Ground Trident

[AboveBeyond]

Hi, I've had this Korean Trident maple in the ground for about 5-6 years. The base of the trunk is now 4-5inches. I want to chop it down and get it ready to be potted. Any recommendation on where to chop it?

These pics were taken in early spring so the tree is now a mass of leaves. The peak of the tree is probably 15-20ft tall. Thanks!

 

[TN_Jim]

Hi, I've had this Korean Trident maple in the ground for about 5-6 years. The base of the trunk is now 4-5inches. I want to chop it down and get it ready to be potted. Any recommendation on where to chop it?

These pics were taken in early spring so the tree is now a mass of leaves. The peak of the tree is probably 15-20ft tall. Thanks!

View attachment 314953View attachment 314954View attachment 314955

That chewed out spot is nice, could even help blend a bit of carving if you didn’t want just a clean chop. My thoughts with the cut indicated are that while it is higher than thoughts at first glance, it takes better advantage of the natural line of the tree.
Interesting material for sure.
Thanks

 

[sorce]

Best chop it all the down to one of them upward growing shoots.

Looks Thorny.

Sorce

 

[Shibui]

I can't see good bonsai in this. Where is taper? How tall will the tree end up? @TN_Jim cut is 23" now allow for the new leader and apex and the tree will probably be 40" tall with no taper in the lower half.

Or cut lower - around 1/3 of the anticipated final height is usual. Then grow a new leader, allow it to thicken then cut and grow again for more taper in the top 1/3. Time taken for that huge initial cut to heal up? (if it ever does.....)
Estimate another 10 years to get this to look even remotely like good bonsai.

There are much better ways to create bonsai than just planting and letting it grow for 5 years.

 

[LanceMac10]

PIGLET CHAPTER 2

I purchased and picked up Judy's famous trident maple "PIGLET" last year in the fall. As the story goes, I originally wanted to buy this tree from Don a few years back. When I contacted him to pull the trigger I was disappointed to know that someone else had beaten me to the punch. About a week...

www.bonsainut.com

Your a long stroll away from this, but you need to start somewhere! Tridents can be a bit tender in our climate after potting up. Provide some adequate protection come winter if it does get potted in the future.
Bit of a shame you didn't give it a extreme pruning at least once.
Good luck with it and don't give up.

 

[TN_Jim]

Looks Thorny.

it do

taper..
@Shibui, plenty of good trees with poor or rotten taper, I agree scant to none here and that’s maybe why I commented or initially tried to find something in the tree. there is some movement

still say maybe hog that taper out...i don’t know what I’m talking about because I don’t hog out would-be chops yet, but will/would wait to do this after growing new leader pretty damn well..

if the op wants to make this tree become something options should be had, too long in the ground or not...it has thorns so the thicker trunk likely will benefit the design with compound leaves

or, better than dead old trunk or lightning bolt design I’ve been thinking of a new (to me) technique of snapping a winter trunk in half with a 5000 lb. ratchet strap, no tool marks

I searched ‘deciduous bonsai’ images (not that it means a damn thing) and these were at the top of the list..


more..



Relatively new to bonsai, and appreciating and attempting to adhere to its constructs with what I have, isn’t a strict adherence to the rules sometimes monochrome? not that there are any in my search above, but I’ve seen tall trees with merit, and tridents grow fast right..that’s not a trident??

 

[Shibui]

I well appreciate looking at alternatives in bonsai and I am always prepared to look outside the accepted norms for good bonsai but there is a limit to how far you can push boundaries and still get an attractive (note not conventional) result.
You are also right that tridents are fast growing. I grow hundreds every year. Even fast growing trees take some time to grow a new apex. The thicker the base the longer it takes for the new growth to match that thickness to look reasonable. I think that is self evident. There seems to be many who think that after the growth is done the rest is quick and easy. That's why we have so many people growing tall, straight, thick telephone pole trees for bonsai. I have been there and done that and the next stage is neither quick or easy. That's why I have changed to ground growing trunks with taper. It requires a little more attention to detail and may take a year or 2 longer but ultimately saves years in getting to a presentable bonsai.
Nothing wrong with huge trees but in someone else's backyard. Big trees look great but have you tried? Cost of the pot rises exponentially as sizes increase. Space to house such a tree. How to repot, etc. Trees that size require several people to move and manipulate. Great for bonsai professionals with a team or those with lots of friends but those of us with older backs are down sizing to make keeping bonsai more manageable.

I also looked at the trunks with an eye to alternative possibilities. I see a couple of choices:
Chop low and spend years growing a new apex and branches.
Chop the trunk, wait for new shoots to establish and carve the trunk to match the new leader. Requires some skill and vision so not as easy as it sounds.
Start again. It is possible to grow a better tree from scratch in the same time it will take to rehabilitate the current trunk - my opinion only.