I stole this from the garden center yesterday for two dollars(regularly $189)! It was actually in their throw away pile. Before I got it home it was about 3 times taller, but all dead on top. All I've done so far is cut off the dead parts.
Acer palmatum 'Shaina'
- Thread starter plant_dr
- Start date
My research about this variety revealed to me that it originated as a witche's broom mutation from the 'Bloodgood' cultivar. One characteristic of this tree is the shortness of the internodes, which give it a "tufted" look, according to the references I looked at. The nebari isn't great but that can be taken care of in due time.
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davetree
Omono
Shaina is a very pretty J. maple, you got a good deal. Is that a graft I see at the base ? Hard to tell.
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
Just so I understand more clearly here, are we talking a great deal cause he got it for 2 bucks or a great deal because you two see massive amounts of potential here? So far all I have seen is a lot of leaves
chansen
Shohin
Just so I understand more clearly here, are we talking a great deal cause he got it for 2 bucks or a great deal because you two see massive amounts of potential here? So far all I have seen is a lot of leaves
I can appreciate Al's tempering of the excitement. But, everything has 'potential' given enough time. Utah isn't exactly bonsai-central, so finding good, local maple stock is really hard. So I understand why you're excited about what you found, and the price you paid.
But, there probably is a lot of time involved here. Not a bad thing, but a thing. I used to crawl the nurseries too, but no more. Now I'm working on getting stock from out of state sources. I went on a trip to Portland, OR this summer and brought back a Seiju Elm and an Ume from Telperion Farms that I'm really looking forward to working on.
Aside from the development needs of the tree, the first thing that worried me was the reason for the die back. I've seen some Acer p. at local nurseries that looked like they were suffering from v. wilt. Bad, bad, bad. That's my biggest concern. Make sure that you look for signs of disease and be extra cautious with cleaning your tools after working on it. It would be a real shame to spread a potential disease.
Good luck with it. Hope you have a protected place for the tree during your Logan winter
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Smoke
Ignore-Amus
I can appreciate Al's tempering of the excitement. But, everything has 'potential' given enough time. Utah isn't exactly bonsai-central, so finding good, local maple stock is really hard. So I understand why you're excited about what you found, and the price you paid.
But, there probably is a lot of time involved here. Not a bad thing, but a thing. I used to crawl the nurseries too, but no more. Now I'm working on getting stock from out of state sources. I went on a trip to Portland, OR this summer and brought back a Seiju Elm and an Ume from Telperion Farms that I'm really looking forward to working on.
Aside from the development needs of the tree, the first thing that worried me was the reason for the die back. I've seen some Acer p. at local nurseries that looked like they were suffering from v. wilt. Bad, bad, bad. That's my biggest concern. Make sure that you look for signs of disease and be extra cautious with cleaning your tools after working on it. It would be a real shame to spread a potential disease.
Good luck with it. Hope you have a protected place for the tree during your Logan winter
No real agenda, just wondering what it is that gets this crowd motivated. If it had V. wilt it would already be dead if it was in the back. I suppose it has died back due to neglect and no water. Palmatums are just slow for me, I prefer tridents....just me.
Our mountains are full of some of the most beautiful Junipers, but every attempt I've made to get permission to collect them has been denied(at least on the government land). I work with a guy that has some ranch land not too far away I'm going to ask to collect some trees from his property.
As far as the deal I got on the maple, I guess part of the excitment was getting the tree for 98% off the original price. Part of it is the challenge of keeping it alive and helping it thrive in the future. I like projects like this- they don't call me the plant doctor for nothin'!
If / When this trees survives, I think it will be a very nice specimen. If it doesn't survive, it won't be the end of the world. I'll be able to chalk it up to experience. after all, Is two bucks too much to pay to enjoy mother nature's beautiful colors for a few more weeks at least?
On one hand I know that if I had saved the money from all the cheap, bargain basement trees to get one really superior quality tree I could have one amazing advanced tree right now. But on the other hand with these others I will have gained a broader knowlede base of what not to do with all the different types that have sacrificed themselves for my education.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
This tree doesn't appear to have V. wilt.
I suspect, like a lot of J. maples in late summer, this one may have had bad sunburn and was unsellable to the landscaping homeowner for $300. Now is a great time to pick up "damaged" J. maples that have nothing worse than a bad case of sun scortch. There are MANY plants like this one out there in the sales areas of nurseries. The tops are usually crunchy and sometimes dead. They look like they're on the way out. Harry Homeowner doesn't know sun scortch from the Plague and won't buy them, that results in ridiculous markdowns...
I suspect, like a lot of J. maples in late summer, this one may have had bad sunburn and was unsellable to the landscaping homeowner for $300. Now is a great time to pick up "damaged" J. maples that have nothing worse than a bad case of sun scortch. There are MANY plants like this one out there in the sales areas of nurseries. The tops are usually crunchy and sometimes dead. They look like they're on the way out. Harry Homeowner doesn't know sun scortch from the Plague and won't buy them, that results in ridiculous markdowns...
Just so I understand more clearly here, are we talking a great deal cause he got it for 2 bucks or a great deal because you two see massive amounts of potential here? So far all I have seen is a lot of leaves
#1 2 bucks is a steal...#2 Utah is unlike any place I have ever been for any decent plant material...
#3 If it makes him happy and willing to share it here I am thrilled!
Mom
Concorde
Shohin
Nice find. I just love shainas. Would love to see how the nebari looks under the soil.
Art
. I just love shainas. Would love to see how the nebari looks under the soil. Art
One of the reasons the top was dead, the roots are more than likely in compact clay from the NW nursery, causing root rot. You can use a water hose and a chopstick to remove all of the clay and the rotted roots. Its very time consuming, but very well worth the effort. Once cleaned up, plant in gravel (pea sized) and let it recover. Begin to feed the tree with liquid food when the growth begins to sprout in the Spring. Once the tree has gained its strength, plant in your bonsai soil and begain your training of the roots and branches. I have collected the same type of trees at killer prices because they were "dead".
catfish chapstick
Chumono
nice tree, i want one!
digger714
Shohin
Id like to get one of these also. I saw one in a nursery last week and it was $60 for one about 1/2" in diameter at the base. Im waiting for the price to go down, but dont think it will. Do they do well as bonsai?
jk_lewis
Masterpiece
I dunno. In my exprience that's not true.
It is SO much better to start with a plant with potential. You just can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. I have never, ever, in 40 some years of bonsai understood why people expend so much effort on plants with so little potential. Even if -- as people will undoubtedly say -- there's nothing to select from in their area, enough searching over enough time will find a jewel in virtually any nursery -- even Lowes.
And the next excuse for using crappy material is that it is a "learning experience." That can be true -- ONCE.
Starting with poor or mediocre material results in poor and mediocre bonsai -- every time.
Note that I do not feel that THIS tree is either poor or mediocre -- though it may not be the best material in the world; we simply can't tell yet from the pictures.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
The best thing this tree has going for it is trunk caliper. The bottom few inches are workable. The rest appears to be sacrificial. If it were mine, I'd trunk chop below all branching--start from there. A longer term project, but could yield a decent bonsai in a decade or so, maybe sooner if planted out in the ground. That's not bad. This is starter stock. And for the price, not all that bad.
Be aware that most specialty japanese maple cultivars are grafted trees, and the graft unions can be quite ugly. I've got a few small specialty cultivars that I'm playing around with, but will have to layer them above the graft union one of these days.
Also, most of the specialty cultivars I've seen at nurseries tend to have very straight trunks. That may tend to work well with some species, but I think JMs do much better image wise if there is movement. You can always think about chopping them to give them movement, but then you might be looking at a long period of waiting to grow out and develop the trunk.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
The current photos seem to show a three pronged fork and inverse taper developing at that point. That will only get worse.... It is mostly uncorrectable, unless you choose one as the leader and remove the other two...
