rotten,ugly palmatum stump

[discusmike]

This is a jap maple stump I got this year,i believe its momji,the trunk is over 3" above the 5" base and is currently ten" tall,the trunk was originally about six inches taller but was rotten and spongy,i carved all that out along with cutting a little more down the side to allow the water to drain and not lay in the heartwood,i also poured lime sulpher just in the center of the heartwood where it was really rotten hopeing to slow things down,i also left all the lower branching in case things take a turn for the worse,all the roots are healthy and abundant,it looked as if they lifted it from the field and cut all the large surface roots back to far at once to fit it in a pot and it caused massive dieback,i hope.Its starting to leaf out now,the only tree I have that's starting is a kiyohime,it might be cause they had it in a unheated greenhouse,which was very damp and getting light which probalbly isn't good for a roting tree,im currently keeping the trunk dry and watching the watering closely along with night time protection,ive never owned a tree with this much rot,so far no bad dieback,anyone that has experience with a tree like this im open to advice,hopefully I got it right,worse case scenario its a forty dollar lose.i also cut back the rot on the large surface roots,which have live roots growing before the rot.thanks for looking.

 

[MACH5]

Mike I would not worry about the rotting wood. In this tree I would embrace it and actually make it all part of its charm by carving it and work it all into the design. Rotting wood will not affect the health of the tree and it could look all very natural as the tree ages. Walter Pall has many trees where he just lets the wood rot naturally to great effect.

By momiji are you saying you think is a standard A. Palmatum? I would also leave it for now and make sure it is growing well and healthy before any major work is done.

 

[discusmike]

I was worried about the rot overcoming the health of the tree, that'sgood to know, I just put the sulpher in very center lowest part of the trunk so you cannot see any white, anyway ill just let the rest rot, I can remember when I started years back on the bonsaitalk site everyone was against carveing a lot of deciduous trees, times change.

 

[MACH5]

I was worried about the rot overcoming the health of the tree, that'sgood to know, I just put the sulpher in very center lowest part of the trunk so you cannot see any white, anyway ill just let the rest rot, I can remember when I started years back on the bonsaitalk site everyone was against carveing a lot of deciduous trees, times change.

Yes of course it is not "traditional" to carve deciduous trees but I think when it calls for it I say embrace it and go with it

 

[discusmike]

Sounds good, would you consider hollowing the front of this tree if it were yours? I'm open to suggestions.

 

[discusmike]

You can see where I carved some of the trunk I was thinking maybe taking it down a lot more years down the road, I guess the amount of rot will dictate what I should do.

 

[MACH5]

Mike you could end up creating a kabudachi style bonsai with this material. One possible way to approach it.

 

[discusmike]

That looks really cool, didn't think about that, thanks.

 

[Brian Underwood]

Sweet little tree! I love rotting trunks and often seek them out when buying new material. Often they are cheaper and I love carving, so for me they are more fun. The only thing to consider after carving and letting the wood weather for a while, is using a wood hardener (plasticiser) on the deadwood to preserve it. Here is a 4 trunk Japanese maple I did that has more deadwood than live wood; http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthr...p-quot-Shi-(Death)-quot&highlight=death+maple

 

[MACH5]

Sweet little tree! I love rotting trunks and often seek them out when buying new material. Often they are cheaper and I love carving, so for me they are more fun. The only thing to consider after carving and letting the wood weather for a while, is using a wood hardener (plasticiser) on the deadwood to preserve it. Here is a 4 trunk Japanese maple I did that has more deadwood than live wood; http://bonsainut.com/forums/showthr...p-quot-Shi-(Death)-quot&highlight=death+maple

This is a nice one Brian! You often don't see Japanese maples with this much dead wood. I am working on something similar this spring also with an A. Palmatum from Randy Knight that has a lot of the same raw character. I look forward to the challenge!