The first order of business is to grow-up or chop back or otherwise create the basic architecture of major branches, then minor branches, then refinement AFTER you get the basic architecture you create a canopy shape in your mind's eye. Then you pinch, hedge or otherwise edit according to whatever philosophy or seasonal pattern that suits your soul. Maples have successive flushes and respond to trimming pretty quickly. You need to get to the point where your pinching is just removing
some outer buds to redirect growth elsewhere instead of stealing a lot energy that was used to create a lot those buds or leaves or wood. You can't refine until after you create the basic architecture, and conversely you do not remove much wood after the major architecture has been grown. After that time you want to build lots of buds and you that by growing buds that you don't cut off. Remember that ramification is the process of getting two buds emerging from the base of each leaf, except from the primary leaf which puts out 1, 2, or rarely 3 new primaries that have a cluster of 3 buds which occurs naturally, but we can encourage two, or more secondaries to expand new primary buds out in the next flush by removing the primary via pinching. The process of shifting energy directed to the secondaries from the primary begins as soon as the primary is removed and pinching buds occurs sooner than removing the fully grown tip leaf. Once you get to the point of only pinching a few (relatively few) buds that are going to violate our imaginary canopy limits the pinching becomes minimal and the major effort shifts to maintaining a size rather than growing bigger or fuller and we give it a hedge trimming in autumn and pinch occationally in the growing season a minimal amount to remove the too strong or any that threatens to violate the canopy boundary.
Peter Tea has a basic set of rules he calls 1,2, 3, 4, 5. You accomplish each whole step before advancing to the next step because what you do in the next step interferes with what you want to accomplish in the previous steps. First, grow the tree to the point you're happy with the base/nebari. For that you need as many leaves as you can get. You don't pinch while you are doing major growing. You do one or the other. Second, after you're happy with the base you grow the trunk taper. Third, major branches in proportion. Forth, refine the architecture to cloud shape or canopy structure. Fifth, refine the canopy or layers. View the process from the kinds of wire you are using at any stage: when you are using 5mm you're not using much 1mm, in each stage you are using smaller and smaller wire to control smaller and more refined wood. You don't use any 1mm in the early steps, and you don't use any 5mm after the second step, The direct relationship between the surface area of leaves present and the amount of wood produced is absolute so you want to as many leaves as possible while growing major wood. The amount of ramification is also directly relative to the number of leaves you leave on the tree to double for next year.
Less than 20 buds have been remove from this 23" tree this spring to keep it within boundaries.
View attachment 301974
