Acer Negundo

[Kingpoutine]

I have had this Manitoba maple for maybe 3 year. Originally growing wild in my yard. When I dug it up it had one large tap root so I’m actually pretty happy with how far the root system has came. Now to struggle with leaf size. Internode length and branching….. lol

Im relatively knew to bonsai and still more just messing around…. Help critique welcomed.

 

[AlainK]

Are you sure it's Acer negundo ?
Acer negundo have compound leaves, whereas yours seems to have palmate leaves...

 

[Potawatomi13]

Right growing technique, good trunk movement, beginnings of branching, fairly short internodes. Suggest growing larger tree for better scale leaves. Perhaps cut back to first branch for more trunk movement and wire movement as soon as hardened off mid summer. Tree ID incorrect but cannot ID personally.

 

[Kingpoutine]

I was actually debating cutting it back further to that branch because the top has a large straight section.

I’ve always been under the impression these are “ Manitoba Maples” which to knowledge are the same as a box elder….. but maybe they are different ?

The leafs look very similar to this or am I missing something.

 

[ghildt]

This really look like a Negundo.

We only see the terminal leaflet of any single compound leaf, and side leaflets are camouflaged in the green mass.


Sometimes, terminal leaflet is palmated.

 

[HorseloverFat]

Right growing technique, good trunk movement, beginnings of branching, fairly short internodes. Suggest growing larger tree for better scale leaves. Perhaps cut back to first branch for more trunk movement and wire movement as soon as hardened off mid summer. Tree ID incorrect but cannot ID personally.

Nope... It's a Negundo.

Look harder.


(Completely agree about the size/scale goals due to larger leaves)

 

[HorseloverFat]

Are you sure it's Acer negundo ?
Acer negundo have compound leaves, whereas yours seems to have palmate leaves...

Look closer.



I cull HUNDREDS of these trees, each year.

Can't just look at the tip/leader "leaf".. because that's only part of the compound.

 

[AlainK]

Oh, OK. I had a closer look and though the photo is a bit small you're probably right.

 

[HorseloverFat]

It IS not the most commonly SEEN example of Negundo, however.. as they are HUGELY varied genetically, and produce an irritating amount of seed.

It appears to exhibit a waxy, or possibly latent glossy leaf trait, along with a very strong "trident-like"(the shape, not the tree ((I know, I know))) primary leaf..

My FIRST thought was "that leaf looks like a large shantung (Acer Truncatum)!



I'm biased because I "deal with" these guys a lot! Aggressive, weed-tree. (Personal opinion, it's JUUUUST warm enough here for them to be an issue!)

 

[Cmd5235]

I'm working on a few myself, but I'm keeping the size huge- three feet or more- as they have very coarse growth. I only collected two that had trunks thicker than a soda can for just that reason. There's a few people on here that have some, but they really aren't that great of material.

My suggestions to you would be this: either put it in a large pot to really thicken the trunk up over the next 5 years to give it a chance based on scale, or keep it as you have it and use it as a tree to practice defoliation/grafts/ground layering on, knowing it will only be a practice tree.

Notice I didn't say to throw it out- if you have the time and effort, go for it. But just know that not all of our trees (certainly mine included) will be great some day. However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy the trees that we have and use them to our advantage to help us understand and master bonsai principles. Don't be surprised or defensive if people give you some negative comments on this thread either, as acer negundo deserve it, when compared to other species (including other native acers).

 

[Kingpoutine]

Looked kinda ok today

 

[AlainK]

Looked kinda ok today

Er...

No wonder you chose an alias as "kingpoutine"...



Slava Ukraini !