Smoke
Ignore-Amus
In 2010 I purchased this trident maple from Ed Clark, grower of everything maple. The tree was reduced to a bare trunk. I do this to get the branches where I want them. Sometimes it is necessary to graft and that will be done also.
Tree from bag to show pot in six years.
- Thread starter Smoke
- Start date
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
The tree was allowed to grow and gain branches. The good ones were allowed to stay and the not so good ones were removed. The tree, 2013 was the subject of a blog post comparing this tree with another and its attributes as a potential candidate for future work. The tree was dubbed realville at this time. The virtual I did was pretty ambitious, showing a future branch where there was none. Check out that massive nebari....wishfull thinking I would say.
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
The trunk had a terrible undercut and would have to be repaired to be suitable, and it was time for some grafts. I did five thread grafts which all failed and three approach grafts which were good. I did manage to get a branch on the trunk where the virt showed.
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
A year or so has passed and the grafts were cut away from the doners. At this time the tree was planted in a colander to try and reduce the root mass.
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
During the recently started study group for Shohin, I decided the tree was too tall for shohin, by about two inches, and the undercut trunk needed to be dealt with. The red line shows a suitable flare and if layered to this level a good tree could be made even better. During the study group I used the tree as a learning tool for doing this kind or work, drawing a black line around the trunk as the place to make the top cut.
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
Roots grew well and then stalled. Upon inspection it was noticed that the cambium had bridged and was not growing roots anymore. the tree was recut and allowed to dry for two days. Roots regrew within a week after covering with round spherical akadama.
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
Today the tree was unpotted and the roots inspected. I allowed them to grow all last year. here you can see the spherical akadama falling from the cut dam.
Here you can see the seperation between the roots by color. The old roots are more brown while the new layer roots are light.
Under the layer the whole tree was planted on an inverted water saucer.
Here I have all the good roots pulled up above the seperation point and held in place with some wire. These are the good roots and I don't want to cut them short while I bandsaw the lower portion of the trunk off.
This is the plant with the waste cut away. The tree has a good radial root spread and will be allowed to grow and thicken this year.
Here you can see the seperation between the roots by color. The old roots are more brown while the new layer roots are light.
Under the layer the whole tree was planted on an inverted water saucer.
Here I have all the good roots pulled up above the seperation point and held in place with some wire. These are the good roots and I don't want to cut them short while I bandsaw the lower portion of the trunk off.
This is the plant with the waste cut away. The tree has a good radial root spread and will be allowed to grow and thicken this year.
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
Things to be done for the future. The tree will of course continue it's ramification process. Next year it will be removed from this Yamakii pot and planted in a training container again for spreading of the roots on a board or holes drilled in a saucer and the roots wired to the saucer. I like the saucers because they act as a moisture center retaining moisture all day in the porous clay. This pot is only a reprieve from the trauma it has sustained for a few years. Pretty for a year then back to training.
Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
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Love me a good ground layer...great stuff Al.
parhamr
Omono
Damn. That all is impressive, well documented, and clearly explained.
A+
A+
Kodama16
Shohin
Very nice!
cmeg1
Imperial Masterpiece
Love the way that pot looks with it.Getting twiggy too.Gotta love a Good layer.
PierreR
Shohin
Very nice!
barrosinc
Masterpiece
Great stuff
Anthony
Imperial Masterpiece
Very Educational Al,
thanks for taking the time.
Wish I could offer more than just thanks.
Good Day
Anthony
thanks for taking the time.
Wish I could offer more than just thanks.
Good Day
Anthony
Saizan
Yamadori
Wow! Very inspirational!
justBonsai
Omono
Thanks for the informative thread. I had a trident last year and had no idea what I was doing with it. Fortunately it was kept healthy but design wise went nowhere.
Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
Love progression threads...thanks for taking the time to post it up.it never fails to make me pause...at what ones can do to a tree to create better bonsai. To think...I used to think trees just grew that way with help from a little wire. Never giving the entire process much thought. Pretty cool...
JudyB
Queen of the Nuts
Nice tree, or getting there for sure. Good to see it step by step. I like that pot, I have one going under a shohin deshojo this spring.
quietobserver
Omono
Agreed. Never would have thought it would look so good in what's basically a quince pot..
