karen82 - "This is Not a Contest" - Trident Maple

[karen82]

I think we were allowed more than one entry - if not I apologize. I also am not sure if trees purchased as pre-bonsai are allowed - but I could use a little input on this tree in any case.

It's a trident maple I purchased in Feb. We got some unexpectedly cold temperatures soon after I got it, so I stored it in an unused refrigerator in the garage that kept it just above freezing - I hope it survived that.

As purchased:


And after potting it up (I'm keeping it in the garage for a few more weeks though).

 

[JoeH]

Darn picture viewer obscures the base of the tree in the first pic, it looks interesting in the thumbnail.

 

[GailC]

Darn picture viewer obscures the base of the tree in the first pic, it looks interesting in the thumbnail.

When you are looking at the pics, click the little grid at the lower right of the screen, you will be able to see the whole pic then.

 

[Cable]

Wonderful little guy. Where did you get it?

 

[karen82]

Wonderful little guy. Where did you get it?

Just got it on ebay.... the trunk looked nice for the price, hoping it survived shipping and storage though. It was kind of an impulse purchase as it's a little cold here for tridents.

 

[karen82]

Just an update since it's finally waking up.


The nebari isn't that good, but it's a little better than what you can see in the photos, there's more under the soil.

 

[karen82]

I thought this maple might need a year to recover after being dug from the ground, shipped, and stored in an old fridge for months. I think I was wrong, as it's just growing like crazy now.
Is it ok to do some pruning and defoliating in a week or two?

 

[SnowfallenGarden]

since ive gotten my trident maple this spring {April} ive pruned and defoliated, maybe 60%, it grew back, got black water spots on 100% of the foliage from over watering, recovered from that been defoliated 95% and since has grown back 100 % ive had it since april, thats only short of 2 months ive had time with mine and when it got here it was fully leafed out. Im in GA.
If you defoliated today, in 2 weeks it would be fully leafed out already I would say.

maybe wait for some one elses answer tho, considering my little knowledge so far!

 

[karen82]

Oh I should probably add that we had a cold spring and it didn't even begin to leaf out until early May. So it hasn't had nearly the growing time that one in a warmer area has.

 

[Solaris]

I'd look to prune out some of those excess branches. It looks like you more or less have the trunk already established with some taper - too many branches growing too much will only hurt you by reducing taper or even introducing inverse taper. Looking at the bare naked picture, which branches do you want to keep, and which ones do you want to get rid of? It strikes me that you'd want to, at the very least, remove branches sprouting from the same point so that there's only one branch coming out of a given point and at a given level. The overall look is bushy, untamed, and wild - it lacks the clean lines, fractal structure, and taper to present as a big old tree.

So pruning - yes. I wouldn't defoliate until I had my main branch structure built. Defoliation is for reducing vigor and/or increasing ramification - neither of which you really need to do right now. As to which branches to prune... that's something you'd need to do after some careful consideration and thought as to the final image you're wanting. Just keep in mind that once you cut it off, it's gone, and that letting the branches grow too long will have detrimental effects on the tree's form. I'd try playing around with it in GIMP to help find an image you like, and then use the snips to realize it in reality. Maples tend to have a smoother bark - you'll probably want to pay particular attention to how you treat the wounds after pruning so that you can minimize scarring.

since ive gotten my trident maple this spring {April} ive pruned and defoliated, maybe 60%, it grew back, got black water spots on 100% of the foliage from over watering, recovered from that been defoliated 95% and since has grown back 100 % ive had it since april, thats only short of 2 months ive had time with mine and when it got here it was fully leafed out. Im in GA.
If you defoliated today, in 2 weeks it would be fully leafed out already I would say.

maybe wait for some one elses answer tho, considering my little knowledge so far!

There is a world of difference between Georgia's climate and Wisconsin's. My horticultural practices are very different here in Michigan than they were in Texas, and things I could get away with there I could not do so cavalierly here! Real winter doesn't go south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

 

[karen82]

Thanks again for all the advice.
I trimmed off just a few of the most obvious problem branches for now, just to get a better look. Most of the inner leaves were already yellowing. I'm hoping that means it just needs more sun and doesn't indicate a serious problem - all the outer leaves look healthy.

 

[karen82]

I didn't trim much; just a few lower branches to get a better view of the trunk, which really isn't that great.
I was surprised how poorly the inner leaves were doing as the tree really isn't as dense as it looks in the photo. But I assume they just need more sun.
I think I should wait until it seems a little stronger before trimming more - is that a good idea?
Part of it is the fact that tridents are just barely winter hardy here so I think I need to be extra careful to keep it strong and healthy.

 

[Timbo]

Yeah, IMO it looks like the top is shading the lower/middle branches. On maples i pick the bud/growth off early that i don't won't or it will get real thick. You sometimes get 5 branches coming out of one area.

 

[karen82]

This is an old picture from when I got the tree in March. It seems like it needs some branches down lower, if nothing else to thicken the lower trunk.
Would a thread graft work or is that a little too ambitious? I was also told to wait and get a year practice caring for it before attempting something like that (I've never done a thread graft), but it doesn't seem all that risky to me to try. Even if the graft fails, it would heal up quickly, wouldn't it?
If I do a thread graft, I'd have to wait a week or two, since none of the new shoots are quite long enough yet.

Maybe someday

 

[Timbo]

Seems kinda low left branch IMO, but wouldn't look bad. I would think you could get branches in that area if you cut back the top/middle hard. Seems like a lot of small branches in the middle.

 

[karen82]

I thought I should update on the tree a little. Spring 2020 I repotted this tree into a big grow box with some root grafts to hopefully help a little bit with its super ugly nebari. I didn't take enough pictures of it, though. Sorry - I know it looks pretty sloppy, I was only trying to make sure those seedlings werent going anywhere.


Then the tree mysteriously decided it was going to refuse to grow last year. Not an inch. It leafed out fine but did not grow one bit, instead producing clumps of densely packed leaves. The seedlings all did well though. Some did better than others. This photo was from June, I don't have any others, but by fall, some of the seedlings were 5 feet tall and 1/2" thick. But the main tree never grow an inch so I didn't get to do any wiring or branch work. I'm hoping it will grow normally this year.



As for this spring I will probably unwrap the trunk and take a look at the grafts. Mix of thread and approach grafts - the approach grafts are held in place with thumbtacks - so I will probably try pulling the thumbtacks out if they seem to be taking. I'm not quite sure what to do with this tree but hopefully it will grow. I've found that I can really only prune it once a summer so it's slow going. But it hasn't really grown enough to prune until mid June up here.