Digging a Large Trident Maple

[Smoke]

Thanks! Posts with lots of pics are my favorite, so I figured I'd start contributing
Definitely going to be getting a new leader going to continue the taper into the future crown. I think the choices for a front are very limited due to the large scar on the back (I didn't post many pics of this cause it's fugly , check the first post).

Nice job removing the tree from the ground and documenting it. You will be happy you took so many pictures of the process. As you may know, if you wish to put something back in the hole, make sure you plant it at an angle to put some movement in the trunk. Taper is good, but movement is king. With the trunk you have options are extremely limited. These are the three I see you have.



If you work on the apex, don’t start adding movement now. Just continue the formal upright look or it will look silly with wiggles on that cone!

 

[BonsaiMatt]

Nice job removing the tree from the ground and documenting it. You will be happy you took so many pictures of the process. As you may know, if you wish to put something back in the hole, make sure you plant it at an angle to put some movement in the trunk. Taper is good, but movement is king. With the trunk you have options are extremely limited. These are the three I see you have.

View attachment 185929

If you work on the apex, don’t start adding movement now. Just continue the formal upright look or it will look silly with wiggles on that cone!

Really appreciate your input Smoke. Your threads are a great inspiration and resource.
Yup, no movement in this one at all. I chose the one on the left because it reminds me of donuts
Would you try to heal the wounds by putting it back in the ground once I get a good nebari started? Any chance they'll callus over in a pot? I'm mostly worried about developing branches and then having to completely redo the branches if I let it run to heal the wounds...

 

[BonsaiMatt]

thats why I got about 400 seeds this year I'm only in my thirties, so I got high hopes!

That's awesome man! I started killing trees when I was 12 or 13, planted this porker when I was 23. Gotta get more youngins into the game

 

[erb.75]

Ya, I don't have yardspace for 400 trees, but I am going to plan as many as I can and give the rest away. Success rate is not 100% already, but it should be fun

 

[BonsaiMatt]

Ya, I don't have yardspace for 400 trees, but I am going to plan as many as I can and give the rest away. Success rate is not 100% already, but it should be fun

What species are you growing?

 

[Dav4]

At this time, I have approximately 15 tridents growing on tiles throughout my yard. As 1-2 year old seedlings, some of them were wired for movement and some weren't, but all had root work done prior to being planted, and they'll get dug every 2 to 3 years to finesse things beneath the soil. You've got a n ice trunk there, and if you let the top run for a year or two and work the callus, you'll be able to close that scar, I'd say. Look into building a wooden box for this one at the next re-pot, as I think you'll be able to improve the roots more effectively that way. Good luck!

 

[BonsaiMatt]

At this time, I have approximately 15 tridents growing on tiles throughout my yard. As 1-2 year old seedlings, some of them were wired for movement and some weren't, but all had root work done prior to being planted, and they'll get dug every 2 to 3 years to finesse things beneath the soil. You've got a n ice trunk there, and if you let the top run for a year or two and work the callus, you'll be able to close that scar, I'd say. Look into building a wooden box for this one at the next re-pot, as I think you'll be able to improve the roots more effectively that way. Good luck!

Thanks for the input, I definitely need to plant more trees to get their development started
Wish I had done root work on this one, I set myself back several years by not being proactive with the roots... Live and learn.
Using a box will allow the roots longer to run, and will quicken their development, is that the idea? I like this... Maybe let it gain strength and a mass of fiborous roots in the colander a then to the box with him in a year or two.

 

[erb.75]

What species are you growing?

I got seeds for trident maple, chinese elm, JBP, and sergeant crabapple this year. All have sprouted except for the JBP. Not one with those! After a good germination rate, about 1/4 have bit the bullet, as I have not been using a humidity dome (just misting). Only the strong will survive! Culling of the weak!

Even with the death toll + non-germinated seeds, I still have more (hundreds) than I can reasonably fit in my yard

 

[BonsaiMatt]

I got seeds for trident maple, chinese elm, JBP, and sergeant crabapple this year. All have sprouted except for the JBP. Not one with those! After a good germination rate, about 1/4 have bit the bullet, as I have not been using a humidity dome (just misting). Only the strong will survive! Culling of the weak!

Even with the death toll + non-germinated seeds, I still have more (hundreds) than I can reasonably fit in my yard

Cheers! That's super cool man. You're gonna be living in a forest soon...
A bunch of people here are growing JBP from seed right now, might want to read some of the '6 year jbp' threads for germination tips.

 

[erb.75]

Cheers! That's super cool man. You're gonna be living in a forest soon...
A bunch of people here are growing JBP from seed right now, might want to read some of the '6 year jbp' threads for germination tips.

I'm wondering if it's because I haven't put them in sunshine yet. But ya, I have been meaning to read the thread, but only so much time!

 

[Dan92119]

I haven’t done this so I am no expert but once that tree gets growing and healthy there are techniques that you can use to help the tree close the wounds. There may be information here. If not there is adamaskwhy.com. From what I understand after a few years trees will stop growing the calluses over the wound so the calluses have be cut to get them started going again. Some of the wounds on your tree look old to me like the tree has stopped trying to cover them.

 

[BonsaiMatt]

I haven’t done this so I am no expert but once that tree gets growing and healthy there are techniques that you can use to help the tree close the wounds. There may be information here. If not there is adamaskwhy.com. From what I understand after a few years trees will stop growing the calluses over the wound so the calluses have be cut to get them started going again. Some of the wounds on your tree look old to me like the tree has stopped trying to cover them.

Tridents are one of the best at healing over large wounds, this tree has healed over scars 3-4 inches across while growing in the ground. This happens much slower in a container though...
I'll be recutting the callus and covering them over with cut paste soon. If they don't heal over I'll hollow them out and make them even uglier

 

[j evans]

Nice start. I'm impressed!

 

[W3rk]

With all the heavy lifting done, I pulled up a chair and used a chop stick to work all the old soil away. As the nebari was revealed I found myself wishing I had done root work years ago. Not terrible, but it's very one-sided. Maybe I will try some root grafts down the road.

Sprayed the roots every few minutes to keep them from drying out while I worked.
View attachment 185891
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This continued till last the clay and rocks were removed. Because of the rocky soil, there were only a couple small downward-growing roots to trim off.
View attachment 185894
In the below pic there are two large roots stacked on top of each other. The bottom one was removed, along with it's mirror image to the right. We want all the roots coming from one level. The cuts you see are a couple crossing roots I removed, they're no bueno either.
View attachment 185895
Up next: finishing the root work and potting it up.

Heck of a fat trunk there, good luck getting your roots worked out.

As a fellow Marylander - I just picked up my first couple of Trident saplings and I understand the value of ground planting for growth. But we constantly have deer here and they eat a lot of stuff. Did you ever have problems withe deer eating your Trident?

For now all of my small collection of trees stay up on a raised deck, in part because I fear the deer.

 

[BonsaiMatt]

Heck of a fat trunk there, good luck getting your roots worked out.

As a fellow Marylander - I just picked up my first couple of Trident saplings and I understand the value of ground planting for growth. But we constantly have deer here and they eat a lot of stuff. Did you ever have problems withe deer eating your Trident?

For now all of my small collection of trees stay up on a raised deck, in part because I fear the deer.

I haven't had any issues with deer eating my trees (knocking on wood). They are a menace at my dad's house though.
Something chomped my Empress Wu hosta to the ground last summer, but we suspect it was a gopher...

 

[W3rk]

I haven't had any issues with deer eating my trees (knocking on wood). They are a menace at my dad's house though.
Something chomped my Empress Wu hosta to the ground last summer, but we suspect it was a gopher...

Thanks, I don't know if I'd want to risk it. Where I am the deer absolutely devour the Hostas and they will come right up to the house. I put up some fishing line which keeps them away/out of the landscaping in some areas at least.

 

[BonsaiMatt]

Thanks, I don't know if I'd want to risk it. Where I am the deer absolutely devour the Hostas and they will come right up to the house. I put up some fishing line which keeps them away/out of the landscaping in some areas at least.

You could just plant a bunch of them and let the deer trim them for you. Might get some interesting material out of it.

 

[River's Edge]

You could just plant a bunch of them and let the deer trim them for you. Might get some interesting material out of it.

I put up a 6 1/2 foot fence around the acreage, deer are no longer the problem. But during the winter, under the snow and in the grass tunnels come the little rodents to chew. Growing in the ground is not the be all and end all that some advertise. I checked some 7 year old Austrian Black Pines today on the lower meadow. They look great until you get to the bottom three inches. Seem to be missing a lot of bark. Touch wood that has not happened in grow boxes or raised grow beds.

 

[BonsaiMatt]

I put up a 6 1/2 foot fence around the acreage, deer are no longer the problem. But during the winter, under the snow and in the grass tunnels come the little rodents to chew. Growing in the ground is not the be all and end all that some advertise. I checked some 7 year old Austrian Black Pines today on the lower meadow. They look great until you get to the bottom three inches. Seem to be missing a lot of bark. Touch wood that has not happened in grow boxes or raised grow beds.

Good point sir. Sorry to hear about your pines, hopefully they didn't get to them all (?).
I was remembering a field where Christmas trees are grown, mostly fir I think. The owners leave a couple rows on the edges for the deer to nibble. The same rows have been continuously pruned by deer for many years now. They have created some very interesting and stunted trees.

 

[River's Edge]

Good point sir. Sorry to hear about your pines, hopefully they didn't get to them all (?).
I was remembering a field where Christmas trees are grown, mostly fir I think. The owners leave a couple rows on the edges for the deer to nibble. The same rows have been continuously pruned by deer for many years now. They have created some very interesting and stunted trees.

Thanks, not to worry, they were experimental to see how well that area of the acreage would work for growing pines. I used some cheap Austrian black pines from the grocery store when they had a clearance of their landscaping specials. They are going to become part of the natural forest in the lower meadow and add to the view. My nursery JBP and JRP were not part of the in ground experiment.