coh
Imperial Masterpiece
So...I have this Japanese maple, deshojo, that I picked up a few years ago. Not a spectacular specimen, but I wanted a deshojo and saw some potential in this one. It had what looked like some decent surface roots. I've spent a couple of years reducing the top (including my first air layer) but was bothered by the lack of taper in the lowest part of the trunk. Last year I figured I'd try grafting a branch low on the trunk to see if I could change that.
I had to go with an approach graft because the buds had already extended, so threading would require a relatively large hole. I put the graft on the back side of the trunk, coming out on the left side. Everything went smoothly, I cut a channel that held the branch well, carefully wired and bent the donor branch into position. But...when I went to attach the graft I realized I didn't have any pins. Duh! Well, this was my first approach graft and obviously I hadn't thought it through. My solution, which was intended to be temporary, was to wrap the graft with raffia and hold it in place with some wire.
You probably know how this is going to end...
I got busy with things and forgot about the graft. Oops. OOPS. When I unwrapped the wire and the raffia this past week, I found this:
Nasty depression in the trunk right above the roots. Ugh. On the bright side, the graft appears to have been successful.
Any chance this can be remedied without having to air layer and start all over? I've been pondering this, thinking of putting in a thread graft or two right in the affected region. Or maybe shaving down the ridges a little until the narrow section between catches up.
I suspect that there will always be evidence of this mistake no matter what I do...after all, Bill V has a maple (koto hime, I think?) that still has a mark on the trunk from wire that cut in 20 or 30 years ago.
Any suggestions? Can this possibly be saved without layering off the base?
Chris
I had to go with an approach graft because the buds had already extended, so threading would require a relatively large hole. I put the graft on the back side of the trunk, coming out on the left side. Everything went smoothly, I cut a channel that held the branch well, carefully wired and bent the donor branch into position. But...when I went to attach the graft I realized I didn't have any pins. Duh! Well, this was my first approach graft and obviously I hadn't thought it through. My solution, which was intended to be temporary, was to wrap the graft with raffia and hold it in place with some wire.
You probably know how this is going to end...
I got busy with things and forgot about the graft. Oops. OOPS. When I unwrapped the wire and the raffia this past week, I found this:
Nasty depression in the trunk right above the roots. Ugh. On the bright side, the graft appears to have been successful.
Any chance this can be remedied without having to air layer and start all over? I've been pondering this, thinking of putting in a thread graft or two right in the affected region. Or maybe shaving down the ridges a little until the narrow section between catches up.
I suspect that there will always be evidence of this mistake no matter what I do...after all, Bill V has a maple (koto hime, I think?) that still has a mark on the trunk from wire that cut in 20 or 30 years ago.
Any suggestions? Can this possibly be saved without layering off the base?
Chris
