BonsaiMatt
Shohin
November 10, 2020:
Fall color this year!
Fall color this year!
Digging a Large Trident Maple
- Thread starter BonsaiMatt
- Start date
BonsaiMatt
Shohin
December 10, 2020:
A little snow before it went into winter storage.
A little snow before it went into winter storage.
BonsaiMatt
Shohin
Repotted this tree over the weekend into an Anderson flat.
BonsaiMatt
Shohin
I grafted some roots onto this tree over the last couple years to fill in the gaps in the nebari, some pics of the nebari during repotting:
River's Edge
Imperial Masterpiece
Now that is a project. I Immediately thought of Kaizan, a concept that one strives for improvement each and every day, celebrate every step that is a small improvement, well done. Important to recognize the role that time takes in creating bonsai. We often only post the end results.
The picture shows obvious improvement even though it will only improve more each day, it is already evident.
Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
Moving it right along on it's journey. Looking good!
BonsaiMatt
Shohin
Less messy background:
BonsaiMatt
Shohin
30 years from now... Thoughts?
faker
Mame
I think you can do it in 15! Looks great
BobbyLane
Imperial Masterpiece
i like that you grew the majority of the branches in the ground and stayed on top of the pruning while in the ground. guess it kind of dispels the myth that you cant grow branches in the ground, many will advise that you cut everything off and regrow your branches in a pot. its one reason why we see so many fat tridents with spindly looking branches that arent in scale with the trunk and takes ages to thicken up.
Youve also got nice angles in the branches and taper and they look natural a good balance of heavier low branches. good work
Youve also got nice angles in the branches and taper and they look natural a good balance of heavier low branches. good work
BonsaiMatt
Shohin
Thanks Bobby, I basically hedge pruned (gasp) the branches while letting the top grow freely for the last 1.5 years in there field.
BonsaiMatt
Shohin
Thanks! Three steps forward, two steps back, and enjoying them all.
BobbyLane
Imperial Masterpiece
yeh the same thing we do in the pot can also be applied to ground growing. depending on goals, sometimes you might wanna keep the top in check while letting a few low shoots run freely. or the opposite in your case.
misfit11
Omono
Looking great. You're doing a great job building this tree slowly and concentrating on the nebari now. I made the mistake of focusing solely on the foliar portion of my Trident and am now having to go back and fix the problems with the nebari.
Keep us posted of the development
Keep us posted of the development
BonsaiMatt
Shohin
Today I cleaned up the large wounds on this tree.
Before:
The wood in the large wound had gotten soft, so I carved it out and filled the cavity with epoxy putty. This should give the new growth something solid to grow on top of.
Cleaned out the soft wood:
Added epoxy putty:
Cut the edges of the wound to encourage further healing:
Also cleaned up the smaller wound:
Sealed up for another year:
Before:
The wood in the large wound had gotten soft, so I carved it out and filled the cavity with epoxy putty. This should give the new growth something solid to grow on top of.
Cleaned out the soft wood:
Added epoxy putty:
Cut the edges of the wound to encourage further healing:
Also cleaned up the smaller wound:
Sealed up for another year:
BonsaiMatt
Shohin
The ugly side of Bonsai... Main wound progress so far:
At harvest:
After 1 season:
After 2 seasons, sorry no pictures without wound paste:
Today, after 3 seasons:
At harvest:
After 1 season:
After 2 seasons, sorry no pictures without wound paste:
Today, after 3 seasons:
BonsaiMatt
Shohin
For some reason this tree has been weak this year, it only put out a couple sets of leaves at each bud. Makes for a pretty bonsai, but I want vigorous extensions so I can continue development. Any thoughts about what caused this?
I was thinking the aggressive repot while leaving two large sacrifice branches could have made it sulk for a few months. Another possibility: I treated it with granular clearys 3336 this year, and I have heard that that can stunt growth. So maybe I overdosed it? There are a few new shoots popping as we speak, so I'm hopeful it's recovering.
Some pics from this morning:
Growth looks like this all over the tree, just a couple sets of leaves, no real extension. It's usually a bush at this time of year.
I was thinking the aggressive repot while leaving two large sacrifice branches could have made it sulk for a few months. Another possibility: I treated it with granular clearys 3336 this year, and I have heard that that can stunt growth. So maybe I overdosed it? There are a few new shoots popping as we speak, so I'm hopeful it's recovering.
Some pics from this morning:
Growth looks like this all over the tree, just a couple sets of leaves, no real extension. It's usually a bush at this time of year.
BonsaiMatt
Shohin
I planned on removing the sacrifices this June, but after seeing the weak growth, I think I'll leave them until fall.
BobbyLane
Imperial Masterpiece
i dont find them so ugly, but then again im always walking in the parks here and its just stuff i see everyday on trees.
leatherback
The Treedeemer
First time on this thread. Did a first-last post. This is great progress. Love the tree. And seeing the wounds close gives me home for my somewhat smaller big tridents.
I find agrressive rootwork and a cold spring has slowed one of mine down, which is only now starting to extend.
I find agrressive rootwork and a cold spring has slowed one of mine down, which is only now starting to extend.
