ERCLover’s Silver Maple

[ERClover]

I’d say this is about as beginner Bonsai as you can get. This is the tree that started it all for me. I had a project I did in my old backyard and a random bucket full of dirt I let sit around all winter of ‘21-‘22 had a little friend sprout up in it that following spring.

Fast forward to a move a couple states away, during which some baby sitting at my mom’s place got it off to a good start, and here we are 2 full growing seasons later with the tree I have before you in its winter silhouette.

This tree has seen all the beginner experimentation and mistakes. Crazy bending. A good crisping this summer when a homemade automatic watering system failed. A partial snap to the main trunk when bending. It’s pushed through it all with aplomb and I think it could actually be a pretty cool tree someday. I’ve given it room to be a decent sized tree given the internode and petiole length and leaf size this species is known for, though the crisping and resulting defoliation actually yielded some very small leaves and petioles so there’s hope.

What I now have is basically a line of branch options along the vertical “spine” of the trunk. Interested in any thoughts on some wiring direction for next spring and if any are superfluous or just letting some run as sacrifices is a good idea.

This tree is one of the highlights of my motley crew for its sentimental value and I think unique, if unconventional potential. Pictures will be a summary of its life with me so far.

 

[MHBonsai]

Welcome! For me the best thing I’ve found with material is to decide the size of trunk you want, and the final tree height. Once you have that in your head, it gets a lot easier to make decisions.

If it was mine I would be pushing for a lot more trunk size. In spring I would bare root and do some heavy root work to set the nebari on the right path, and screw it to a tile or board and put it in the ground for 2+ years.

Then chop and shape from there. Have fun and get more trees!

 

[ERClover]

Here we are today after having been wired and repotted in early March. Roots pruned pretty significantly and nebari worked some so not surprised by a little bit of a slower start. Did some trimming of leaves affected by brown spot and gave a good spray.

Most growth has been from the tips of the older wood up to this point but some back budding is starting. It should be in this grow setup for 2-3 years now with the room it has so hopefully it’ll get running. Love the shape I’ve got it in though I will let it run this year and then re-evaluate as probably the goal for the next few years is trunk thickening and worrying less about primary branch structure as they’re not all that much thinner at this point.

 

[RavensForest]

I am just getting into bonsai, and I too have a silver maple that is the reason I'm getting into it. I love yours, and it looks a bit like mine.