Trident Maple

[Johnnyd]

I picked up this trident a few years ago at Natures Way in Pa. I needed to remove a few large branches higher up on the trunk, leaving some sizable scars.



It needed a branch on the left side, so I thread grafted one in place.




When I repotted, the roots were reduced and then I placed a few grafts.



The tree was screwed to a board and allowed to grow freely in order to increase the diameter of the next section and heal the large scars.



Just repotted into this light blue/gray pot from Tomek Staszewski.

 

[Shibui]

Great application of several different development techniques.
Tree looking way better than the original purchase.
I can see the thread grafted branch worked well. How did the root grafts fare? I can see some scars on the roots so maybe they did not take?

 

[Johnnyd]

Great application of several different development techniques.
Tree looking way better than the original purchase.
I can see the thread grafted branch worked well. How did the root grafts fare? I can see some scars on the roots so maybe they did not take.

Thanks Shibui!
The root graft in the front pushed out of the groove. I believe it was not placed deep enough. Recently I've been doing thread grafts instead of approach. They seem to be easier for beginners. I plan to do a few more root grafts next season.

There is definitely room for improvement on the back of this tree. Would you reduce more of this large root?

 

[leatherback]

There is definitely room for improvement on the back of this tree. Would you reduce more of this large root?

If you would like to improve the nebari, it might be better to plant the tree an inch deeper so you have a solid layer of substrate over the nebari. The combination of rootpruning in spring, and continuous moist nebari will trigger loads of young roots to sprout which you can use to build your nebari. With tridet I see hardly any need for grafting.

 

[Tidal Bonsai]

Very cool to see these trees that you have been developing since you were in the Northeast!

 

[Shibui]

Would you reduce more of this large root?

Always hard to give real good advice just from a picture because I can't see all the permutations that may be there just under the soil or hidden behind the visible roots. Nor do I know what you've already done in that area except that you've pruned a large root a bit.
Tridents are really resilient and I absolutely slaughter roots on some to trigger better root regrowth so it is possible to reduce any root more if that is required. The real question is will that do any good? Perhaps planting a little deeper as suggested above will allow new roots to form from the cut area and those roots would eventually be part of the nebari?
Tridents are also very good at producing new lateral roots so just planting deeper for a few years can trigger new roots just below soil level. As mentioned, sometimes grafting is not even required.