Sean’s Japanese Maples

[SaltySea]

Wow that growth is explosive! I'm very envious. Here in the UK, i would not get this kind of growth in February (mid winter) as we'd still have low temps and short daylight hours.

 

[SeanS]

That's some insane growth, what are you fertilizing with, strength and frequency?

Nothing yet, this is all natural

 

[SeanS]

Did the first cut back and thinning for the season on this JM today. Forgot to take an after photo, I’ll post one tomorrow

 

[jason biggs]

Your Jo'burg climate seems perfect for the maples...
in the lowveld summer they would get hammered
Your trees are coming along nicely.

 

[RockyGrowth]

Sean, what do you use for soil when it comes to seeds and developing plants?

 

[Pugs]

Did the first cut back and thinning for the season on this JM today. Forgot to take an after photo, I’ll post one tomorrow

View attachment 569221

Is it tomorrow yet?

 

[Branderplank]

I would like to know hw

Your Jo'burg climate seems perfect for the maples...
in the lowveld summer they would get hammered
Your trees are coming along nicely.

I would like to know how he keeps the leaves in good condition this time of year. I'm in Pretoria and my Tridents and Japanese got roasted this past week. The new buds simply turn into dry crust.

 

[SeanS]

I would like to know hw

I would like to know how he keeps the leaves in good condition this time of year. I'm in Pretoria and my Tridents and Japanese got roasted this past week. The new buds simply turn into dry crust.

i have them under 40% shade net and I make sure they get enough water. I water twice a day, sometimes with a 3rd spot watering for plants that are a bit dry by the time I get home from work.
I have an automated watering system on all of my benches for the days in at the office.

 

[SeanS]

Been a while since I posted any JM updates.

Finally got around to working on a large ROR JM. I lifted it from my grow bed in spring and have let it grow since then. I started this tree by placing 3 seedlings over the rock 3 seasons ago. Spring 2023 I lifted the tree and grafted a few more seedlings to the existing seedlings to add more roots and trunk options.

The rock. It has a nice overhang on the right side. I positioned roots to hug the rock under the overhang. Eventually the tree will be potted up in a bonsai pot with the undercut part elevated above the soil line.



Previous spring when I lifted it to add more seedings. It went back in the grow bed for another season.




Yesterday before any work





Unfortunately the 3 main trunks are almost perfectly symmetrically spaced, so I had to make some decisions to try to rectify that spacing. The plan is to remove the middle main trunk and only use the smaller sub trunk that I grafted the previous spring. I performed an Ebihara style wedge cut to start the process of removing the trunk, eventually cutting it back to the smaller branch/trunk.
The straight section of main left trunk will also be removed and replaced with a new grafted trunkline line that I thread grafted yesterday.



Wedge cut in the centre trunk. Graft on the left trunk that will eventually become the main tree of the composition (hopefully )




Hoping to build it out to look something like this



The rock reminds me of the rock in this Kokufu level JM

 

[SeanS]

Worked on a smaller ROR earlier this week. I started this ROR in 2021 with a cutting and grew it in a pot for the growing season. Spring 2022 I grafted a seedling through the original cutting to add foliage closer to the rock. It then spent 2 seasons in one of my grow beds. This past spring I lifted it and potted it up.

It grew very well since then and developed terrible inverse taper from all of the shoots that popped from the same spot Luckily there was a usable trunkline on the original backside of the tree so I started the process of reducing the tree to use this new front.





Wedge cut to remove the top part of the trunk

 

[clem]

Hello, i cross fingers for your project too .
Is this wire perpendicular to the trunk tight? If yes, i'm afraid it will mark the bark quickly when the tree is growing.

 

[clem]

Wedge cut to remove the top part of the trunk

View attachment 578976

You didn't cut the top part of the trunk because you fear a sapp withdraw ?

 

[SeanS]

Hello, i cross fingers for your project too .
Is this wire perpendicular to the trunk tight? If yes, i'm afraid it will mark the bark quickly when the tree is growing.
View attachment 578978

@clem its the loose end of the wire around the whip that I used for the graft, it’s a loose hook around the trunk to keep the graft in place

 

[SeanS]

You didn't cut the top part of the trunk because you fear a sapp withdraw ?

Yes, instead of cutting the trunk (or a thick branch) off completely you cut a wedge out of it first, halfway through. Then you let the wound start healing and once Galway healed you remove the rest of the trunk/branch. I’ve used it many times when removing thick branches or sections of trunk.
It helps to reduce die back and gets the wound moving a bit faster as you still have sap flowing past it because of the foliage you’ve left in place.

You can see a photo of the technique in this post by @markyscott

 

[clem]

Yes, instead of cutting the trunk (or a thick branch) off completely you cut a wedge out of it first, halfway through. Then you let the wound start healing and once Galway healed you remove the rest of the trunk/branch. I’ve used it many times when removing thick branches or sections of trunk.
It helps to reduce die back and gets the wound moving a bit faster as you still have sap flowing past it because of the foliage you’ve left in place.

You can see a photo of the technique in this post by @markyscott

Thanks. It could be even more interesting if the formation of the scar callus is faster by keeping a piece of living branch.

 

[SeanS]

Shohin ROR



August 2021