Rudd’s Japanese Maple #1

[Ruddigger]

Good evolution
On the apex, there is a candelabra shape, with inversion of taper.
..
If it was mine, i would thread graft another apex on a lower section of the trunk (to replace the actual apex). The goal is to get a nice (elegant) apex i the future ->

Thanks Clem. I agree the apex needs to be rebuilt, but I’d prefer to see it come back to the left, instead of further right. My plan is to thread graft a branch where your drawing did, if a bud doesnt pop there, and use a portion of the current apex to build out to the left, while eliminating the forward right apical branch. We’ll see how it grows next year. Illustration below:

 

[namnhi]

Thanks Clem. I agree the apex needs to be rebuilt, but I’d prefer to see it come back to the left, instead of further right. My plan is to thread graft a branch where your drawing did, if a bud doesnt pop there, and use a portion of the current apex to build out to the left, while eliminating the forward right apical branch. We’ll see how it grows next year. Illustration below:
View attachment 578164

The first branch on the right seems to grow up at a much stiffer angle than the rest. This makes it look out of place compared to the rest. Could you cut off the top, the part after the first branch on that branch then graft a new branch in that place?

 

[Ruddigger]

The first branch on the right seems to grow up at a much stiffer angle than the rest. This makes it look out of place compared to the rest. Could you cut off the top, the part after the first branch on that branch then graft a new branch in that place?

I could. I wouldnt even need to graft, I could fill it with other branches. But I kind of like embracing the weird naturalness of it. Maybe I’ll change my mind at some point.

 

[clem]

I could. I wouldnt even need to graft, I could fill it with other branches. But I kind of like embracing the weird naturalness of it. Maybe I’ll change my mind at some point.

+1 I find that this rather large, imposing, and lively branche give it character and a "unique" side. I think it's a good idea to keep it too.
Let's cross fingers for the air layer succes.

 

[Ruddigger]

Inspecting the ground layer, I got very good new roots above the cut. I removed most of the original rootbase and repotted into the same grow box.

 

[Ruddigger]

No real Fall color this year. Defoliated and cut waaay back this time. I want to work on thickening up some of the small primaries next year, and creating some new primary branches as well. I see more thread grafts coming in the future.

 

[MACH5]

Glad you're keeping that upward growing branch on the right. The cadence of the branch structure should vary. If all branches were grown in the same way, angles, length, etc the tree is bound to look predictable, mechanical and boring. I often make the comparison when you are composing a piece of music. You don't wanna use the same note over and over again. This is certainly true for me on medium to large trees. Shohin... a different animal.

 

[Ruddigger]

Glad you're keeping that upward growing branch on the right. The cadence of the branch structure should vary. If all branches were grown in the same way, angles, length, etc the tree is bound to look predictable, mechanical and boring. I often make the comparison when you are composing a piece of music. You don't wanna use the same note over and over again. This is certainly true for me on medium to large trees. Shohin... a different animal.

Thank you for so eloquently expressing that. There’s a certain character to trees that don't follow the formula exactly. I like to try to incorporate an odd character branch when possible, but articulating why often escapes me.

 

[leatherback]

nice progression, thx

 

[palafr01]

Beautiful tree. Nice progression...

 

[bonsaibandit]

I’ve been staring at the apex trying to figure out what you did to make it look that way and can’t quite figure it out. Either way it looks 100 times better with whatever chop, bends etc you did. Excellent work!

 

[Ruddigger]

Repotted this morning and added two root grafts.

Roots as they looked when removed from the grow box:


After removing some bits of leftover trunk from below the ground layer and removing roots that didn’t work:


After adding two root grafts to the gaps on the left:


Root spread after work:


Repotted back into the Tokutake pot now that the ground later is completed:

 

[bonsaibandit]

Do you find thread grafts work better than approach for root grafting?

 

[Ruddigger]

@bonsaibandit I have 100% sucess rate with thread grafts, and they're easier to do. For me anyway.