Prunus Mume nursery stock

[Drewski]

So, I picked up this mume at a local nursery back in November. I waited patiently for the show, and it’s been nice. But it’s time to consider a trunk chop, and I thought I’d ask the more experienced folks here for their input. What and where would you chop? I am planning on digging down to find the nebari prior to the chop, and that will also let me see the graft. If the graft turns out to be a real Frankenstei, how challenging are mume when it comes to ground layering? Thanks.

 

[Tieball]

I don’t have a great answer for you. And this is not much of a helpful reply. It's difficult for me to think thoroughly about the chops without the tree sitting in front of me. Because I mostly examine chops and then am able to rotate the tree around to see what the overall impact would be with a particular set of chops from different subtle view changes. I like to imagine out several paths of chops. To me there's never just one chop possibility. I usually place wire twists or tape where I think a chop might work and then look at it from different views so I can focus on what I was thinking. I mostly decide on something and then set it aside to view another day so my efforts are not a rush of chopping errors that I later regret.

When you bought this tree you probably had some chopping thoughts in mind. What were those ideas? I’d be interested in seeing what you were thinking as a starting point. Then I can usually ask myself.…what am I missing? It's where I begin….and what I almost always change after getting the tree material home. My initial buying-something-excitem is gone and now I look at reality. If I’m unsure I let it continue to grow and set it aside. I've brought home trees just to set them aside and see what branches grow and what branches weaken and die off….so waiting at least a full range of growth, and through weather changes, works best for my decision process. After awhile ideas surface. Then it’s commitment time….the fine saw comes out and I avoid chopping regrets (most of the time). I don’t like to chop to early without the lower trunk being thick enough for the trunk plan in my head.

I'm just rambling on I guess. I didn’t reply with an answer to your questions. Better to stop.

 

[Nybonsai12]

If this were mine I’d probably chop to the lowest branch that has viable leaf buds. Then I’d hope buds pop below that branch for future potential chops to get more movement in that straight trunk coming out of the soil. In my experience, Mume aren’t great wound healers so keep That in mind. I’ve never tried layering one.

 

[Pitoon]

I would not be concerned so much with the graft, once the tree matures some more the bark will help to minimize it.

The issue I see is the movement you want to incorporate into the tree. You will not be able to do much with the thicker branches. I have seen successful air layers on mume, but it's hit or miss depending on the cultivar.

This is what I would do. Chop off the red and grow out the the branch where the yellow arrow is.

 

[Ming dynasty]

So, I picked up this mume at a local nursery back in November. I waited patiently for the show, and it’s been nice. But it’s time to consider a trunk chop, and I thought I’d ask the more experienced folks here for their input. What and where would you chop? I am planning on digging down to find the nebari prior to the chop, and that will also let me see the graft. If the graft turns out to be a real Frankenstei, how challenging are mume when it comes to ground layering? Thanks.

Do they have more for sale?

 

[Pitoon]

Do they have more for sale?

The OP is located in Canada.