Doc's "recovery trees"

[rockm]

I mean... How much can a tree reduce I look at this fella's leaves and his fresh push on nothing but back wood last year and I have a hard time seeing it have any scale.. definitely a big leaf maple

From the photos looks like you have long leggy branches. I’d cut those at least in half more reduce to a third. Wait for back budding later those grow out. Do the same. This process takes years

Leaf reduction is the LAST step in making a tree. Expecting it in such a new tree is unrealistic

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

How about that juniper? Maple looks great!
This has potential to be an incredibly educational thread. So far so good!

 

[Jrmcmich]

Here’s one to look at for leaf reduction on maple. Very cool tree

Thread '32 year old Acer Rubrum'

Mar 18, 2020

This tree has appeared in some other threads but I thought it deserving of it own. This was the first tree I ever collected (1987-1988) and it was out of my own woods. It was stumped a few inches above the ground line and then let grow for a season to recover as well as it could. The following spring it was dug and put in a pot. Sorry I don't have photos of those years before 2014. Back then I thought photo documentation was a waste of time. Mostly because of film being a PITA. Hmmmmm??
My intent was to mimic a red maple growing in a cow pasture near me whose trunk had mostly rotted away...

• ABCarve
• Replies: 258
• Forum: Maples

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[Orion_metalhead]

If its sugar or norway (which it appears) you can expect to see some reduction as you ramify, but perhaps the best part of the year to enjoy is not when its in full leaf.

 

[doc spring _work]

How about that juniper? Maple looks great!
This has potential to be an incredibly educational thread. So far so good!

I'll keep at it... As for that poor juniper... Yeah it gave up, lifting it out of the pot it has a pest eating roots and the soil was far too organic but in the condition it originally was in I definitely wouldn't have given it a repot at the time of year but the overworking definitely didn't help I'm sure, if I pick up any other recovering tress I think in the first year they'll get a systemic drench first, other notable things learned... Only remove the dead material, immediately after care of a tree shouldn't be about styling, it should be about it's health first, that means nothing fun for at least a year that should be obvious but I was in so much of a hurry to play with things last year I hurt a lot of my projects, this year I hope to take things slow. I don't work at the nursery anymore my injury started acting up so I can't keep up with that physical, I do have several seedlings coming in soon that will be my primary focus for this year although I'm not sure if they will be anything special for a few years. But I do have other projects to slowly eyeball and water, I may go by the nursery later in the year to check their recovery pile and see if anything catches my eye