Opinions on re-doing a trident maple chop in late August.

[Dav4]

 

[Dav4]

 

[Dav4]

 

[Dav4]

I wish I could have flattened the bottom of the trunk bit more...there's always next year.

 

[JudyB]

Big work on a big boy tree. Nice progress!

 

[barrosinc]

Ruthless repot!
I wouldn't have had the guts to do that.

That's how you get better trees than us newbies

 

[Dav4]

Ruthless repot!
I wouldn't have had the guts to do that.

That's how you get better trees than us newbies

As they say.... "No guts, no glory!", "Go big or go home!", "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!", and my personal favorite..."Screw it!!"



If I had this tree to work a decade ago, it would have taken me at least 2 re-pots to get where I am right now... nothing wrong with that, but it slows down the tree's development... and I ain't getting any younger.

 

[quietobserver]

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I like it. Why gnaw away endlessly with hand tools when man invented POWER TOOLS.

 

[Dav4]

I like it. Why gnaw away endlessly with hand tools when man invented POWER TOOLS.

My back still hurts this morning, and even with the die grinder and sawz-all, it still took me over 2 hours from start to finish, but I was actually able to brush my teeth this morning without help from my wife.

 

[JudyB]

I'm always amazed how certain trees can take that kind of root pruning and never skip a beat. Trident are certainly vigorous trees.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Ol' Blood & Guts, Dave! LOL. I'm looking forward to doing this work in the coming weeks.

 

[Dav4]

Ol' Blood & Guts, Dave! LOL. I'm looking forward to doing this work in the coming weeks.

Remember... go big or go home!


Oh yeah, have fun and don't cut something off either the tree or yourself that may be important down the road.

 

[Dav4]

I'm always amazed how certain trees can take that kind of root pruning and never skip a beat. Trident are certainly vigorous trees.

So true. I'm sure the tree will recover and have a descent growing season despite the removal of almost all it's toes. I honestly would have preferred more feeder roots to have remained, but there were hardly any on a couple of those heavy roots that were cut back when the tree was first collected and placed in the nursery can. There's plenty of callus there, so I'm expecting more roots where there wasn't at next re-pot. If not, I'll have some trident seedlings on the bench to root graft. I have to say, I love building these guys from the ground up!

 

[LanceMac10]

Sometimes even the pot needs a little "straightening out"...and looking at what you have done, I'm convinced we should have done more aggressive work, but ala @Smoke, we just wired that sucker hard to the bottom of the pot!!

 

[thumblessprimate1]

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I like the idea of how you suspended the maple to work on the roots. Hope you didn't have to do that alone. Looks super heavy. I was pondering what I could do for one of my large stumps. I might do the opposite as what you've done.

 

[Dav4]

I like the idea of how you suspended the maple to work on the roots. Hope you didn't have to do that alone. Looks super heavy. I was pondering what I could do for one of my large stumps. I might do the opposite as what you've done.

I do everything bonsai OR home improvement related alone... you either become someone who learns to think outside the box or incredibly frustrated that you've made 10 trips from the basement to the attic and your little 3 way light switch still isn't working. By the way, when you say "opposite", what do you mean? Perhaps you've got a trick up your sleeve and I've got 2 more raw stumps like this to work soon.

 

[thumblessprimate1]

I do everything bonsai OR home improvement related alone... you either become someone who learns to think outside the box or incredibly frustrated that you've made 10 trips from the basement to the attic and your little 3 way light switch still isn't working. By the way, when you say "opposite", what do you mean? Perhaps you've got a trick up your sleeve and I've got 2 more raw stumps like this to work soon.

You have your tree suspended so by opposite, I'm thinking of just having my stump, my giant crape myrtle supported by a surface. It doesn't really have any side branches to get in the way, and it's already full of scars. Thought I might use a few large screws to secure the stump to a sturdy wooden surface with the bottom of the tree facing out. Whip out a chainsaw or reciprocating saw and cut away.

BTW, I called my supplier this morning. He's going to hook me up with some Trident maple seedlings for root grafts! There's a price, but it's fair as I'm buying locally.

 

[Smoke]

I'm always amazed how certain trees can take that kind of root pruning and never skip a beat. Trident are certainly vigorous trees.

Vigorous, yes......indestructable...no....we'll see. Hope I'm not right

 

[wireme]

My back still hurts this morning, and even with the die grinder and sawz-all, it still took me over 2 hours from start to finish, but I was actually able to brush my teeth this morning without help from my wife.

Have you noticed SK mentioning how he uses an angle grinder with a sanding pad to help flatten bases? Sounds like a pretty good idea, you've got a couple more to do, got an angle grinder?

 

[Dav4]

Have you noticed SK mentioning how he uses an angle grinder with a sanding pad to help flatten bases? Sounds like a pretty good idea, you've got a couple more to do, got an angle grinder?

Wish I did, but no. You can bet I'd go that route if I had one.