We're gonna need a bigger pot

[KayakKevin]

I found a lovely Coral Bark Japanese Maple today and purchased it with the intention of doing a trunk chop. It does not appear to be a grafted tree. It is about 6ft tall.

My current plan is to do a trunk chop in maybe late January then let sit for another year until a repot the following spring. Is this timeline okay for a tree like this? It appears healthy apart from a little heat scorch due to Texas's INSANE heat .

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Shogun610]

@HorseloverFat shall provide you with a welcome message (shuffles feet)

 

[August]

@HorseloverFat shall provide you with a welcome message (shuffles feet)

I thought that was @sorce 's job. Umm. *taps mic* ahem. Welcome to crazy?

 

[HorseloverFat]

The "welcome wagon" hat is worn by a handful. Sorce AND I (mongst others) included.

Greetings, traveler! You must've seen the ceremonial fires.. lots of deer tongue, papaver and hemp straw, mullein, mugwort drift in and out of birch and cherry wood...

The Woody dwarves (pa-is) have forseen your arrival and stoked the fires thusly.

This place is a fantastic communal, interactive library of knowledge and experience...

...read what you need...

...then start filling your own shelves.

Pleasure to make your acquaintance!

 

[mwar15]

Looks grafted to me

 

[Shogun610]

The "welcome wagon" hat is worn by a handful. Sorce AND I (mongst others) included.

Greetings, traveler! You must've seen the ceremonial fires.. lots of deer tongue, papaver and hemp straw, mullein, mugwort drift in and out of birch and cherry wood...

The Woody dwarves (pa-is) have forseen your arrival and stoked the fires thusly.

This place is a fantastic communal, interactive library of knowledge and experience...

...read what you need...

...then start filling your own shelves.

Pleasure to make your acquaintance!

You’re a master at these greetings (bows profusely and enthusiastically)

 

[caffeinated]

I'd consider doing the repot first so you can use all the foliage on the existing tree to help repair and regrow roots. Trunk chops are generally safer bets during the growing season as the tree can quickly start compartmentalizing the new huge wound and forming callous tissue, rather than during winter when the tree is largely inactive and would leave a gaping wound to be addressed more slowly.

 

[Shibui]

I would also repot and root prune at the first opportunity. Commercial grown trees for landscape. Nobody cares what the roots look like so the seedling root stocks have usually just been shoved into pots and may have very tangled roots. Best to sort that out as soon as possible as small root problems only ever become bigger root problems as the trees grow.
With JM there's no problem doing trunk chop and root reduction in one operation. I've done around 100 today (winter down here) with roots chopped back to stubs. I expect 100% success and good growth come spring.

I agree that the tree appears to be grafted but the graft is low and quite neat so should not be a problem for bonsai. Quite unusual for commercial operators to grow cuttings and not possible to propagate named cultivars from seed.

 

[AJL]

Welcome to the Nuthouse!
I suggest you dont simply chop it and waste all that healthy top growth, when you could easily air- layer the top sections , perhaps in 3 places ,then you would have several new trees to play with for no extra cost as well as the stump!!
Im dont know what your climate is like in Oklahoma but air layering is normally best started in late spring after the first flush of leaves have hardened off, and the layers could then be ready for separating by mid summer next year and you could then complete your planned chop.

 

[KayakKevin]

Thanks for all the suggestions. You guys are right! It does look grafted very low right by the soil. That makes me happy as I wanted to keep the coral bark. Air layering was a possibility as well, but I am unsure how that will take in the middle of a hot summer in OK.

 

[Mikecheck123]

Welcome to the Nuthouse!
I suggest you dont simply chop it and waste all that healthy top growth, when you could easily air- layer the top sections , perhaps in 3 places ,then you would have several new trees to play with for no extra cost as well as the stump!!
Im dont know what your climate is like in Oklahoma but air layering is normally best started in late spring after the first flush of leaves have hardened off, and the layers could then be ready for separating by mid summer next year and you could then complete your planned chop.

Coral bark are one of the easiest Japanese maples to air layer.

 

[KayakKevin]

The graft does look pretty low.

 

[AJL]

Thanks for all the suggestions. You guys are right! It does look grafted very low right by the soil. That makes me happy as I wanted to keep the coral bark. Air layering was a possibility as well, but I am unsure how that will take in the middle of a hot summer in OK.

Youve got nothing to lose by trying an air layer on the top section now!!

 

[coltranem]

The graft does look pretty low.

Possibly. I depends how far down the roots start. If this is your first tree I wouldn't worry about airlayers right now. Follow others advice on root pruning and trunk chopping.

 

[Shibui]

Possibly. I depends how far down the roots start.

My thoughts too. many commercial propagated trees are planted deep in the pot each time they are potted on. Sometimes the roots are well down under the soil surface.

 

[sorce]

Yak up till they crack up!

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[TrimmyWhimmy]

I would definitely wait for a successful air layer before trunk chopping.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Great graft. Curious where is coral bark?

 

[Mikecheck123]

Great graft. Curious where is coral bark?

It's only coral in the winter. During the summer it's often lime green.