Autumn pruning trident maples

[Shibui]

We are just heading toward winter over here. While we have not had cold weather yet some of my trident maples have already lost leaves so it is time to do an end of year tidy up.
This first trident is actually root over rock but the rock is small and rounded so doesn't show up well.


My first target is usually long internodes. I learned long ago that keeping structure with long internodes is a mistake. New buds will not grow between nodes so branches with long internodes will always be sparse. Even if you need the branch longer cut off shoots with long internodes and try again.


As the trees mature congestion starts to become an issue. For years we use all techniques to add density but eventually I find the need to thin out branches to leave room for new growth next season


No matter how ell I think I'm pruning and pinching through summer there are always these escapees that grow up through the branches unseen. Remove these too.


After a couple of hours of selective pruning the main work is done.





Now that I can see the structure properly I see there is still more to do.........

 

[Gary McCarthy]

WOW, that was some cut back. But, I LIKE IT!

 

[Shibui]

Not quite finished yet.
That left branch is getting quite thick. In particular the rear part.

If it is left as it is it will soon be even worse. I was tempted to remove all of the rear part but decided to only take part this year.


One of the rear branches is also starting to get too crowded. Initially these were both underdeveloped so I kept both to fill the space.

Now they have started to fill out so time for one to go but I did not take a photo of the after on that particular branch

 

[Milly]

I'm also in the southern hemisphere.

You've done it so its obviously okay, but I'm surprised you're pruning so soon after losing the leaves. Please comment.

On the branch that had thickened, please explain why you removed the outward growing section. I feel that would have given better options for future ramification.

Thanks

 

[Shibui]

Over the years I have moved to earlier winter pruning for several reasons.
It spreads the work out. Spring is very busy trying to get all the repotting done. In winter I'm trying to dig the field grown trees but in autumn I usually have a little more time.
Later in winter the tridents tend to 'bleed' when pruned. Bleeding gets progressively worse closer to bud burst. Seasoned growers here assure me that this is only water and does not hurt the tree but many years ago I had one where the moisture kept running out for weeks and that one never leafed out in spring so I've been wary of pruning maples when they bleed profusely. Just after leaf drop bleeding is rare so seems to be a good time.

The rear part of that branch was the thickest part. Maybe even worse than the photos show. I want the branch ramification to get progressively finer as you go out along the branch. The forks there were also a bit awkward rather than smooth flowing angles. Branch above occupies some of that rear area and the back part was also betting close to the rear branch you can just see behind the trunk. What's left is a little narrower than I'd ideally like but is better than before but there's now plenty of room for some of the sub branches on the remaining bit to grow and spread back out to the size I want.

 

[Shibui]

More of the maples here have lost leaves so I've continued with the autumn pruning
Triple trunk trident

Starting to show some pancake nebari


Multi trunk trident root over rock


A couple of my earlier field grown tridents.






and another multi trunk clump style trident


A relatively new root over rock trident. Branching is only just forming. I'd like to get the lower branches a bit longer but long internode growth is slowing progress a bit.

 

[Dav4]

You have some very nice maples there... well done!

 

[0soyoung]

Yah. What @Dav4 said.
My thoughts too.

 

[Shibui]

Thanks for the compliments guys.
I've grown all these trees from see so have had control right from the start and, even though they all have faults, I feel a very strong attachment to my 'children' after all we've been through together. Those older tridents are around 30 years old. Time does help to give something to bonsai, even sub standard ones.

 

[Milly]

Thanks for your reply.

I especially like your clump style maples.

 

[Shibui]

This trident has been developed only in pots to try to maximise ramification & taper and minimise scars.
Nebari is well developed but a little more random than many maples. I hope it actually looks more natural than some of the overly manicured examples we sometimes see.


The less developed tridents also get an end of season haircut now.
This is my largest root over rock attempt. It was dubbed root over boulder by the guys who helped dig it out of the grow bed one winter.
Still working on developing the secondary and tertiary ramification on this one.


Another more recent addition to the bonsai benches. All my previous tridents have been upright trunks with little movement. I decided to grow some with more gnarled, bent trunks so started to plant trees on an angle in the grow beds. I think the dog may have walked on this soon after planting and helped to make the initial trunk angle even sharper than I had planned but that's worked out well I think.
Only a couple of years concentrating on ramification so far but starting to develop a bit of structure.

Still has a large scar at the back of the trunk but starting to grow over.


Also a couple of smaller tridents. All these well under 20cm tall.

 

[Nanuk]

Well done Shibui. Really nice maples.

 

[namnhi]

Do you wire your trees or just clip and grow?

 

[Milly]

I especially like the ROR and the gnarly one.

 

[Shibui]

Do you wire your trees or just clip and grow?

Always use the technique that can produce the desired results. Mostly clip and grow but I also wire when that will improve the shape or layout of the branch.

I especially like the ROR and the gnarly one.

Thanks for the encouragement. This is my largest ROR but I have a number of others in various stages of development, a couple of them are probably far better than this one but I'm hoping I can really let the roots spread on this larger rock and get a really impressive root/rock base.

 

[Shibui]

The final trident has now dropped leaves and has had a pre winter trim.


You can probably tell that this one was retained just for the thicker trunk. Branch placement is not ideal but I think I do have good form developing in the branching with random dips and rises as well as lateral movement. Little or no wiring on this one so far. Branch development and ramification by clip and grow so development has been slow as I've had to repeatedly remove shoots with long internodes in order to get more compact ramification and good movement into the branches as they grow.

The original roots were few and thick and still show the blunt ends of the cuts rather than desirable taper and ramification. Experienced grafters may be able to pick out that I've added some roots to fill the spaces between the large original roots but the tell tale scars have almost disappeared now - for the less experienced, the root at the end of my index finger and the one immediately to the right are grafted.
There are 2 trunk chop scars at the back. One has healed completely, the other almost closed and should close next summer. You can see a couple of scars where excess branches have been removed. Looks like I didn't seal that one half way up on the right and it has not even started to close.

I have never considered this trident as beautiful but I think it does show some good results from the techniques used.

 

[Silentrunning]

@Shibui Do you apply a sealer after branch removal? Since you don’t have any oozing to attract pests, I am wondering if it is necessary.

 

[Shibui]

Similar discussion has been happening on another thread. Some feel there is no advantage to applying sealer to cuts. I have found that the new bark grows faster when I use sealer so scars like this disappear much quicker. So, not to exclude pests or to stop oozing fluid, only to speed up complete closure of the wound.

 

[Dav4]

The final trident has now dropped leaves and has had a pre winter trim.
View attachment 247122

You can probably tell that this one was retained just for the thicker trunk. Branch placement is not ideal but I think I do have good form developing in the branching with random dips and rises as well as lateral movement. Little or no wiring on this one so far. Branch development and ramification by clip and grow so development has been slow as I've had to repeatedly remove shoots with long internodes in order to get more compact ramification and good movement into the branches as they grow.

The original roots were few and thick and still show the blunt ends of the cuts rather than desirable taper and ramification. Experienced grafters may be able to pick out that I've added some roots to fill the spaces between the large original roots but the tell tale scars have almost disappeared now - for the less experienced, the root at the end of my index finger and the one immediately to the right are grafted.
There are 2 trunk chop scars at the back. One has healed completely, the other almost closed and should close next summer. You can see a couple of scars where excess branches have been removed. Looks like I didn't seal that one half way up on the right and it has not even started to close.

I have never considered this trident as beautiful but I think it does show some good results from the techniques used.

Have you considered allowing some shoots to grow out to be used to graft for better branch placement? Also, I wonder if this one would look better if you shortened the tree and built a new apex coming from the second branch on the left... the taper is great until that point but lacking above it. Fwiw, this is a very good tree but I think you could really improve it with a few decisive moves.

 

[Shibui]

I have not considered grafting branches on this one for some years. I will have another look and see if there's any possibilities. Not sure whether I want to go through the entire branch development process again though. If it was just a branch or 2 maybe but this tree has multiple issues.
Lack of taper in the top part of the trunk is common with tridents grown after a trunk chop. We hurry to develop the new leader to full height and forget about taper until it is too late. Trunk chop at this stage would be a risk. There is very little chance of moving any of those branches to make them into new leaders so a new top would rely on growing or grafting a new shoot to replace the apex. Not sure if I want to take the time for that either, not to mention having a large new wound on the back of the trunk.
If you have any suggestions on techniques that would help with any of the changes you're suggesting I'm always happy to consider alternatives.