Arakawa Japanese Maple

[MACH5]

Is defoliation an option?

I assume you are referring to full defoliation and not partial outer canopy defoliation? With young arakawas it might be ok. Even then I would proceed with caution. Absolutely zero chance doing it to this tree at this point.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Guess its being shown in leaf!

 

[MACH5]

Guess its being shown in leaf!

Yeah...

 

[badatusernames]

Judy said the same. I am thinking about submitting it to the Nationals. I honestly hate showing maples in leaf... yeah I know is my own weird issue!

I get it - quite the silhouette when it’s leafless!

 

[shohin_branches]

I really wish the US had more large winter shows to show off deciduous bonsai.

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

Thanks for the answers about pinching. I'm in the phase of slowing down with one of my arakawa's. The result was okay last year but since it's a smaller tree I have to be careful...

 

[MACH5]

I really wish the US had more large winter shows to show off deciduous bonsai.

I am currently working with someone to hopefully organize one for the Northeast US area but open to anyone. That may still be a few years away. Hopefully less.

 

[MACH5]

Arakawa today. Budding this spring quite evenly throughout. Very happy!

 

[Mike Westervelt]

What a fantastic bonsai, reminds me of a tree in a well established urban park of 100+ years.

 

[Don Blackmond]

Thanks Bri! As you can imagine, it has become a real balancing act now trying to maintain all parts alive and equally balanced. The buds are all same size size top to bottom for the most part. But if I slip, there goes a branch or two!

the blessing of the balancing act

 

[MACH5]

Today

 

[Don Blackmond]

Beautiful. This is a special time of year. Fresh growth is innocent and pure, with nothing but promise.
On a side note, I'd like to see this tree in a pot with more width and perhaps a long, shallow tapered sidewall. To my eye, the pot is too small.

 

[bonsaibandit]

Amazing tree! The pot/tree combo is sublime, the contrast of the color of the new growth with the blue of the pot really makes them both pop.

 

[badatusernames]

Thanks Bri! As you can imagine, it has become a real balancing act now trying to maintain all parts alive and equally balanced. The buds are all same size size top to bottom for the most part. But if I slip, there goes a branch or two!

How can I learn more about the balancing act? I skipped any pinching this year as it didn’t grow well last year, otherwise I would have stuck to the lower portion of the tree and left the apex alone.

I imagine as the tree ages and becomes more refined it may become more complicated than that…

 

[MACH5]

How can I learn more about the balancing act?

LOL come and take a class with me!

I imagine as the tree ages and becomes more refined it may become more complicated than that…

Yes, the challenges of maintaining and moving forward refined trees get compounded every year. It does not get easier but rather more difficult with each passing year. And I do think it's even more challenging with deciduous than conifers. There is nothing "Zen" about bonsai!!

 

[footfingers]

Arakawa today. Budding this spring quite evenly throughout. Very happy!

View attachment 589976

I normally just lurk and don't tend to reply, but seeing this trees development is astonishing. I'm posting a pic below that OP posted back in 2013 to show the development.

This is quite literally the most impressive Arakawa I have ever seen. Fantastic work.

 

[Maros]

I normally just lurk and don't tend to reply, but seeing this trees development is astonishing. I'm posting a pic below that OP posted back in 2013 to show the development.

This is quite literally the most impressive Arakawa I have ever seen. Fantastic work.

View attachment 591578

It's clear Sergio had a good eye for the material, and probably material which could have been challenging or questionable to many. Now, with the fresh foliage, it looks incredible.
Looking at the old picture of the material, the change in nebari seems to be significant; that's a dramatic visual improvement.

 

[JudyB]

It's clear Sergio had a good eye for the material, and probably material which could have been challenging or questionable to many. Now, with the fresh foliage, it looks incredible.
Looking at the old picture of the material, the change in nebari seems to be significant; that's a dramatic visual improvement.

The addition of the low third trunk and the widening of the base has moved the tree into a mature image which along with the nebari has transformed the whole.

 

[MACH5]

It's clear Sergio had a good eye for the material, and probably material which could have been challenging or questionable to many. Now, with the fresh foliage, it looks incredible.
Looking at the old picture of the material, the change in nebari seems to be significant; that's a dramatic visual improvement.

Thanks Maros!

One quick and easy improvement that was made was to rotate the tree counterclockwise changing its front slightly. Originally the two trunks were parallel to the viewer which flattened the image. In rotating the tree, the space between the two trunks was diminished while the smaller trunk pushed farther away from the viewer creating a more dimensional design. I make a point to mention this since in photos this may not be so clear.

 

[MACH5]

The addition of the low third trunk and the widening of the base has moved the tree into a mature image which along with the nebari has transformed the whole.

Time, patience but also a few root grafts helped the nebari quite a bit.

For those that perhaps may not be aware. For root grafting arakawa, you must also use arakawa seedlings for the simple reason that roots also bark up as they age. Interestingly, many arakawa maples in Japan are grafted with regular acer palmatum seedlings which ends up giving the trees a strange look with gray/white smooth roots. Somehow this has become an acceptable practice.