Young nursery stock Acer Palmatum 'Miwa'

[Alcam]

Hi everyone,

I picked up this young nursery stock Acer Palmatum 'Miwa' yesterday, and I'm quite happy with its shape and graft. I'm a beginner, as I'm sure you can already tell, so I'm not worried about it turning into a masterpiece; it's a starter tree that I'm happy to learn on. Having said this, I have some questions for you veterans out there:

1) With everything I've ever found at local nurseries, this graft is the best I've seen in our area (Vancouver Island). How does the graft look to you? Will the graft ever begin to blend in when it's started well in the beginning (if this is, in fact, a good one), or do they tend to look more pronounced as time goes on? (I'm not terribly concerned, as, like I said, this tree isn't going to be a masterpiece, but I am curious to know more from all of you as to how grafts progress over time. Also, I'm certainly open to air layering above the graft one day, if that's a possibility.

2) I can't find any 'Miwa' bonsai examples online, but its interesting leaves and elegant shape are very appealing to me. Does anyone have any experience with a JM Miwa?

3) With its variety in mind, I'm not the biggest fan of lowering JM branches like many people do. I much prefer the elegant up and out technique to make it look as realistic in nature as possible. As you can tell in the photo, I put some light and loose wiring on some branches to put them into slightly better positions, with very little effort at all. I've read online that this time of year is totally fine to do it, especially when what I've done was very minimal to the tree, but knowing that this time of year the tree is building its vascular tissue, maybe the risk of scarring increases this time of year? (I definitely do not want any of that.)

4) Lastly, I really like its initial flow lines, but I'm wondering if any of you have any suggestions for me to take any branches off, or reduce anything in general at this point?

*I'm a condo patio bonsai guy, so there won't be any planting in the ground to thicken it quicker. I'm okay with it not becoming super thick and old looking, and instead have it be an elegant looking old'ish tree but not ancient.

Thanks, friends. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

- Alcam

 

[sorce]

Forgive me, but it seems folks get in this

I'm not worried about it turning into a masterpiece;

Mindset, maybe because they don't see potential in a piece, or they are afraid someone will rag on that plan, down you cuz you're new. Eff them and that!

I gotta thing that says, you have to shoot for excellence to come up with something acceptable. So shoot for your masterpiece!

I'm very anti graft but that looks alright, don't know how they turn out, but observing some old yard ones may give you an idea, if you can find the old graft.

I'd layer a small top piece and see if you can keep it alive on its own roots a couple winters, before dedicating yourself to getting the whole thing on its own roots. Doesn't seem you'll have to though, unless the current nebari is jacked. But then, you could ground layer it on the current rootstock if need be.

Since you won't be able to ground it and the current trunk thickness "calls for" much shorter, I would have a long range plan of cutting it back to the first or first couple branches some years out.

You kinda only get one chance to decide if that first thing is a branch or a trunkline continuation.

Sorce

 

[Alcam]

Forgive me, but it seems folks get in this
Mindset, maybe because they don't see potential in a piece, or they are afraid someone will rag on that plan, down you cuz you're new. Eff them and that!

I gotta thing that says, you have to shoot for excellence to come up with something acceptable. So shoot for your masterpiece!

I'm very anti graft but that looks alright, don't know how they turn out, but observing some old yard ones may give you an idea, if you can find the old graft.

I'd layer a small top piece and see if you can keep it alive on its own roots a couple winters, before dedicating yourself to getting the whole thing on its own roots. Doesn't seem you'll have to though, unless the current nebari is jacked. But then, you could ground layer it on the current rootstock if need be.

Since you won't be able to ground it and the current trunk thickness "calls for" much shorter, I would have a long range plan of cutting it back to the first or first couple branches some years out.

You kinda only get one chance to decide if that first thing is a branch or a trunkline continuation.

Sorce

Ha! Thanks for the pep talk; it's very much appreciated (I've been binging Ted Lasso lately, so you've inspired me to envision an end goal and stick with it... if you haven't watched TL yet, it's soooooo good.)

I do want this tree to look as natural as possible, so I'm absolutely going to shoot for the best version it can be. After living in Montreal for a couple of years and visiting the botanical gardens often (their bonsai collection hooked me instantly), they have plenty of stunning JM throughout the garden landscapes - so elegant, so meticulously shaped. That's what I'll aim to create: something you'd see in a botanical garden landscape such as theirs, but merely in smaller form. I have also thought about possibly chopping it down, but the more I study its current primary structure, the more I like the height it's already at (it looks taller in the photo than it actually is). With this tree goal in mind, the thickness of the trunk is not something I think I'll ever worry about; ramification is what I really want to work on.

Regarding the graft, though, I guess I'll start to decide on the future possibility of layering it once I do its first repot and see what the roots are like. They look decent already, from what I can see without digging too deep, but time will tell. After searching online, I came across Bonsai Echo on Youtube, and his is a version that I can envision. But... although he mentions the graft on his being good, I'm not a fan, as it almost looks like its pregnant - the rest of the tree I really like.

Do you have any thoughts on wiring it this time of year? I really want to get the primary structure set as soon as possible with a little more movement and better placing, but I reeeeeeeally don't want any scarring. What's in my favour is that I can keep a very close eye on the tree at all times, as I only have three trees outside.

 

[sorce]

you have any thoughts on wiring it this time of year

I am very against late winter wiring simply because there is no growth until spring, so you are only devastating the tree before winter, restirring the antifreeze it's been building enough for it to go, "wtf?", for absolutely no benefit, it's not worth it.

Pre fall thickening is a better time, where you will likely have to have caution of great old wood scarring because of the fall heft.

Pre or during spring "baby bending" techniques can be used to direct spring growth, in a manner that it won't cause worry of biting, since directing the new pliable growth requires less leverage.

Spring wiring should be done to make fall wiring easier, and fall wiring should be done to make spring wiring easier.

This is especially useful when putting 90° twists in things in fall to move buds into position for spring.

Further paying attention to what bud goes where is useful too, putting strong buds to the less lit interior, and weak buds to the outside for more health. Or the opposite if the goals are different.

These ideas are to minimize regular wiring necessity, which I think can be accomplished pretty easily with your natural movement goal, that way you don't have to worry about scarring.

Eventually, you can set a reminder on your calendar to remove wire if you pay enough attention to growth.

Sorce

 

[Alcam]

I am very against late winter wiring simply because there is no growth until spring, so you are only devastating the tree before winter, restirring the antifreeze it's been building enough for it to go, "wtf?", for absolutely no benefit, it's not worth it.

Pre fall thickening is a better time, where you will likely have to have caution of great old wood scarring because of the fall heft.

Pre or during spring "baby bending" techniques can be used to direct spring growth, in a manner that it won't cause worry of biting, since directing the new pliable growth requires less leverage.

Spring wiring should be done to make fall wiring easier, and fall wiring should be done to make spring wiring easier.

This is especially useful when putting 90° twists in things in fall to move buds into position for spring.

Further paying attention to what bud goes where is useful too, putting strong buds to the less lit interior, and weak buds to the outside for more health. Or the opposite if the goals are different.

These ideas are to minimize regular wiring necessity, which I think can be accomplished pretty easily with your natural movement goal, that way you don't have to worry about scarring.

Eventually, you can set a reminder on your calendar to remove wire if you pay enough attention to growth.

Sorce

This is fantastic, so thank you. Sounds like I'll do a bit more wiring this fall to the primary structure and then remove it before bud break to prevent scarring. Then I'll definitely be doing some new spring growth directing. The tip about directing the stronger and weaker buds to proper areas is golden.

Cheers, Sorce.

 

[Ininaatigoons]

You'll find most nuts are not fans of the graft. Some cultivars can not be propagated by cuttings or layers so grafts must be kept. I don't know specifically about 'miwa', but it's not a dwarf and you won't be ground growing. The biggest 'necked out' issues happen to dwarf stock grafted to the species vs a more suitable small leaf small seed or dwarf stock grown in the ground. The Miwa is a Reticulated Variety which may not be vigorous on its own roots. Always worth a try.
When pruning Palmatum always leave a little more than you want it to be so if it dies back it doesn't die back further than you want. I noticed the top branch on the left.
Always watch for wire marks.
I think this looks like it could be a very elegant tree!

 

[dbonsaiw]

I gotta thing that says, you have to shoot for excellence to come up with something acceptable. So shoot for your masterpiece!

Amen. I am shooting for the masterpiece knowing full well that I don't (yet) have the skills to achieve that. Hopefully, shoot for masterpiece and get something decent. But if I shoot for crap, I'm assured of crap.

The graft doesn't look horrible in the pic, but it's a graft. It could very well swell at a much faster pace than the top and look bad.

My 2 cents as a fellow nube, don't get so attached to all parts of the tree as it is now. It is very young material and still some ways off from being a bonsai. Take the time now to get the tree developing as nicely as possible. You'll thank yourself later. If this was my tree, I'd be planning to layer off the top of the tree and get rid of the graft. This will also have the added benefit of getting the nebari on the right track. Again, the tree is so young that you really aren't losing much time wise.

A word of caution - I am not familiar with Miwa and understand it is a variegated cultivar. You should make sure it can be layered before going for it.