Trident Maple

[theta]

Just picked this one up the other week. This is it when it arrived. Has some nice taper from the base of the trunk moving up, but it is very flat and 2 dimensional, which I didn't notice from the pictures when I bought it.
The nebari is wide going from left to right, but very shallow from front to back. Kind of weird, but I'm thinking maybe multiple root grafts will help? I'm sure there's probably a big thick root going straight down.



I like how it transitions into multiple branches, even though they are straight. The central trunk was just way too thick, so I chopped it.

Plan is to cut back and regrow into a round canopy. Try to keep it as naturalistic as possible.




There's a central shoot in the front that I'm just going to let run and thicken as much as possible to help hide the giant cut I made. The 3 straight branches on the left I may cut back in the future, but there are some shoots growing off of them I can cut back too, I'm just going to wait and see how that side develops. There's also 2 nice branches down low on the back side that I am going to let run and thicken as much as I can to help develop some depth behind the trunk.

 

[coachspinks]

Nice buy! Did you get it from Green Thumb out of South Carolina?

 

[theta]

Sure did. I check in with him every now and then and see what he's got. I hear he's getting some JBP ready to sell again, so I'm on the look out for that.

 

[coachspinks]

I thought I recognized the look. Is his website up to date? Or do you contact him to get the latest?

 

[theta]

I have contacted him in the past, but now he's been keeping his site up to date as material becomes available.

 

[Shibui]

Kind of weird, but I'm thinking maybe multiple root grafts will help? I'm sure there's probably a big thick root going straight down.

A bit soon to make a plan until you see what the roots actually look like. If you do discover that it needs a number of roots I'd recommend layering. Root grafts sound easy but not always successful and also often take a couple of years to unite properly. Then you will have the scars where the tops of the seedlings are removed. They can take a number of years to heal up properly.
Layering usually gives roots right round and they will all grow at about the same rate so the new roots are usually much more uniform than grafted ones.

 

[theta]

That's a good idea, I'll wait and see what I'm dealing with. I've never done a ground layer like that, so that has me a bit apprehensive, but if it's the best path forward, I'm not against doing it.

 

[theta]

Update --last spring before repot.

After repot. spring leaves coming out.

This spring. I wanted to do a ton of root grafts, but never did.

This year, before repot. Didn't put on a lot of growth last year.



D

I'll upload a shot after repot soon.

 

[leatherback]

Hm.. Have you considered putting it in a more shallow wide pot, to enhance the rootspread?

In one of your pictures I saw this, maybe to consider?

 

[theta]

Yeah this spring I repotted it again and put it in a anderson flat, so it is much lower now.

I just wish I had gotten some stock to do root grafts.

 

[leatherback]

Hm.. Have you considered putting it in a more shallow wide pot, to enhance the rootspread?

In one of your pictures I saw this, maybe to consider?

Does look like it would work from other angles too