Vine maple

[dick benbow]

The longer I'm in thi hobby the more I find myself being drawn to local trees here in the Pacific Northwest. Last fall I dug a few small Vine maples (nothing special) and they seemed to winter over just fine. So my intent is to lean by doing hands on. I typed in the advance search to get some background but nothing came up.
So I thought I'd ask for those who have gone before, if they had some knowledge they'd be willing to share.

 

[Jason]

The longer I'm in thi hobby the more I find myself being drawn to local trees here in the Pacific Northwest. Last fall I dug a few small Vine maples (nothing special) and they seemed to winter over just fine. So my intent is to lean by doing hands on. I typed in the advance search to get some background but nothing came up.
So I thought I'd ask for those who have gone before, if they had some knowledge they'd be willing to share.

Dick,

I've been messing around with this species (Acer circinatum) for a few years and may not know any more than you do already.

Heres what I've found: On the upside they seem to do fine with root disturbance and they have excellent fall color. As you are aware, in the PNW they are readily available and you can collect some trunks with real girth. On the downside, they have long internodes, large leaves (which I have not yet tried to reduce in any significant way), and you have to monitor them closely for inverse taper (they like to sprout more than two shoots at a node). They like to sucker as well but this can be advantageous for getting good basal flare.

Given what I know it seems like they might make ok medium to large bonsai and would be difficult for smaller sizes. They do well in the shade in moist soil (or soil with smaller particle size) since they are an understory tree.

It seems like there is some information on them in some of the Gustafson books. M. Hagedorn, and Greg Brenden are among some of the people who seem to work on them some. I think I saw one once in Ryan Neils collection among the juniper and pines. I'm sure there are lots of others in this area of the country that find them intriguing. I've seen them planted in landscapes around my area (even in shopping malls). I have many in my yard. Most of these were initially collected for possible bonsai material when I was out in the Pacific Coast Range. I've let some of them with less potential 'escape' into full blown tree status.

I hope this helps a little or at least confirms some of what you already know.

Jason

PS. Since you brought up the subject I'd be interested to know what your Washington contingent has to say about them. I have a hard time believing that Dave Degroot or some of the Elandan Garden folk (Victrinia, Eric) don't have some knowledge on them and their culture. I wonder if they have ever displayed one at the Pacific Rim Collection.

 

[dick benbow]

thanks for your reply. I know we don't have one in the collection. I'll see david saturday and will ask him personally what he knows about them. (he'll be jurying a stone show scheduled for the end of the month). I work with Victrinia on the 23rd of this month, so I'll see what she has to say.

 

[garywood]

Dick,like Jason, I've "played" around with a few collected but Hagedorn has been seriously working with them as well as Greg. Hagedorn has a few collected clumps with slender, elegant trunks that rival JM. The internodes, as Jason said, need attention until getting it under control. To me it is one of those under-utilized trees.

 

[dick benbow]

michael gets up here on occassion with his study group at bonsai NW. I'll have to ask him or encourage him to elaborate on his blog. thanks

 

[RKatzin]

Hi Dick, The Vine Maple is related to Acer palmatum in the series Palmata and is the only member of this series to occur outside of Asia. Apply what you know about Acer p. which also has big leaf and long internode, but are quite common.

I feel this tree is way understated and under-utilized. Some of the developed cultivars a very appealing.

As a matter of fact- I have recently brushed out three+ miles of mountain road and the main culprit was, you guessed it, Vine Maple. There are at least a dozen good sized clumpy clusters growing along the road side that need to be removed. I would consider these to be of premium stock for anyone interested. I will be digging as many as I can get out before the grader moves in.

As far as collecting goes I find you can pull them like weeds. Cut the big roots, get a prybar under it and pop it out of the ground. I don't do that, I'm just saying it's that easy, I use a shovel. I have one I'm growing that I found by the side of the road. It had been snatched out of the ground by an off-road quad and laid there for a week before I came along.

I have this thing about Vine Maple (can you tell?) and that is I want to create a scene with these trees the way they exist in nature. They are wispy and ethereal, seeming to defy gravity and just float above the forest floor.

I have a few experimental projects in the works here at the shop, but I'm not to the defining stages yet. I have cut alot of VM in the woods and seen the result of hard prunning and re-cutting repeatedly over time, such as roadside trees, and these trees are tough and hardy and reduce well if defoliated. Boy! Vine Maple, don't get me started.... Rick

 

[TyroTinker]

Hi Dick, The Vine Maple is related to Acer palmatum in the series Palmata and is the only member of this series to occur outside of Asia. Apply what you know about Acer p. which also has big leaf and long internode, but are quite common.

I feel this tree is way understated and under-utilized. Some of the developed cultivars a very appealing.

As a matter of fact- I have recently brushed out three+ miles of mountain road and the main culprit was, you guessed it, Vine Maple. There are at least a dozen good sized clumpy clusters growing along the road side that need to be removed. I would consider these to be of premium stock for anyone interested. I will be digging as many as I can get out before the grader moves in.

As far as collecting goes I find you can pull them like weeds. Cut the big roots, get a prybar under it and pop it out of the ground. I don't do that, I'm just saying it's that easy, I use a shovel. I have one I'm growing that I found by the side of the road. It had been snatched out of the ground by an off-road quad and laid there for a week before I came along.

I have this thing about Vine Maple (can you tell?) and that is I want to create a scene with these trees the way they exist in nature. They are wispy and ethereal, seeming to defy gravity and just float above the forest floor.

I have a few experimental projects in the works here at the shop, but I'm not to the defining stages yet. I have cut alot of VM in the woods and seen the result of hard prunning and re-cutting repeatedly over time, such as roadside trees, and these trees are tough and hardy and reduce well if defoliated. Boy! Vine Maple, don't get me started.... Rick

Has anything come from these experiments so far, that you are willing to share?

 

[RKatzin]

Not long after this post I suffered a debilitating injury, a bullet to the neck, long story, but the short end is I survived. Still carry 7.6grams of copper jacketed lead in my lower back.
The incident took me out of commission for a while as far as digging and lifting or even tramping around in the woods. My energies have been focused on down sizing my collection.
I do have a couple of vines on the bench and have located dozens of collectables that are slated for collecting this coming spring. Definitely need help, bringing a shovel, I'll buy the beers.

 

[TyroTinker]

Wow I’m sorry to hear that. Glad you pulled through. I’m was surprised to learn (earlier this year) that they don’t actually take out the bullet sometimes unlike in tv/movies. Are they gonna take yours out sometime in the future?