Maple trunk chop

[xaviguti]

Not sure if this is feasible but... I found this tree in Facebook marketplace for free. It's a lace JM. Owner was going to cut it and grind down the roots and stub. I went to check it out and it was way too big to fit in my car. Through some research I found out you can trunk chop Japanese maples hardcore so this is what I did but then I ran out of juice since the tree was planted really low. The root flare is a foot down from the base you see in the pictures. After more research I found out you want to do this after the first leaves harden but because it was in the shade it didn't even have buds. I did scratch it in many places and it's alive for sure. I am going there on Monday to finish taking it out and transplanting it to a place in my yard. Can I split this trunk??? Or cut below the scion to use the Green Acer P? Is it worth it? ... The picture with my hand is the widest part where the two branches have fused. It is 6 inches wide.... Any ideas would be greatly appreciated since this is my first big project. Thanks in advance

 

[PonderingSage:]

It looks like you are committed. If it was not in leaf you might me ok.
Next time, leave the trunk tall when you dig that way you have a lever to rock it back and forth

 

[xaviguti]

It looks like you are committed. If it was not in leaf you might me ok.
Next time, leave the trunk tall when you dig that way you have a lever to rock it back and forth

It's 3 feet tall right now. 4 feet once I dig down all the way to the root flare so once I chop the roots around I can definitely use it as a lever

 

[Shibui]

JM usually cope quite well at transplant and hard chop but occasionally for no apparent reason part of the trunk will die off.
Chop before or at leaf out is quite OK when done in conjunction with cutting roots so no real problem with your timing.

You've already recognised the trunk is grafted and presumably know the ramifications of that.

It is possible to layer the lace leaf scion off with a shorter section of root stock trunk but I would not try that until the tree has recovered from transplant and growing strong again.
It is possible to use the green leaf lower trunk but is it worth it? Looks like you'll have a straight trunk with no taper and a very large cut. Not my idea of great bonsai material. It will take many years to grow and develop a new trunk line and branches and to close a large cut. Maybe you're happy to devote that time to a project? I've found it is often quicker to start from scratch and the results are often much better than a stump conversion anyway.

When you dig there's no real need to retain long roots on JM. I generally chop large roots to around 1 trunk diameter long when transplanting any maple. Maple roots are quite capable of developing new roots from the exposed cambium at the ends of chopped roots. That happens equally well whether the roots are cut long or cut short.

I'm actually surprised that the roots are so deep. Normally JM will sprout new roots wherever the trunk is buried so even when originally planted deep you'll get lots of new roots all round the buried part of the trunk.

Good luck with the project.

 

[xaviguti]

JM usually cope quite well at transplant and hard chop but occasionally for no apparent reason part of the trunk will die off.
Chop before or at leaf out is quite OK when done in conjunction with cutting roots so no real problem with your timing.

You've already recognised the trunk is grafted and presumably know the ramifications of that.

It is possible to layer the lace leaf scion off with a shorter section of root stock trunk but I would not try that until the tree has recovered from transplant and growing strong again.
It is possible to use the green leaf lower trunk but is it worth it? Looks like you'll have a straight trunk with no taper and a very large cut. Not my idea of great bonsai material. It will take many years to grow and develop a new trunk line and branches and to close a large cut. Maybe you're happy to devote that time to a project? I've found it is often quicker to start from scratch and the results are often much better than a stump conversion anyway.

When you dig there's no real need to retain long roots on JM. I generally chop large roots to around 1 trunk diameter long when transplanting any maple. Maple roots are quite capable of developing new roots from the exposed cambium at the ends of chopped roots. That happens equally well whether the roots are cut long or cut short.

I'm actually surprised that the roots are so deep. Normally JM will sprout new roots wherever the trunk is buried so even when originally planted deep you'll get lots of new roots all round the buried part of the trunk.

Good luck with the project.

Thanks for all those points and your time responding to my post. I'll take them into consideration. I'm not sure why it didn't produce more roots but the top soil seemed to be caked up mulch. Do you know about trunk splitting a maple for dead wood???...(in this case probably after two growing seasons)
From more research I guess the lace maple gets their leaves scorched around my area so I won't be air layering it so I'm trying to find a way to do something with the bottom straight trunk. I do have a corner in my yard where it can grow just as an experiment.

 

[Shibui]

Do you know about trunk splitting a maple for dead wood???...(in this case probably after two growing seasons)

Not sure what you are getting at? I can think of several different possibilities you might be thinking of. We need to be on the same page for any reply to be useful.

 

[xaviguti]

Not sure what you are getting at? I can think of several different possibilities you might be thinking of. We need to be on the same page for any reply to be useful.

Sorry for confusing ya. Basically, I think I want to cut below the scion to get rid of the lace maple top section and then once it gets strength back, splitting the trunk and making two bonsais that are 2 1/2 inches thick in diameter each instead of 5 and adding some movement this way. Obviously one side will be deadwood. I've seen Peter Chan do this in a couple of videos but just with conifers and much less thick

 

[Shibui]

Gotcha now.

There's still strong prejudice against deciduous with deadwood but if you like the look I have no problem. I have a few maples with partly dead trunks here and quite like how they look.
Not sure how splitting the trunk will add movement. The grain in the trunk is very likely straight so should just split straight down. I guess some subsequent carving could add taper and possibly a bit of a twist to the live parts. Carving thick trunks after a severe chop seems to be the best way to make them look less like a stump. It can take 10-20 years for a large chop to heal and a new leader to grow to match the thick stump below.

 

[AshleyMammal]

Personally, (and btw, i'm still learning) I would chop very low on this one and grow out a couple of new leaders from the base. As @Shibui has said, it might take 10-20 years to get your new leader to match in terms of nice taper for your typical informal upright.

However, I would get creative on this one, once a few new leaders are growing strongly, i'd get the powertools out and carve the heck out of it - check out @BobbyLane , his deciduous carving is seriously impressive. I'd be looking at sumo style bonsai for inspiration and the stump carving work of Harry Harrington and Graham Potter.

In my opinion, there is absolutely nothing to be gained by splitting the trunk to create two substandard trees when you could create one good tree. Peter Chan was a great inspiration for me when first starting out, and his work encouraged me massively, however, some of his methods scare the heck out of me now!