Two new maples Japanese and trident.

[Heartagramtc]

Hello all,

I recently acquired two new maple trees. One is a Japanese maple the other is a trident. I got to visit @Smoke and got a grand tour of his establishment and got me started. I have to give a shout out since he let me pester him with random questions.

Any who, these are my first actual bonsai plants. I'm not sure the direction I'm going just yet, but Al talked me through some ideas for the Japanese maple.

So here's the JM, we talked about removing one of the branches so that way there are only 3 coming up. I'll get better pics when this Swarm of bees goes away. I have a before trim and after. Any direction on pruning or advice on how far back to trim it.





What I've done so far :




Now here is the trident, it's a split trunk. The trunk has some damage on it from the fearsome Fresnian Sciurus carolinensis. The trunk is healing but not sure if it will ever heal right. But Al had already started training this tree on some of the main branches. Any input or direction will help







Thank you for looking. I'm looking forward to all input.

P. S. Don't judge the everything dead in the background. I purposely killed it all.

 

[Eric Group]

I thought those plastic colander looked familiar! He give you any fashion tips??

Pretty cool trees man... much better than the crap i started with!

Hard to give much direction on the JM with all the leaves on it...

 

[sorce]

Nice!

I hope you snapped his thong for me!

There's always next time!

Sorce

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Nice. I'd like to see more of that Japanese maple. From what I can see, it looks like it has a lot of potential.

 

[Heartagramtc]

Here are some I hope better pictures, the back/side branch is the one we were thinking of taking out. Shown in the last picture.

 

[M. Frary]

Awesome!
The trees.
Getting to meet Al.
The whole thing.
These are trees I would cherish the rest of my life.
It's one thing buying a tree from a vendor but to get a tree that someone like Smoke has had a hand in working is something different.
Don't you think?

 

[Heartagramtc]

Yes it is, I can't wait until I can start giving personality to these.

 

[JudyB]

If Al gave you a direction to start taking these, I'd go with that for now. He has seen these up close and personal, and knows what he's about. We can only guess about flaws and the good bits from photos, so our advice will not be as accurate. Welcome to the forum, that's pretty nice starter material!

 

[Heartagramtc]

We really only talked about the Japanese maple. And taking a branch off to make it an odd number. As well as giving it a trim.

 

[Nybonsai12]

Awesome first trees. Welcome to the forum!

 

[Smoke]

Hope you have fun and many hours of learning on these trees. The trident given enough time, like about two more years will completely heal and will never know the squirrels ate it. By the time you have some branching trained the tree will have healed. Then it will be ready for a pot. Put these on the ground and allow to escape and training will be much quicker. Keeping them confined in the colander off the ground will slow the training.

I am happy to have given these away, I feel you have been biten and will be forever locked into the pursuit of bonsai. Given your penchant for collecting, I know you will grow quickly.

Some pictures of your poison dart frogs would be quite popular here. Post some up?

 

[milehigh_7]

Awesome!
The trees.
Getting to meet Al.
The whole thing.
These are trees I would cherish the rest of my life.
It's one thing buying a tree from a vendor but to get a tree that someone like Smoke has had a hand in working is something different.
Don't you think?

Same thoughts here. Al has taught me more from a distance than anyone. He's a hero of mine to be sure. I'd love to meet him one day.

Edit: As long as he's appropriately dressed.

 

[Smoke]

Same thoughts here. Al has taught me more from a distance than anyone. He's a hero of mine to be sure. I'd love to meet him one day.

Edit: As long as he's appropriately dressed.

Can't promise on the attire but I am touched.....

 

[milehigh_7]

Can't promise on the attire but I am touched.....

Alright, that's my quota of precious moments BS for the year...

 

[Smoke]

Alright, that's my quota of precious moments BS for the year...

Me too...

 

[Heartagramtc]

Haha, thanks for the tips Al. Will they be ok in the ground if I get morning sun till about 12?

I did some heavier pruning on the JM still not sure where I'm taking it, but felt it needed it.

And since you asked, here's one of my other hobbies.
Dart Frogs.
Here's my Pumilio 'Cristobal' in her 12"x12"x18" Vivarium. BTW that's a 1/2" pvc cap she's in.


Dendrobates leucomelas trio in their 24"x18"x24"



And lastly ranitomeya tarapoto in her 10gal vertical tank.



Well that's it for now.