Progression of Acer macrophyllum D

[parhamr]

I’ve posted this tree here and there, but it doesn’t yet have its own thread. (Huh, maybe I should just have one bigleaf maple thread?!)

Like the other 3 Acer macrophyllum I have, this one was part of a 2012 urban collection from flower beds and against sidewalks. It is an informal broom in the works; I plan the canopy to be quite a lot larger than it is now.

The history…

Winter 2014


April 2015




October 2016


February 2020

 

[parhamr]

And 2020

April 14

May 19


July 7 (after defoliation)


November 6

 

[MACH5]

Awesome work!!!

 

[parhamr]

Oh hell I just noticed the title typo

 

[AlainK]

A real challenge.

I particularly like the picture from May 19 2020.

I wouldn't try it myself, but you're doing well, congrats mate.

 

[Canada Bonsai]

Nice progress!

Have you experimented with cutting the leaves in half or removing the lobes of each leaf? This is a common technique with Japanese Maples of course, and I have been thinking about trying it with other Acers but have not seen it document anywhere

 

[parhamr]

Whoops, the latest batch of photos is from 2021. My brain is fried from medication withdrawals

@Canada Bonsai yes! This year I did a full defoliation of two or three of my macrophyllums. Those were useful. In previous years I’ve done partial defoliation, like removing one leaf from each node or removing a lobe of the leaf. It seemed to be a lot less effective, proportionally. Go big

 

[Joe_B]

Nice work!

 

[parhamr]

I’m split between these two fronts


Full defoliation (after building up a lot of reserves) worked a real treat. I have some nice, short, and fine budding and branching on the interior wood

 

[Viridian Bonsai]

Front 2 is better

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I like this photo as the front. But I would remove that last segment of main trunk just below my red line.

Either of the green circled branches could take over as the main trunk, or both could be developed to head more toward the informal broom for the apex of the tree.

At least that is my thought, remember I am not seeing the tree in 3D.

 

[parhamr]

I like this photo as the front. But I would remove that last segment of main trunk just below my red line.

Either of the green circled branches could take over as the main trunk, or both could be developed to head more toward the informal broom for the apex of the tree.

At least that is my thought, remember I am not seeing the tree in 3D.

Thanks, Leo! I’ve thought about it. That would be like a trunk chop and would definitely fix things. I might even be wise to get this back into a box for a mix of development and refinement efforts.

The rest of the trunk above that spot is a chunky straight piece i should have chopped into about 4 years ago. It’s been gnawing on me and I’ve resisted doing anything about it.

 

[Ryceman3]

Perhaps this ???



Cutting here reduces the straight section in half and the remaining bud below could be developed into the apex ...
The benefit of this (for this angle) is also that it re-directs the apical section back towards the viewer.
I'm not saying this is better, just another option (since you didn't ask!), and as @Leo in N E Illinois says ... I'm not seeing the tree in 3D either so there is that disclaimer too.

 

[parhamr]

Perhaps this ???

View attachment 408789

Cutting here reduces the straight section in half and the remaining bud below could be developed into the apex ...
The benefit of this (for this angle) is also that it re-directs the apical section back towards the viewer.
I'm not saying this is better, just another option (since you didn't ask!), and as @Leo in N E Illinois says ... I'm not seeing the tree in 3D either so there is that disclaimer too.

Thanks, bud

The trunk and canopy discussions are welcomed! This is a building project.

 

[parhamr]

Perhaps this ???

View attachment 408789

Cutting here reduces the straight section in half and the remaining bud below could be developed into the apex ...
The benefit of this (for this angle) is also that it re-directs the apical section back towards the viewer.
I'm not saying this is better, just another option (since you didn't ask!), and as @Leo in N E Illinois says ... I'm not seeing the tree in 3D either so there is that disclaimer too.

I did end up making this cut last fall.

The initial spring push was slow due to weeks of cold weather


Now that it has warmed up a bit, the tree is predictably throwing out a huge response up top where I had lopped off some wood:

 

[Bavarian Raven]

Nice work. I’ve got a big leaf maple in the works. How far have you been able to reduce the leaves? I’ve got them to under two inches in the past, but this year I’ve stuck her in the ground to fatten up so they’re huge (as they should be).

 

[MaciekA]

I'm not the OP, but I'm working on a shohin bigleaf and tried defoliation last year. The resulting leaves in the non-sacrificial zone were quite small, perhaps a 25 cent coin or thereabouts, and stayed small and productive until leaf drop. I'm quite a ways away from ramification and slowdown, but from my results and from seeing @parhamr 's results in person, I feel good about all of our chances with reduction.

 

[Bavarian Raven]

I'm not the OP, but I'm working on a shohin bigleaf and tried defoliation last year. The resulting leaves in the non-sacrificial zone were quite small, perhaps a 25 cent coin or thereabouts, and stayed small and productive until leaf drop. I'm quite a ways away from ramification and slowdown, but from my results and from seeing @parhamr 's results in person, I feel good about all of our chances with reduction.

Me too. some of my smallest leaves (when i had the maple in a bonsai-ish pot) were about an inch in size. Without defoliating. so its promising imho.