Nursery Japanese Red Maple (Acer palmatum atropurpureum)

[Fallen_Reality]

I have just purchased a Japanese Red Maple (Acer palmatum atropurpureum). It is still very young, and needs to grow some before I can do much with it. As you can see, it is about as thick as a No. 2 pencil, with two trunks. I have been doing some rudimentary research into bonsai both online and in libraries, and know a bit of the basics. I want some growth closer to the base, but don't know how much I can prune or when it should be done. Also, I don't know much about bud pruning/pinching, or ramification. Repotting and root pruning should be done while it is dormant, correct?

I live in Illinois, hardiness zone 5b.



I know it has leaf scorch, they all were like that, and I am limited in my selections of plants. How can I prevent it from happening again?

 

[Bill S]

If you are going to do a pencil thin red maple 5b is fine, but you will want it in the ground growing for some years. Leaf size doesn't change much so a larger bonsai would be in order, I dare say most bonsai are grown from a larger tree cut down to a smaller version. It will take your tree several years to get to training size.

 

[gergwebber]

cutting that tree way back may be counter productive as it will probably be grafted (hopefully very near the base but probably ~3"-8" from the soil) and in the pursuit of taper, you may cut almost all of the tree back. ideally I would do this in spring before buds swell, cutting back to a low side branch(everyone does this their own way, early cuts waste less nutrients and ensure explosive new growth while in my opinion, later cuts tend to heal better) ... seriously, you may want to develop the two branches into nice looking bonsai individually and air layer them later on....

but good news is you are new to bonsai, so to heck with the serious opinionated folk! I have a 10 year old Japanese maple that I started when I began bonsai and it was like yours, a nice cultivar grafted to plain old acer palmatum. it has fairly poor taper, horrible nebari and big ugly graft about 3" off the soil. I still love it and see it as a living memory of my bonsai experience. (though I have and will again this year air layer sections)

on another tangent:
one of the best pinching/pruning/form training aids for bonsai beginners is actually a large Japanese maple in the landscape. you get to cultivate your "pruning sense" and eye on a forgiving, hearty and fast growing tree that may even act as a backdrop to your future collection(or air layer mother) hope these ideas help.

 

[Ang3lfir3]

on another tangent:
one of the best pinching/pruning/form training aids for bonsai beginners is actually a large Japanese maple in the landscape. you get to cultivate your "pruning sense" and eye on a forgiving, hearty and fast growing tree that may even act as a backdrop to your future collection(or air layer mother) hope these ideas help.

totally agree!!!!!! I spent much of my early apprenticeship (does it ever really end) working on landscape material as well as bonsai material ... the principles are _often_ the same and it helps reinforce them. Great to see the results of 3-4 hrs spent pruning a large Acer P. that you thought looked good to begin with. Daniel also being a master landscape artist helps ...

 

[QuintinBonsai]

I know it has leaf scorch, they all were like that, and I am limited in my selections of plants. How can I prevent it from happening again?

That happens to my Japanese Maples as well. They do have this spray called Wilt Stop that can be applied to plants to prevent sun damage. It's made of pine resin.