Post Your Red Maples!

[KayaMooney]

They're not the best species for bonsai, especially smaller shohin sized trees but being so far south A. Rubrum is the only maple I can really work with. I'm looking for inspiration and to see how others have dealt with their disadvantages.

 

[Neli]

I dont see why they can not be even mame. This is my mame over 10 years old.

 

[ABCarve]

I dont see why they can not be even mame. This is my mame over 10 years old.

Acer Rubrum please. The leaves are hard to reduce and foliage coarse.

 

[carp]

Acer Rubrum please. The leaves are hard to reduce and foliage coarse.

Ya. My problem with the leaf size is to get good branch growth the leaves are going to be the size of your head before the branch has thickened enough to cut back. Rubrum are also heavy drinkers. I've heard of a few people in my club who submerged theirs during our Summer months here in Florida. I don't think there is any reason not to use them in bonsai, but they need more work to get good results. Outside of Florida there are tons of maple varieties that are great for bonsai, there for our Maple isn't commonly seen. I've heard they also go through branch dieback. Idk about that one entirely. I'll send you pictures of the two I collected and still have. I gave one to a friend.

 

[Cypress]

I dont see why they can not be even mame. This is my mame over 10 years old.

Yea, that's definitely not Acer rubrum, looks to be a japanese maple variety. nice little tree though.

 

[Neli]

Sorry! I thought A rubrum is one of the palmatum varieties...and the same habit growth.

 

[Gene Deci]

A. rubrum is one of the best native maples for bonsai, the disadvantages being less than most other native maples. I had three that were coming along very nicely when two summers ago -boom! They all got a blight and died in about a month. It was a "too cool and damp" blight the extension guy told me. That is something you probably don't have to worry about, is it?

 

[ABCarve]

This is mine that I'm restyling (new front is old back) and is just leafing out. We call it swamp maple here. I'm having success by letting it grow out until 1st or 2nd week of June and then cutting back to 0 nodes. The new growth has short internodes. The branches that are a little more developed I leaf prune.

 

[Dan W.]

Michael Hagedorn has a nice one grown by Anne Spencer, here: http://crataegus.com/tag/maple-bonsai/

 

[ABCarve]

Michael Hagedorn has a nice one grown by Anne Spencer, here: http://crataegus.com/tag/maple-bonsai/

Wow!! ..... I didn't know they could get to that state of development. I may have to double my efforts although cutting back to nothing makes for a slow go.

 

[jk_lewis]

Here are a couple of mame size:

 

[ABCarve]

Here are a couple of mame size:

Very nice...... Again......Who woulda thunk it??

 

[tmpgh]

I saw a few at the National Arboretum yesterday that were amazing. The leaves seemed to reduce just fine on those ones. I think it's all about staying on top of them and being meticulous about pinching to keep the nodes short and leaves small.

 

[cmeg1]

http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthr...ed-Maples-(Acer-Rubrum)&highlight=Acer+rubrum
This thread has some

 

[Eric Group]

I have three currently
All three were generously given to me by a friend who has loaded trees, and didn't want to care for so many these days... I was the recipient of numerous trees from him, and I do not recall any gift much more generous than this in my life other than a few things my parents have given me in the past perhaps- regardless, I have three Red Maples now!

The first is a pretty small one. Shohin size I guess... It's leaves still seem to be getting quite large, but I haven't given it the year's first hair cut yet.

The second is Much larger- wider trunk/ base and probably 10 inches taller- this one is an old tree! So much character... I meant to take a shot with the leave soft this winter and didn't do it. One of the most interesting features a large hole in the top third f the trunk... I could fill it with something and get t to heal over I am sure, but I really like the way it looks! For now I a leaving it. The wood in there is a little soft, so I need to carve it up some and apply some wood hardener. Cool old tree! Hasn't grown as much as the smaller one be ause I repotted it this Spring before it leafed out and it wound up being about a month behind n bud break because of that.

The third Is a little seedling. He said it was collected years ago (5-10??) from the base of a larger tree and he has just kept it in a small container,pruned up so it never grew a whole lot. I basically just up potted him to a larger training pot so he could stretch his roots out a bit... Trying to decide what to do with it now.

I have seen a few of the Red Maples, but the large one I posted is honestly one of the coolest I have seen and to have it as part of my collection now is pretty amazing!

 

[cmeg1]

I have three currently
All three were generously given to me by a friend who has loaded trees, and didn't want to care for so many these days... I was the recipient of numerous trees from him, and I do not recall any gift much more generous than this in my life other than a few things my parents have given me in the past perhaps- regardless, I have three Red Maples now!

The first is a pretty small one. Shohin size I guess... It's leaves still seem to be getting quite large, but I haven't given it the year's first hair cut yet.

The second is Much larger- wider trunk/ base and probably 10 inches taller- this one is an old tree! So much character... I meant to take a shot with the leave soft this winter and didn't do it. One of the most interesting features a large hole in the top third f the trunk... I could fill it with something and get t to heal over I am sure, but I really like the way it looks! For now I a leaving it. The wood in there is a little soft, so I need to carve it up some and apply some wood hardener. Cool old tree! Hasn't grown as much as the smaller one be ause I repotted it this Spring before it leafed out and it wound up being about a month behind n bud break because of that.

The third Is a little seedling. He said it was collected years ago (5-10??) from the base of a larger tree and he has just kept it in a small container,pruned up so it never grew a whole lot. I basically just up potted him to a larger training pot so he could stretch his roots out a bit... Trying to decide what to do with it now.

I have seen a few of the Red Maples, but the large one I posted is honestly one of the coolest I have seen and to have it as part of my collection now is pretty amazing!

The feel of a native deciduous bonsai that actually grows in our forests is quite amazing.I never experienced it with any other tree cause I only grow deciduous.I got that feeling just now as I looked at the second tree you have.Quite cool

 

[Eric Group]

The feel of a native deciduous bonsai that actually grows in our forests is quite amazing.I never experienced it with any other tree cause I only grow deciduous.I got that feeling just now as I looked at the second tree you have.Quite cool

Nice! I felt the same way the first time I saw it! It was the day he gave it to me... I had one of those "is this really mine" moments after I got home!

Really a nice tree in person... As I said it looks even better with the leaves off IMO, has a chunky trunk, nice root spread, and pretty good branch development especially for a Red Maple! They tend to have pretty coarse growth and do not ratify well, but this one has some development! Obviously created over years of growth... I cannot take credit for much of anything in regard to the branches and while I did repot it, that was more for heal than aesthetics. It looks very healthy now so I think it was a good move!

 

[KayaMooney]

This is mine that I'm restyling (new front is old back) and is just leafing out. We call it swamp maple here. I'm having success by letting it grow out until 1st or 2nd week of June and then cutting back to 0 nodes. The new growth has short internodes. The branches that are a little more developed I leaf prune.

Mind posting a photo when It fully leafs out? I'd love to see it!

 

[ABCarve]

Mind posting a photo when It fully leafs out? I'd love to see it!

Will do....probably another week or so.

 

[ABCarve]

Here it is now leafed out. In another 2 weeks it'll be out of control. The second shot shows their ability to heal. This used to be the front of the tree. I had totally hollowed it out to the soil line almost to the cadmium (25 years ago) and before I knew about these sorts of things. The hope was to get the decayed look of a maple in a local cow pasture. This is almost entirely healed. The scar was 3-1/2" across and about a deep. Pretty stupid looking now, which why its in the back of the tree. If you look close there is cut putty down in the bottom. The greenery at the soil line are seedlings (weeds) grafted on add to the nebari.