Odd Twisted Sugar Maple, Collected from Wild and Chopped

[Conrad]

So I found this growing along a steep slope along the river that goes through our property. Its got a very weird twisted curved trunk that's got some good girth. It had two branches that were a good 15-25 Ft tall and growing sideways out of the hill. I collected it and am going to plant it in the back yard. How does it look? Think it will survive and make a nice Bonsai someday? It doesn't seem to have many small fibrous roots. How are Sugar Maples for Bonsai? Did I chop the trunk in an ok location? Should I use some Cut paste where I cut the trunks? Im in zone 4B.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Well, it is a nice piece of wood. If you can get it to root, it has some potential. I don't know sugar maple, but you might have some trouble getting it to take root with no feeder roots that survived collection. I'd enjoy it if you proved me wrong though.

 

[Dav4]

Good luck, but the out of season collection coupled with the lack of feeder roots close to the trunk make the survival of this particular tree a toss up at best. As far as bonsai suitability goes, sugar maples have large leaves and somewhat of a coarse growth habit which doesn't suit the typical bonsai design. Still, if it survives, it's got a pretty cool trunk to play around with. Again, good luck with it.

 

[Conrad]

Any suggestions on how to best improve its chances of survival? What would be the ideal season to collect, spring?

 

[Dav4]

Any suggestions on how to best improve its chances of survival? What would be the ideal season to collect, spring?

Probably not. Planting in a pot of pure pumice may help it to form roots, keeping in the shade, too. At this point, if it's planted in your yard, I'd leave it be and keep your fingers crossed. And yes, spring is the best time to collect, just before the buds swell.

 

[Conrad]

Here's another sugar maple I dug up and planted. It has recently put out some new growth at the bottom.

 

[Conrad]

So the odd twisted maple seems to have survived the transplant at least for now. I'm seeing new buds and leafs emerging.

 

[Conrad]

Maybe someday it could look like this;