Acer palmatum 'Ryusen'

[DonielDoom]

I just pulled this from the garden bed yesterday. I applied a moss covering today.

It needed to get a bit more shelter from the summer sun. Stopping that single large surface root from getting too big was also on my mind.

The voice in the back of my head says "you should've chanced the sun, or shaded it in another way, and air layered that rootstock off instead!". Oh well! Getting rid of the graft will need to happen. Room to grow in my planning, no doubt!

 

[DonielDoom]

June 2022


November 2022


May 2023

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I love the weeping growth habit of this cultivar! I have one that I potted up in a landscape pot on my back patio. Note that I just wired up a new apex to stack the foliage a little higher. And you're right about grafting scars... this particular tree has the worst grafting scar of all time

 

[Cadillactaste]

You realize both Bill Valavanis and myself have grafted Ryusen..if it's a sound graft. Bill says it's fine.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I love the weeping growth habit of this cultivar. I have one that I potted up in a landscape pot on my back patio. Note that I just wired up a new apex to stack the foliage a little higher.

View attachment 589595

I did that with my own early on. Wiring up an apex higher as my trunk was only like...ten inches with no branch structure when I collected it in spring 2014. That's what is so great about these. It's easy to do.

 

[DonielDoom]

I love the weeping growth habit of this cultivar!

Agreed! I love the natural habit. It's got some nice color, too.

This one needs a good amount of basic structural clean up. Lots of points that will become unsightly or problematic due to swelling or otherwise, I think. I see lots of branch sections splitting into 3+ branches among other things. I'm hoping to get the base structure cleaned up this year/start of next and assess further for design. Now that's it's in front of me and not in the corner garden bed, that'll be easier. It's too easy for me to forget about things in the corner...
I'm taking things a bit slow, though. I'm not that experienced or knowledgeable with Japanese Maples and deciduous trees in general.

Bill Valavanis and myself have grafted Ryusen..if it's a sound graft. Bill says it's fine.

Thanks for chiming in! Appreciate that note. It's too early to tell whether my grafting scar will be problematic in design, but it seems like it's done well and cleanly. I would love to see yours, if you have a link or photo you'd be kind enough to share.

Most folks seem like they'd hide or remove the scar(s), whereas your design style commonly emphasizes and highlights said things. I hope I don't insult or bastardize your aesthetic choices with that note. So much storytelling and depth can come from some irregularity, it seems, and that's what I'm trying to highlight in some of your stylings.



Last note - as I was doing some cleanup yesterday, I noticed it's flowering!

 

[Dav4]

I love the variety. I got three 1 yr grafts from Jens Farm maybe 4 or 5 years ago. They came with me when I moved to MI in late '21' and have proven vigorous and cold hardy when planted in the ground and protected from roving herds of deer.


Fwiw, they air layer without difficulty. This one was air layered from its graft in the last 2 years. It's still deciding if it wants to be a bonsai or a container tree... time will tell.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Agreed! I love the natural habit. It's got some nice color, too.

This one needs a good amount of basic structural clean up. Lots of points that will become unsightly or problematic due to swelling or otherwise, I think. I see lots of branch sections splitting into 3+ branches among other things. I'm hoping to get the base structure cleaned up this year/start of next and assess further for design. Now that's it's in front of me and not in the corner garden bed, that'll be easier. It's too easy for me to forget about things in the corner...
I'm taking things a bit slow, though. I'm not that experienced or knowledgeable with Japanese Maples and deciduous trees in general.




Thanks for chiming in! Appreciate that note. It's too early to tell whether my grafting scar will be problematic in design, but it seems like it's done well and cleanly. I would love to see yours, if you have a link or photo you'd be kind enough to share.

Most folks seem like they'd hide or remove the scar(s), whereas your design style commonly emphasizes and highlights said things. I hope I don't insult or bastardize your aesthetic choices with that note. So much storytelling and depth can come from some irregularity, it seems, and that's what I'm trying to highlight in some of your stylings.



Last note - as I was doing some cleanup yesterday, I noticed it's flowering!
View attachment 589610

No insult at all. I absolutely love a scar on a tree. It sucks me in and tells a story.



A direct link to Instagram. I am standing on my built in stone bench to get above the tree. Then leap down to show the front of it.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[Cadillactaste]

Bill Valavanis actually did an amazing blog on the cultivar as a whole. Lots of information...along with historic photos of mine developing...and his Ryusen as well.

Ryusen Weeping Japanese Maple

I love unusual plants for their distinctive sizes, structures, foliage, fruit and growth characteristics. About ten years ago Darlene Hutt from Ohio posted her Ryusen weeping Japanese maple garden …

valavanisbonsaiblog.com

 

[DonielDoom]

I am standing on my built in stone bench to get above the tree. Then leap down to show the front of it.

Great video. That really shows the depth and dimension. Very inspiring!

Thank you for taking the time to share. Such a trip being able to see some history in that tree. High quality, no doubt.

 

[DonielDoom]

proven vigorous and cold hardy when planted in the ground

Love to hear that! I've noticed that this one seems less sensitive than other Japanese Maples in the yard. It has also grown more than 2x what others have in similar conditions. My sample size is less than 10, though, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Great video. That really shows the depth and dimension. Very inspiring!

Thank you for taking the time to share. Such a trip being able to see some history in that tree. High quality, no doubt.

Thank ya kindly. The video, lol... i hadn't thought about how to get down off the stone bench I stood. Gerbil spun on that one. I tried raising my phone as I jumped to keep it from being so profound of a leap in the clip. It turned out pretty good I thought.

 

[DonielDoom]

turned out pretty good I thought.

I was shocked, and chuckling, to know what was going on behind the lens. It seemed smooth enough to make me watch twice, lol.

If it works...

 

[Cadillactaste]

I was shocked, and chuckling, to know what was going on behind the lens. It seemed smooth enough to make me watch twice, lol.

If it works...

Right!?! I hadn't even considered... getting down. But I wanted that upper canopy shot and no transition. Something I've never done.

I felt pretty smug...got it on the first shot. I'm pretty smooth... I also did a clip and I go up several steps and I glide. You can't even tell I went up steps.