Sango Kaku (Coral Bark) Maple

[cozmicat]

Hey all, wanted to get a discussion going on my large maple. Which was purchased from someone who collected from someone’s yard and cut down. They had this tree for about 3 years after collection. After bringing it home the plastic pot broke, so I had to slip pot into the large mica pot. I was considering building a wooden box for the tree, but have not gotten around to it. There is a lot of work to do on this one to get it to look anything like a finished bonsai. After some consideration from fellow bonsai friends in my location (Pacific Northwest). They advised after years of success they have been able to work on maples in the fallZ

So my question to all of you, what would you Maple folks do? How would you handle this beast? What would you suggest i do?

I have started to hollow out some of the dead bits of the tree, but haven’t gone further as I’m not exactly sure what I’m doing, or how to do it. Lol.

Spring 2021


Fall 2021


This winter

Summer 2020

 

[Perrywinkle]

That’s a really nice yamadori you got there. Excellent base. If it were my tree, I would start by getting the nebari the way I wanted. It currently has one very large root growing across another root. I think this is also the case on the left at the back but I can’t see properly. Maples normally need to have stellar nebari to be considered ‘great’ specimens of the species.

I would start by making tough decisions and chopping off some of the roots that are throwing off the nebari. At least getting rid of roots that are growing on top of each other. Of course, if you love the way the roots look right now and you want a more naturalistic style, it doesn’t look half bad as is. Just my 2¢.

 

[cozmicat]

That’s a really nice yamadori you got there. Excellent base. If it were my tree, I would start by getting the nebari the way I wanted. It currently has one very large root growing across another root. I think this is also the case on the left at the back but I can’t see properly. Maples normally need to have stellar nebari to be considered ‘great’ specimens of the species.

I would start by making tough decisions and chopping off some of the roots that are throwing off the nebari. At least getting rid of roots that are growing on top of each other. Of course, if you love the way the roots look right now and you want a more naturalistic style, it doesn’t look half bad as is. Just my 2¢.

Thanks for the 2c. At the moment I don’t trust my ability in taking that root off without doing harm to the tree. Any good resources on that? I did some dead wood work but stopped as I don’t want to harm.

I have considered going with the more natural style for this one.

The back of the tree doesn’t look as good as the front, you can see more of the visual issues with the tree, so I agree I have to make some tough decisions on this one.

 

[MHBonsai]

I’d ask yourself some questions. What do you love about the tree that you think is the best feature?

What always catches your eye that you want to change?

What is your final image going to look like? Have you done a quick sketch of how big you see it being in it’s finished form? A sketch can go a long way.

Myself, I think the roots are your critical path. If it’s super healthy this spring I would do a ‘make it or kill it’ repot and chop down a ton of those thick and overlapping roots. I wouldn’t touch anything else until I was happy the roots are on the path to bonsai.

Canopies build fast compared to a nice flat fibrous root spread.

 

[Forrestford]

Were it mine, I would try to air layer it.



Not the best vert but you get the idea.
Thats a sweet tree and could be very good In just a few years.

 

[cozmicat]

I’d ask yourself some questions. What do you love about the tree that you think is the best feature?

What always catches your eye that you want to change?

What is your final image going to look like? Have you done a quick sketch of how big you see it being in it’s finished form? A sketch can go a long way.

Myself, I think the roots are your critical path. If it’s super healthy this spring I would do a ‘make it or kill it’ repot and chop down a ton of those thick and overlapping roots. I wouldn’t touch anything else until I was happy the roots are on the path to bonsai.

Canopies build fast compared to a nice flat fibrous root spread.

I think the best part is the size of the trunk. I definitely agree, the roots catch my eye. Not in a good way. They need a lot of work to resemble anything nice. Any good resources on how to redevelop roots on a maple?

I have not drawn any image for this bonsai or any that I have. Any resources in that area?

 

[cozmicat]

Were it mine, I would try to air layer it.

View attachment 413847

Not the best vert but you get the idea.
Thats a sweet tree and could be very good In just a few years.

Yess!! I like that. I haven’t even considered that. Decisions decisions.

 

[MHBonsai]

Bad Roots Or No Roots? How To Make Your Own | Bonsai South

bonsai-south.com

 

[MHBonsai]

Ground Layering of a Trident Maple with ugly roots

Layering, is a very simple way of increasing the number of trees in your collection, or improving those with defective roots.

www.bonsaitree.co.za

This one's excellent.