Trident Maple - 5-28-12

Alex DeRuiter

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Got this tree from Telperion Farms. I can't recommend them enough. This is by far one of the best tree purchases I've made...well worth the money. Chris is an awesome guy and was very accommodating.

This tree is pretty massive -- the base is maybe about five or six inches. Sorry for the lousy pictures.

Front:
5-28-12006.jpg

Slight Turn:
5-28-12013.jpg

Side:
5-28-12001.jpg

Back:
5-28-12017.jpg


In retrospect, perhaps what I view as the back might make a decent front if I wire that next trunk section to lean forward a bit. . . . Only flaw is that huge scar. I'll probably carve that out and see if one of the masters can suggest anything for healing the wound faster.
 
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Alex DeRuiter

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Thanks Clyde -- me neither! I'm expecting this not to be finished for at least a half decade, but probably a bit longer. I've still got to heal some large wounds, but hopefully I can get some advice on that when I take it down to Matt Ouwinga for help.

I reburied the nebari hoping to thicken up a couple of those roots, so we'll see where that gets in two years upon its next repot. I also partially defoliated the tree on the side that's going to be chopped in hopes that it pops more growth out from the future leader. I'll be cutting that big branch around mid-June.
 

Poink88

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YUMMY nebari. Congrats for a good score! Would love to see where you take this, please keep us posted.
 

Ron Dennis

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Very nice. Looking forward to following your progress with this one.

Did you go to the nursery or handle this by phone?
 

Ang3lfir3

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Excellent Alex!!! they always have the best material!!

One thing Chris suggested to me a while back (which makes total sense) is to put the Anderson flat on top of a larger bin full of pumice (or lava etc) and let the root run free down into there.... this should help thicken them up....

also make sure you clean the roots out really well when you pot this up... chances are there is a disk of felt under those roots to help keep them flat and shallow! :) :) you'll find it close to the base usually surrounded by roots
 

Concorde

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Alex nice trident. Excellent nebari. I reviewed your cut lines. If it were my tree I would cut as you recommended the left branch and the one next to it. Work on the tree thereafter as a slant style only my opinion. But by all means keep updated on this beauty.

Art
 

Alex DeRuiter

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Hey Ron, I did this all by phone and email. Chris went through his stock and emailed me a ton of pictures of trees in my price/size range and we went from there. I wish I had a couple thousand I could blow. . . . lol

Eric, ain't that the truth! I'm disappointed it took me this long to contact them...I could've saved money and got better stock! lol

That's an awesome idea! I was going to plant the flat in the ground, but I think I can swing a larger bin or grow box with Turface since the planting area I have available isn't a viable option. Thanks for the idea!

I'll be on the lookout for the disk. lol -- I won't be repotting for a couple years, but I'll remember to keep an eye out for it. :D
 

Alex DeRuiter

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This tree was chopped last week. I've already got some new growth popping out just where it needs to. I decided on a front before, but can't seem to remember where it is now. I'll find it again, but for now here's pics! :D

tm1.jpg

tm2.jpg

tm3.jpg

tm4.jpg
 

Curtis

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tm4.jpgI would say the last picture is the best front from what I can tell with the picture. I would grind/chop down that middle stump a bit. If this front is chosen, I would chop at my line next year and wire out the side branch anytime. I think your going to want to leave that side branch growing out for a couple of years. Thats plenty of time to decide if you need that branch to do any sort of graft.
 

Smoke

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How come we never saw the view shown in post 2 after the chop?
 

Alex DeRuiter

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Thanks for the input, Curtis. I definitely need to carve out that dead stump -- I was just waiting till the beginning of next growing season to start healing it quicker. Plus that'll give it some time to finish dying off. As for new branches, there are a couple sprouts that popped out in great spots. Like Al said (after your post), it looks like I totally forgot to snap a picture from what I chose as the front before...so I'll have to get that picture in here tonight or tomorrow. For what it's worth, the picture you chose as the front really shows off the nebari, but if memory serves me right, that front Al pointed out was what I was really planning for. And yes, grafting may definitely be useful of stuff doesn't sprout where I need it. I was trying to bend that first branch down a little bit but I think I bent it just right to where it snapped right off...but give me a break, I'm learning. haha -- No pun intended, btw. ;-p

Al, I think that might be related to the couple beers I had that night when I went out to take pictures. lol -- I'll take another couple tonight to show its progress. :D
 

Smoke

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Beers and shears...bad romance. (New Lady Ga Ga song)
 

Smoke

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I was trying to bend that first branch down a little bit but I think I bent it just right to where it snapped right off...but give me a break, I'm learning. haha
Al, I think that might be related to the couple beers I had..... :D

I was working on a shohin kingsville boxwood one day. I had cut back all the branches just to the right length and was starting to put the wire on. I got all the branches wired and started to bend them into place. One by one I snapped off about 5 of the 7 branches it had. They were all hanging by the wire. My wife came out and asked what all the swearing was about.....
 

Alex DeRuiter

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Hah! Bad romance, indeed. Luckily I'm pretty good at making wise decisions even with the demon on my breath. haha -- I'm starting to sound like an alcoholic...rest assured I don't drink often. :D

That's pretty much the exact same think I did with that Trident I got from Don earlier this year. In my defense, it was my first time ever really wiring a tree...needless to say I ended up cutting a lot of wire with dead branches attached this spring when no buds came. Glad I'm not alone.

Here's a quick updated photo. There WAS a nice bunch of buds very close to the bottom of the new trunk...but it appears they may have been either eaten or trimmed by my lovely daughter. She can't wait to start doing bonsai and she's only 2 and a half.

7-9-12023.jpg

5-9-12026-1.jpg
 
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MACH5

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I was working on a shohin kingsville boxwood one day. I had cut back all the branches just to the right length and was starting to put the wire on. I got all the branches wired and started to bend them into place. One by one I snapped off about 5 of the 7 branches it had. They were all hanging by the wire. My wife came out and asked what all the swearing was about.....

Well this illustrates that it can certainly happen to the best of us. I too thought I was alone on this BUT... if it's good enough for smoke it certainly is good enough for me! :D Oh the pain we endure when this happens!!!

Hah! Bad romance, indeed. Luckily I'm pretty good at making wise decisions even with the demon on my breath. haha -- I'm starting to sound like an alcoholic...rest assured I don't drink often. :D

That's pretty much the exact same think I did with that Trident I got from Don earlier this year. In my defense, it was my first time ever really wiring a tree...needless to say I ended up cutting a lot of wire with dead branches attached this spring when no buds came. Glad I'm not alone.

Here's a quick updated photo. There WAS a nice bunch of buds very close to the bottom of the new trunk...but it appears they may have been either eaten or trimmed by my lovely daughter. She can't wait to start doing bonsai and she's only 2 and a half.



7-9-12023.jpg

5-9-12026-1.jpg


Alex as others have stated, this was a very nice purchase! I love the base on this guy! Well done! Great potential for a sumo shohin?? No worries, no harm done and in no time you'll see your tree bounce back with lots more shoots. That's the beauty of tridents... they're so forgiving. BTW you have a very adorable bonsai apprentice with ruthless pruning instincts! :D
 

Smoke

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You will be ready for the next chop around fall next year. Just let it go and push wherever it wants. While you can remove any sprouts that come out, always leave a stub and seal it. That way it will rebud again, as this time next year it may have a different front. As long as you leave a stub you will get shoots.
 

Alex DeRuiter

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Alex as others have stated, this was a very nice purchase! I love the base on this guy! Well done! Great potential for a sumo shohin?? No worries, no harm done and in no time you'll see your tree bounce back with lots more shoots. That's the beauty of tridents... they're so forgiving. BTW you have a very adorable bonsai apprentice with ruthless pruning instincts! :D
Thank you Mach5 (or should I call you...Racer X?!?! (*big, climactic sound effect*), I still feel like this is the best tree purchase I've ever made (with the exception of a couple surprisingly vigorous seedlings I got from a certain fellow). I believe this was trained by Gary Wood, but it came from Chris at Telperion. I'm not sure exactly who did what or if one is more responsible than the other for this awesome base, but I'm still jealous of their abilities. lol

But yeah, I'm totally thinking a sumo shohin or possibly...what's the next size up called again?

Yeah, that's what I was thinking about the shoots. There are still stems left in that area and the tree is growing well (especially considering the fact that I'm in Michigan), so I think some dormant buds might pop out soon. It's been unseasonably hot the past couple weeks and I think some of my trees may've gone into heat dormancy since they're not pushing out much growth, but it's getting cooler and I think this week might be their wake-up call. Either that or it's just wishful thinking. ;-p

Haha, thank you. It's so hard to say no to her, but I'm learning. She thought she'd help me re-repot another Trident that I had recently potted -- just pulled it right out and handed it to me...but luckily it survived and is actually thriving.

You will be ready for the next chop around fall next year. Just let it go and push wherever it wants. While you can remove any sprouts that come out, always leave a stub and seal it. That way it will rebud again, as this time next year it may have a different front. As long as you leave a stub you will get shoots.
Yeppers, I'm planning on letting this just push out what it can for the rest of this season and most of next season. I've been plucking extending buts at the ends of branches here and there in hopes to push some of that energy towards the lower portion of the tree, so we'll see where that gets me in a couple months. When that branch I tried to bend broke off it left a nice little stub. I'm hoping something will pop out right there since that was a relatively ideal spot for a first branch.
 

Alex DeRuiter

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Short update on this. Now that we've had about a week of decent weather (not 600 degrees), this seems to be pushing out a lot of new growth. This is relative to my area, of course. :D

7-20-12036.jpg
 
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