Acer help

[Miagiwanabe]

 

[sorce]

Nice.

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Juanmi]

Nice acer. Where is the "help" part?
If you want to get rid of it I'm willing to give it a new home.

 

[Moridin]

Nice acer. Where is the "help" part?
If you want to get rid of it I'm willing to give it a new home.

Same here

 

[Miagiwanabe]

Nice acer. Where is the "help" part?
If you want to get rid of it I'm willing to give it a new home.

Want to take off the top part that sticks out the top. Any tips ? It’s about an inch thick. Also as I said I know it looks nice, but know very little about soil, pot size etc. Any help out there

 

[Juanmi]

Maybe it is not the ideal time to cut right now. You have to consider letting your tree grow peacfuly for now and maybe cuttin during the dormancy period (the fall or even during winter). Some say the best time to cut is at the end of the winter, just when the new buds are getting bigger.

If it was mine I would cut where the red lines are (You can cut anywhere you want, just give it a nice compact basic structure) and then start the ramification.

If you're new and there are some concepts that you don't understand, you can buy a bonsai book, thdre are lots of them and you can learn a lot. I really like the John Naka books. (I think you can look it up on pdf in the interwebs)

Cheers!

 

[Juanmi]

Oh, I forgot... about the soil... lets say there are endless possibilities. For maples you need a well draining soil with a little bit of acidity (but not much). I like to use akadama (70%) + kiryuzuna (30%) with a layer of volcanic at the bottom. But that stuff is not cheap and not easy to find everywhere. There are a lot of alternatives. Maybe if you tell us where are you from, people from that area could suggest some soils aviables there.

And about the pot... you shouldn't really worry much about that right now.

Fifst try to prune the roots every 2 years or so to build a nice nebari. (On maples you can go hard on the roots, they regrow quite easily)

*edit* (please correct me if some of the information I wrote is wrong)

 

[Miagiwanabe]

Hi I live in Newcastle in the north east of England. Garden is south west facing. Is miracle grow eracous compost ok mixed with perlite ? I already have some. Or should I go with what you said sbove ? Not bothered about cost just want best care for tree. I will forget about cutting/pruning like you say until autum/winter. When I cut should I saw or snip and should it be on an angle and should I put being paste where I cut branches

 

[Juanmi]

Hi I live in Newcastle in the north east of England. Garden is south west facing. Is miracle grow eracous compost ok mixed with perlite ? I already have some. Or should I go with what you said sbove ? Not bothered about cost just want best care for tree. I will forget about cutting/pruning like you say until autum/winter. When I cut should I saw or snip and should it be on an angle and should I put being paste where I cut branches

I'm not familiar with that particular compost. Is it this one?

If it is, it migh not be the best one. I couldn't find it's components, but if it is a compost for azaleas it might be on the "a little too acid side". Plus, if it retains too much humidity might not be good for the roots, even if you mix it with perlite. But I don't know... maybe someone here has used this??

If the price is not a problem akadama + kiryuzuna are really good. (Even just 100% akadama would work fine) but dont forget if you use it you should add fertilizer during sprig / autumn, because akadama doen't have all the nutrients your tree will need. (Akadama is just a cooked red clay) It might sound weird, but some people use crushed bricks instead of akadama. (It's basically almost the same).

 

[Miagiwanabe]

Yes that’s the compost I was going to use. But I will go with your recommendation. Think it’s available on Amazon next day delivery. Thank you for all the advice. I’ll keep you posted on the trees progress

 

[Juanmi]

Cutting with a saw it's absolutely Ok, but of course, it depends on the size of the branch / trunk.

You can also use a concave cutter called "Ryuga", those are designed specifically for bonsai. The fact of "carving" the wood helps to close better the wound.

It's always better to cut in angle, and if it has a branch just by the side even better.

Sometimes you will have to be careful, specially on maples, because when you cut they tend to dry the branch.... I don't know exacly how to explain this in english. But you should leave a bit more of the branch you want to cut.

As an example here is my maple.

First I cutted leaving an extra chunk that will dry out, and then I will cut again safely.

And if it's a big cutting always seal the wound. Again, there are lots of products.
The most important is that the wound is sealed so it won't get deseases.
You can use sealing paste or even wood glue.

 

[Juanmi]

Yes that’s the compost I was going to use. But I will go with your recommendation. Think it’s available on Amazon next day delivery. Thank you for all the advice. I’ll keep you posted on the trees progress

Are you planning to repot now?
It might be dangerous for the tree. There is no rush.
Best time for repoting is the same time you will do the cutting.