plain background, super easy to photoshop with)

 

[sikadelic]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but based on your previous posting, I've always assumed you were new to the bonsai game. With that said, I think you have done a GREAT job working this piece of nursery stock down appropriately to its bones to set it on it's way to being a very good bonsai. Most newcomers are too cautious working the roots or cutting down the trunk. You were very aggressive with both, which in the end, will speed the development of this one along nicely. This one has a great base. I'll be looking forward to updates of this one later this spring after it's leafed out. Good luck with it.

Dave

Thanks Dave. I have done my best to file away all the good knowledge I am picking up here. No club or others to learn around, so im just going off of trial and error for now. Updates will definitely be on the way in a few months!

I agree with Dave, pretty aggressive on both fronts, which isnt always a bad thing! Now you need to let it sit for a year or two and see what the tree gives you. I decided to spend five mins in photoshop and whip up what I would have done with your original stock. Im with you, the nebari is pretty good! excellent for a nursery find--I hope you got a good price on it. So, congrats on having an eye for picking material. I would have kept it to a single trunk though. You just dont see many multiple trunk bonsai with the trunks emerging from halfway up the trunk. There are rules against this yada yada yada, but the one you need to concern yourself with is the flow of the design. All those trunks emerging at that point befuddle the eye. So, food for thought, and maybe a discussion/lesson to learn from in for the future? I think you had the makings of a pretty straight forward informal upright in there. True, big scars that would have to heal over, but they would heal in 5 years with proper care. If the trunk is 2" just above the nebari those trunks cant be anymore than an inch. Nice pick!

(cudos to MACH for the branches. I like his photos with the plain background, super easy to photoshop with)

If I remember correctly, I got it for around $40 bucks. I also like your virt and thanks for taking the time to do that. I might go with that plan later on depending on how much healing I get on the backside of that trunk you isolated. I thought about doing that right away but didn't want to chop the other trunk in case the one on the right didnt heal over.

 

[jkd2572]

Great find for $40. That would have been $299 around here.......hence why I don't have 10 of them doing the same thing you did.....

 

[sikadelic]

Great find for $40. That would have been $299 around here.......hence why I don't have 10 of them doing the same thing you did.....

Truthfully, I was a little annoyed with the lady when I bought it. It was in the cull pile when I got there. It had been left over from the previous year and didn't sell, likely due to the damage to the bark if I was guessing. I asked about the price and she told me $40. I went home to ponder it and returned the next day. The same lady told me $50. I told her I would give her the $40 as she priced the day prior and she agreed.

 

[small trees]

Truthfully, I was a little annoyed with the lady when I bought it. It was in the cull pile when I got there. It had been left over from the previous year and didn't sell, likely due to the damage to the bark if I was guessing. I asked about the price and she told me $40. I went home to ponder it and returned the next day. The same lady told me $50. I told her I would give her the $40 as she priced the day prior and she agreed.

Google maps tells me that we are less than an hour apart. If you find something like that again and don't want it for yourself, please shoot me a PM

 

[discusmike]

Nice work, I would have just kept the trunk to the right and made the branch you cut on the face of the right trunk the new leader, there are a few options for the tree thou, awesome find for forty bucks.

 

[sikadelic]

Nice work, I would have just kept the trunk to the right and made the branch you cut on the face of the right trunk the new leader, there are a few options for the tree thou, awesome find for forty bucks.

That would have been a good idea too. I had considered that but I was afraid it would move the tree too far forward. I can see there are a lot of good ideas here which I am grateful for. I am sure I will need some more help with this tree later on. Thanks for the input.

 

[Cypress]

Wow, really fantastic material, love the base on this one. I don't think the trunk splitting at that point is necessarily a bad thing in general, it's more of a natural look for a tree which I do prefer. But I think it would look "right" if one of the trunks was thinner than the other. With both of them being rather thick right now I do think it could become distracting to the eye. I suppose you could cut on down and grow a thinner trunk in more or less the same position.

 

[discusmike]

I have made many cuts over the years I wish I could take back, if you would have kept that branch you would have a scarless base, great taper, movement, remember you want a three dimensional tree, if you look at finished trees from the side you will be surprised how forward they lean to the viewer.

 

[GrimLore]

I have made many cuts over the years I wish I could take back, if you would have kept that branch you would have a scarless base, great taper, movement, remember you want a three dimensional tree, if you look at finished trees from the side you will be surprised how forward they lean to the viewer.

I spend a lot of time training specimens to not only lean forward a but also many times wire some branches to a position of extended arms reaching to the viewer like a person reaching out for a hug. I want my specimens to "draw" the viewer in.

Grimmy

 

[pwk5017]

I have made many cuts over the years I wish I could take back, if you would have kept that branch you would have a scarless base, great taper, movement, remember you want a three dimensional tree, if you look at finished trees from the side you will be surprised how forward they lean to the viewer.

Yeah, if you look at the virt I did, we are on the same page. Although it would have lead to a "typical Japanese informal upright", I think it was the best course of action on this material. Personally, I cant get enough of great informal upright maples! Following that pruning course of action, his trunk line would have been 90% done. Just about building an apex and working on branch placement after that.

 

[Poink88]

Too late now but I would have taken it this way...

 

[sikadelic]

I think the general consensus is that I shit the bed with this one...er....I mean I selected the wrong trunk line. I greatly appreciate your input and design help. I think, giving the course of action that I took, the best plan would be to remove one of the trunks for an informal upright styling.

I prefer to keep the one on the right, but it has a lot of damage on the backside. I will wound it this year and see what happens. If it looks like it will heal, that is the plan I will go for.

 

[discusmike]

That's what I seen in the tree poink.

 

[discusmike]

I'm sure everyone on this site has cut something they wish they hadn't, grow it out this season, get it healthy then choose another leader, hopefully you will get lots of backbuding aswell, I believe it has potential to be a nice informal upright in five years, good luck and keep us posted.

 

[pwk5017]

I think the general consensus is that I shit the bed with this one...er....I mean I selected the wrong trunk line. I greatly appreciate your input and design help. I think, giving the course of action that I took, the best plan would be to remove one of the trunks for an informal upright styling.

I prefer to keep the one on the right, but it has a lot of damage on the backside. I will wound it this year and see what happens. If it looks like it will heal, that is the plan I will go for.

Certainly not an unfixable mistake by any means! In the end you will have just cost yourself another two growing seasons. No biggie there. Just let it sit and regain its strength and see how it responds. And, of course in the future, "measure twice, cut once".