I aquired this trident maple years ago. I kept getting trees stolen so my best material was taken care of by friends in my local bonsai club until I moved into a place where my trees were safe. I'm lucky to have a good friends and they know who they are. This tree is one of my favorites and pictures dont do it justice. It's been growing healthy for 3 years in this box I had constructed but definitely needs to be repotted asap. There are 2 possible fronts and possibly when I take the tree out of this box there might be a better option. Before I do anything I thought i would post pictures of the tree and 1 of 2 possible fronts . There is a branch coming out straight to the viewer that unfortunately needs to be eliminated unless members like smoke or any of the other advanced veterans feel there is possibly a better plan. ( i will post more pics of the tree) The lower and mid trunk have no scars making eliminating any branches a rather difficult decision (need to get confidence back which is where the club and this community come in) The reverse taper at the apex needs to be corrected and the 2nd picture I will locate the area of the apex I am thinking of cutting off. Also the red dotted line coming out of the bend is where I'm thinking of thread grafting a branch in the future if this is indeed the front. Opinions? I forgot to angle the tree with blocks. Will post photo with angles too.
Decisions to make with nice trident maple.
- Thread starter Benny w
- Start date
pandacular
Masterpiece
Nice maple, very promising future ahead.
you sell yourself short. my bus stop is coming, so i’ll take a closer look later. At a look, i think you have two great options. you could either grow it out to be the next size maybe a 3 foot tall tree; or you could perform an air layer off that top section it kind of looks like the styrax in this post actually.
Unusual Repotting Projects ‘25
A photo essay of notable repots this year, with comments. A Styrax air-layer ready to separate. The roots were getting tight in the small pot. And a new bonsai is born. Will pots up the baby in a t…
crataegus.com
RoadManDenDron
Chumono
I agree with your plan,
I also just want to give you the confidence boost/ kick up the backside to take the leap while it's in the box and able to heal the scars quicker to get rid of all those extra branches at the whorls and eye pokers
Allow unrestricted growth around them for quicker healing
The inverse taper that will follow if they are left alone will be a much bigger fault to your tree than a branch scar!
Disclaimer: I don't know your location but if you're N hemisphere please wait til leaves harden off if buds have began to move
I also just want to give you the confidence boost/ kick up the backside to take the leap while it's in the box and able to heal the scars quicker to get rid of all those extra branches at the whorls and eye pokers
Allow unrestricted growth around them for quicker healing
The inverse taper that will follow if they are left alone will be a much bigger fault to your tree than a branch scar!
Disclaimer: I don't know your location but if you're N hemisphere please wait til leaves harden off if buds have began to move
pandacular
Masterpiece
I’m not convinced this is your front. I’d like to other angles, especially about 45° clockwise
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pandacular
Masterpiece
There we go; that turn I was thinking is a much better front. Have you worked the roots? Do you have a photo from how far you cut it, if so?
bwaynef
Masterpiece
Rotate your red cut line 90º-ish. Keep the branch that pointing at about 2 o'clock, but shorten it. Rotate the tree ~180º.
This position shows the trees movement while hiding the work or imperfections that need to be fixed. Curious if this is what your thinking ...anyways it's always difficult when the tree can't be viewed in person. When I repot this tree in the next few days ( just built a new box today) I will take pics of what I've got going on below the soil line.
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Ive worked the roots once which was 3 years ago. So once since ive owned it. The gentleman I bought it from had it growing in the ground for at least 3 years only to get it healthy again. He said it had a disease which is why he planted it back in the ground but I havnt had any issues with leaf spot or any fungal/ disease since ive owned it. I don't know how long he had it in a bonsai pot before he put it back in the ground to get it healthy.
Im about to work the roots again this weekend. Will take pictures for sure. I have everything ready and just happy to be able to enjoy this hobby again where my trees are safe from thieves. If I make a mistake and cut off a branch that shouldn't be cut ..oh well, I need not be afraid and I forgot to mention I'm in the central valley of California.
pandacular
Masterpiece
Personally, I think your front is here. The more extreme angle changes risk having odd root structure, as it's already quite radial. Dipping one side down into the soil will make the tree feel lopsided.
I took it out of the box and was amazed how many thick crossed roots there were and a couple grafted themselves to other roots below the surface roots. I corrected nearly all of them with a freakin hand saw and I own every tool but a reciprocating saw which im buying ASAP. Anyhow I'm happy with my work and didn't want to do anymore as I usually don't do enough ( which was apparent from the lack of work done by yours truly to the trees roots 3 years ago).
I 100% agree and thank you for the advice. It was obvious when I was messing with the angle before tieing it in and adding the substrate. Will post some pics tommorrow.
