Hey guys, looking for some clarification here. I’m looking to get a Japanese maple nursery stock and I’m just wondering on getting some movement of the trunk. I know I’m looking for something with a decent trunk. What I’m a little confused about is how to go about getting some movement of the trunk. I’ve seen some wired while saplings to help this. Will it have to be trunk chopped in order to get some movement after having an established trunk and some nebari?
Japanese Maple nursery stock
- Thread starter Limmer51
- Start date
Paradox
Imperial Masterpiece
If starting with a trunk that is too big to bend, yes it will need to be chopped.
There are many threads here on Japanese maples and trident maples showing how people developed trees. Do some research and you'll find them. Many of them are great to learn from.
coltranem
Chumono
Both methods can be used and generate different results.
With deciduous trees, you have options on how to develop movement and taper.
1- depending on its size, The trunk can be bent with wire. Sacrifice branches can be used for taper.
2- pruning the trunk - IMO, pruning produces the best taper and movement in deciduous trees. Of course wire will be used as needed to move the new leader in the right direction. There are generally two approaches to pruning for taper and movement.
2a - grow the trunk to desired thickness and prune to grow new leader. This is repeated for each new section of trunk. This is a quicker path to the desired thickness, but will leave you with larger scars that take longer to heal.
2b- cut and grow. In this method, you grow the tree and then cut it back every year or so. This is a slower process to the desired thickness than 2a, but leaves smaller scars that heal quicker. Some will argue this method also gives more natural movement and taper.
What you should do with the nursery stock depends on the nursery stock (pics??). Short answer is that if the base of the trunk has the desired thickness but the trunk lacks the movement and taper you want, you will need to chop it back and grow the new leader.
Note - this doesn’t address nebari (root flare) which is essential to the trunk.
1- depending on its size, The trunk can be bent with wire. Sacrifice branches can be used for taper.
2- pruning the trunk - IMO, pruning produces the best taper and movement in deciduous trees. Of course wire will be used as needed to move the new leader in the right direction. There are generally two approaches to pruning for taper and movement.
2a - grow the trunk to desired thickness and prune to grow new leader. This is repeated for each new section of trunk. This is a quicker path to the desired thickness, but will leave you with larger scars that take longer to heal.
2b- cut and grow. In this method, you grow the tree and then cut it back every year or so. This is a slower process to the desired thickness than 2a, but leaves smaller scars that heal quicker. Some will argue this method also gives more natural movement and taper.
What you should do with the nursery stock depends on the nursery stock (pics??). Short answer is that if the base of the trunk has the desired thickness but the trunk lacks the movement and taper you want, you will need to chop it back and grow the new leader.
Note - this doesn’t address nebari (root flare) which is essential to the trunk.
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