Progression of Acer palmatum A

[parhamr]

April 2012

Collected as a seedling in Portland, OR.

May 2013

Basic wire training.

April 2014

It continues to be my most productive seedling. I upgraded it from a 1 to 2 gallon pot; to the left is a white birch volunteer.

June 2014

One of the growth tips would get a fungal infection the coming winter. The other tip snapped off from wind.

October 2015

Repotted in spring 2015. Fed with Osmocote 14-14-14, humic acid, granulated azomite, and iron.

December 2015

After aggressive pruning for structure and taper. More pruning will probably follow in the spring, but this was cautious to allow for dieback.

Updates will come as possible. I plan to try growing this out into an informal broom form.

 

[Saizan]

That's a massive growing!

 

[sorce]

Real nice!

I love the moss and the rocks!
Love em!

Sorce

 

[Cadillactaste]

Nice start...I have an Acer Ginnala myself. Was looking to see if die back was mentioned...and a concern. To see how daring I wish to take my own. Would imagine they might be similar...being an Acer...but could be wrong. Still learning maples.

 

[parhamr]

@Cadillactaste this tree shows dieback typical of its species. This isn't as sensitive or picky as some fancy palmatum cultivars. If I cut too close to a bud, then the tree may die back to the previous internode. With all of my Acer trees I trim between internodes to let the tree die back to the next bud. I have had reliable results and then trim off the dead, leftover tip after the growing season.

 

[Cadillactaste]

@parhamr that sounds like a great strategic tip. Thanks!

 

[parhamr]

I aggressively chopped off the top, did some fine ramification pruning down below, and then fed it balanced liquid organic fertilizer.

 

[parhamr]

The basal flare is nearly 2" and its current height is 10"

 

[jeremy_norbury]

Nice

 

[AlainK]

I like to see trees started from seed.

Very nice base to work with, I think you're on the right track

 

[parhamr]

I repotted it this morning. I hope the noise didn't disturb my neighbors

Before


Root shot


After


This is a 16" square grow box with 3.5" of depth. I had to remove a ton of roots to fit it in the box. The nebari is developing fairly well, and I was able to remove a lot of decomposed organic material from right near the trunk.

This tree remains my strongest growing palmatum. I might need to strike some cuttings and/or layers off it to enjoy clones of its vigor.

I took the main trunk down a little too far after the last styling, but I'm convinced the new leader has potential for decent directionality. At least there will be taper. I'm not terribly excited about its design at present. It still holds promise.

 

[parhamr]

It had grown out into a round bush. I’ve given it a heavy pruning to prepare it for winter.

 

[RobertB]

Looks pretty nice to me!

 

[SilverioSan]

It had grown out into a round bush. I’ve given it a heavy pruning to prepare it for winter.

Thanks for sharing, I like to see this kind of progression articles.

View attachment 209727

 

[parhamr]

2018 was a year for refinement and this has been a year of expansion


I’m likely to do thread and approach grafts in the winter with those long extensions.

 

[parhamr]

This has been a busy winter so I’ve missed the window for pruning or grafting this tree. I’m just going to let it blow out with growth and then do a very hard prune in May or June.

 

[LanceMac10]

What would happen if you pruned now? Still looks pretty sleepy.

 

[parhamr]

What would happen if you pruned now? Still looks pretty sleepy.

Maple cuts have started to bleed. It’ll only get worse over the next few weeks. This winter has been super mild and the trees are now moving water.

 

[AlainK]

Maple cuts have started to bleed. It’ll only get worse over the next few weeks.

Not harmful at all.

And if you prune the roots, the "bleeding" will be reduced or inexistant.

 

[MACH5]

Bleeding has never been a problem for me. I am cautious about other things but not this one.