Rescuing a Japanese maple

[Danonito]

As I was driving home today, I noticed a discarded tree on the sidewalk , a few meters away from my home. To my surprise ,it was a japanese maple that was probably dug out a few hours earlier (hopefully not more). It looked forcibly dug out , not many fine roots for its size but green bark where I scratched. It has a nice thick trunk of 3-4 cm.

Long story short, I put it in a big plastic tub full with pure sphagnum moss and some rooting powder to encourage new roots. I cut out all the branches with shriveled leaves and bark and hope it buds back. Any other ideas to maximise the tree's chances?

See photos before and after

 

[Newish in Oregon]

As I was driving home today, I noticed a discarded tree on the sidewalk , a few meters away from my home. To my surprise ,it was a japanese maple that was probably dug out a few hours earlier (hopefully not more). It looked forcibly dug out , not many fine roots for its size but green bark where I scratched. It has a nice thick trunk of 3-4 cm.

Long story short, I put it in a big plastic tub full with pure sphagnum moss and some rooting powder to encourage new roots. I cut out all the branches with shriveled leaves and bark and hope it buds back. Any other ideas to maximise the tree's chances?

See photos before and after

Looks like he has potential. I'm newish to the game but suspect it would do better in a 'typical' bonsai mix [if there is such a thing ]. I've managed to keep my trees reasonably happy in a 1:1:1 mix of Napa 8822, pumice and cedar bark.

 

[Shogun610]

You should just use pure pumice

 

[caffeinated]

I think with the minimal roots and not knowing how long it's been out of the ground you did fine. Could maybe add some organic soil into the mix. Morning sun and afternoon shade until you see which direction it goes. If it starts growing then those replies above are apropos.

 

[19Mateo83]

If it lives that’s a SCORE! It’s got potential.

 

[Shibui]

JM have been quite resilient down here. I routinely dig and root prune back to stumps of roots then just pot up in standard bonsai soil. 99% success rate.
Rooting powder promotes roots on stem cuttings but seems to have no effect on roots because roots already know how to grow roots. Probably won't do any harm either though.
Provided your container has plenty of drainage the moss should not cause any problem and may even help get roots started like layers, etc. Not sure I would like to take a tree right through summer in pure sphagnum though as it has the potential to stay too wet. Maybe be prepared to repot into soil if/when the buds start to grow?

For now just make sure it gets plenty of air and sun. Nothing else I know of will help the tree. It's all up to it now.

 

[Danonito]

Small update: tree still looks to be alive (green bark and no dieback on the cuts) but I haven't seen any buds yet. The tub is full of holes on the bottom and I check the moss regularly. We had a nice warm spell in NL last week so it got plenty of sun but then we had snow and frost when and I moved it in the shed. Current weather is wet and its outside again.

Regarding the soil/moss , my only source was "Peter Chan's moss trick" and I decided to go that route, not sure if I can safely repot this tree right now without killing it completely but I will keep check if the moss is too wet.

Regarding back budding , how long should I wait? If there's no bud by end of first flush I can consider it dead? Or can it still do it?

Thank you all in advance!

 

[Shibui]

Regarding back budding , how long should I wait? If there's no bud by end of first flush I can consider it dead? Or can it still do it?

I don't consider any tree really dead until at least mid summer. Often budding is delayed if the tree has had a traumatic experience so late shoots are normal.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Good sideatheroad eye!

Sorce

 

[Kidkidsupreme]

Update?

 

[Danonito]

Update?

It didn't survive , I kept it in the best conditions I could (even in a small greenhouse with high humidity, it never budded back I think it was already too late when i discovered it.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Sorry to hear it didn't survive. I don't think you killed it - I think it was already gone. However in the future, remember to never put rooting hormone on roots. Rooting hormone only works where there are NO roots (cuttings, air-layers, etc). If you put it on roots you won't see a benefit, and you may end up burning the roots.

 

[Danonito]

Sorry to hear it didn't survive. I don't think you killed it - I think it was already gone. However in the future, remember to never put rooting hormone on roots. Rooting hormone only works where there are NO roots (cuttings, air-layers, etc). If you put it on roots you won't see a benefit, and you may end up burning the roots.

Fair point indeed. The reason why I added some rooting powder is because I never saw any feeder roots (you can see it slightly in the second pic). I think I should have known at that stage that it won't survive but it was worth trying

 

[Kidkidsupreme]

It didn't survive , I kept it in the best conditions I could (even in a small greenhouse with high humidity, it never budded back I think it was already too late when i discovered it.

Can’t win them all! I had great results with Peter’s moss trick with deciduous trees. Many people are afraid of root rot, which is understandable.

Another really conventional, but rather different, method is 100% pumice.

For coniferous trees, it makes sense to go for pumice.

But for deciduous trees, I’m curious how Peter’s moss trick performs vs 100% pumice.