Pruning of Young Japanese Maple

[Super_J6363]

Hi all,

Recently have received this Japanese Maple; has grown quite a bit! I’m at a loss at what I should do (pruning wise) for this bonsai. If anyone has any suggestions or resources for pruning for maples at this stage it would be appreciated!

Based in Melbourne, Victoria (Aus) - currently late spring here!

 

[Prometheus_]

It depends on your long term wishes. If you want an impressive tree with a big trunk, you would need to grow this out for many years, either in the ground or a larger pot. If you’re happy enjoying the plant as it is, you can just focus on keeping it healthy. Keep it outside (partial sun / filtered sunlight - not full sun in a Melbourne summer), water it but learn to balance this with not waterlogging it. You can repot safely in Vic in late winter / early spring. There are lots of Bonsai clubs around where you’ll get solid local advice: have a look around online.

 

[Shibui]

I’m at a loss at what I should do (pruning wise) for this bonsai.

It is not as simple as one size fits all. We/you need to know what you want from this bonsai.
Beginners are often happy with a small, skinny stick with some branches in a bonsai pot.

To achieve this sort of bonsai just prune the new shoots above a pair of leaves. We'd usually cut so each shoot has only 1 or 2 pairs of leaves left. see below.

Regular pruning and keeping the tree in a small pot slows growth dramatically so it's likely your tree will be pencil thick for the next 10-20 years if it survives that long. Need to be aware that it is difficult to keep small bonsai in small pots alive. Most of us have killed quite a few before working out all the necessary techniques.


More experienced bonsai growers aspire to develop a maple that looks more like a really old Japanese maple tree with thick trunk, bends and branches with plenty of twigs and leaves.

In this case, you can either grow as above and wait 30-40 years OR, as mentioned above, plant it into a larger pot or in the garden for 3-5 years to speed up growth. Then chop it back down to bonsai size and develop the branching. Still a 10-15 year project but worth the time and patience.

Looks like your bonsai came from Paradisia- Collectors Corner. If the stones are glued on (they seem to do that so they don't fall off while moving or handling the trees) you should break them up so you can check on soil moisture easier. It's likely your tree will need watering twice a day when the weather warms up through summer but always check soil moisture before deciding to water it. Constantly soggy soil is detrimental to roots and can sometimes kill a bonsai.

 

[Super_J6363]

It depends on your long term wishes. If you want an impressive tree with a big trunk, you would need to grow this out for many years, either in the ground or a larger pot. If you’re happy enjoying the plant as it is, you can just focus on keeping it healthy. Keep it outside (partial sun / filtered sunlight - not full sun in a Melbourne summer), water it but learn to balance this with not waterlogging it. You can repot safely in Vic in late winter / early spring. There are lots of Bonsai clubs around where you’ll get solid local advice: have a look around online.

Thanks so much for your response! Will look to repot and grow this out; and I’ll have a look around for some clubs to get some advice as well.

 

[Super_J6363]

It is not as simple as one size fits all. We/you need to know what you want from this bonsai.
Beginners are often happy with a small, skinny stick with some branches in a bonsai pot.
View attachment 574374
To achieve this sort of bonsai just prune the new shoots above a pair of leaves. We'd usually cut so each shoot has only 1 or 2 pairs of leaves left. see below.
View attachment 574377
Regular pruning and keeping the tree in a small pot slows growth dramatically so it's likely your tree will be pencil thick for the next 10-20 years if it survives that long. Need to be aware that it is difficult to keep small bonsai in small pots alive. Most of us have killed quite a few before working out all the necessary techniques.


More experienced bonsai growers aspire to develop a maple that looks more like a really old Japanese maple tree with thick trunk, bends and branches with plenty of twigs and leaves.
View attachment 574375
In this case, you can either grow as above and wait 30-40 years OR, as mentioned above, plant it into a larger pot or in the garden for 3-5 years to speed up growth. Then chop it back down to bonsai size and develop the branching. Still a 10-15 year project but worth the time and patience.

Looks like your bonsai came from Paradisia- Collectors Corner. If the stones are glued on (they seem to do that so they don't fall off while moving or handling the trees) you should break them up so you can check on soil moisture easier. It's likely your tree will need watering twice a day when the weather warms up through summer but always check soil moisture before deciding to water it. Constantly soggy soil is detrimental to roots and can sometimes kill a bonsai.

Thanks again for your response! Appreciate how detailed this is! I would like to thicken out the trunk a bit personally; so like you mentioned maybe the best is to repot in garden/larger pot to speed up the process!

If I were to repot; should I still prune this now to the level indicated in your image? Is pruning generally okay for maples at any time of the year? I also will assume it’s best to repot this in later winter/early spring?

Regarding the gravel, I’ve decided it’s best to probably remove a bit of this for now so I can easily identify watering needs. The gravel itself luckily is loose so easy enough to manoeuvre.

 

[Shibui]

If I were to repot; should I still prune this now to the level indicated in your image? Is pruning generally okay for maples at any time of the year? I also will assume it’s best to repot this in later winter/early spring?

Again, both ways will work but give different outcomes.
Pruning always removes some of the food factory (leaves) which will inevitably slow growth a little. Pruning does give us more ramification - more new shoots and shoots of different thickness. That means you can later choose the ones that give a more attractive trunk line and better taper.
Leaving the long growth means more leaves feeding the tree so trunk will thicken a little more but you have straight trunks with little taper. We can chop back later but results can vary from great to crap.

No problem pruning maples any time of year but I generally try to avoid late winter/Early spring as maples tend to 'bleed' a bit when pruned closer to bud burst unless that's accompanied by root pruning.

Root pruning is best in that late winter/early spring before the leaves open.
Slip potting - transplant into a larger container with minimal root reduction - can be done any time but that will not sort out the existing root ball which is usually a mess in commercial produced plants.
You won't lose much by letting it go through this summer in the existing pot. You will also learn a lot about managing watering, fertiliser and maybe trimming that way. Then, next Spring, do a full repot and root reduction before planting it in your chosen location to grow.

Good luck.