Pre-bonsai maple

[Fallstoomuch]

I have a red maple that is growing tall…I like the shape of it but I don’t want to grow it much taller-do I pinch the top shoot to stop growth there? Should I slowly over the next few seasons cut it down so it will bud lower? Should I worry about where the branches are growing now (across from each other) or worry about that in the future?

 

[Gabler]

Just let it grow for now to thicken the trunk. Chop it after a couple of years.

 

[Wulfskaar]

Welcome!

Normal bonsai development starts with the nebari and trunk. Basically, you would let it grow wild until the trunk is as thick as you want. The trunk is thickened by everything growing above it, so removing branches will slow trunk development. Then you would probably chop it and start creating the branches from new shoots.

If you want a curvy trunk, you can wire movement into the trunk while it's still skinny and bendable. Movement will also decrease the height.

 

[bwaynef]

Wire some movement into the trunk, but leave the tips to grow. Leaving the tips will drive growth/thickening while adding (the right kind of) movement into the trunk will aid in getting it to backbud.

 

[Shibui]

I have a red maple that is growing tall…I like the shape of it but I don’t want to grow it much taller-do I pinch the top shoot to stop growth there? Should I slowly over the next few seasons cut it down so it will bud lower? Should I worry about where the branches are growing now (across from each other) or worry about that in the future?

If you are happy with shape and trunk thickness and just want to stop it getting taller then simply cut the top whenever it grows. I find it better to cut a little shorter than planned because trees only ever grow more up. Cutting shorter allows some leeway for it to grow before you need to cut again.

If you want a thicker trunk so the tree looks older, allow it to grow much, much bigger then cut down hard. maples do chops really well.

If you want bends in the trunk and some taper in the trunk, cut to a side branch so that the branch is now the main trunk. That will give a natural bend with the angle of the branch and the new trunk will be thinner above compared to below the chop. Then let it grow and repeat every few years until you have the trunk you like.

Maples tolerate large chops easily so no need to reduce slowly. Cut just above where you want new shoots to grow because 90% of new shoots will be from 1 or2 nodes directly below where you cut.

Best results when pruning are from healthy, happy trees. Defer pruning when trees have not yet recovered from transplant or any other stress.

Branches growing opposite are known as 'bar' branches. Doesn't look good and can also make the trunk grow much thicker at that point = inverse taper. Maples thicken quite quick so it's best to deal with them early rather than wait until you have a problem.

 

[Fallstoomuch]

I definitely want it to thicken…so I’m going to let it keep growing. But it does sound like I’ll be doing some planning and removing one side of the bar branches-which is helping me figure out the shape anyway. Thank you everyone!

 

[leatherback]

and removing one side of the bar branches

keep alternating branches, so not those directly above eachother.

tip, a branch can become the trunk if you want it to

 

[Fallstoomuch]

keep alternating branches, so not those directly above eachother.

tip, a branch can become the trunk if you want it to

The first branch on the left in the picture…going opposite direction of the trunk-might make a pretty cool future leader

 

[rockm]

I definitely want it to thicken…so I’m going to let it keep growing. But it does sound like I’ll be doing some planning and removing one side of the bar branches-which is helping me figure out the shape anyway. Thank you everyone!

Removing any top growth slows trunk development. Removing lower branching can also slow design time too but that’s a sliding scale. Typically all existing branching particularly low branches tend to get too thick to use in the final design of the tree. BUT allowing them to grow adds to trunk diameter