Trident Maple - Advice on dealing with poorly located buds?

[SilverShoe99]

I've got this little trident maple that I picked up in Dec '19, so I've only had it for one growing season. It's the first trident I've ever had so it's a bit of a learn-as-I-go endeavor. This tree had all kinds of whorls and knobs and reverse taper, so I cut all that mess off and left myself with a fun little trunk. It's got a lot of movement, which I like. Lots of scars to heal, which I don't. I'm looking forward to seeing this one develop.



I have a question for those more experienced with this species regarding how to deal with buds sprouting in adverse locations. As you can see from the pics attached, aside from the 'apex,' this tree has decided to bud out in almost entirely awful locations this spring.


Inside the curve


Inside the curve, again


I've circled in this photo several buds that are emerging right out of the top of the trunk, some of which are in ok locations.

So, I'm wondering whether I should immediately remove all the poorly located buds (i.e. those on the inside of the curves) ASAP, or if I should let them grow a bit so the entire tree can gain some vigor, and then cut them off at some point in the future.

 

[0soyoung]

Just rub off buds you don't want as soon as you see them. The longer you wait the more you'll wind up with a bump/knob.

 

[Shibui]

I agree with above. The tree appears to be Japanese maple. Excess buds wil rapidly cause the trunk to enlarge so get rid of them as soon as you decide they are in undesirable locations. Later when the other buds produce leaves keep looking inside the foliage because more buds are likely to emerge hidden and will still cause problems.
Tiny buds like these are easy to break off at the base with a finger. Cutting will leave more buds at the base to sprout later.

There should be no problem with the tree producing other shoots in better spots that you can encourage and allow those to feed the tree this year.

 

[SilverShoe99]

It's interesting you mention it looks like a Japanese maple, rather than a trident. It was leafless and advertised as a j. maple when I bought it, but the foliage didn't match the other j. maples I've got.

Once this thing leafs out I'll take some other foliage pics - I'm curious to know your opinion once you see the leaves.

 

[Shibui]

It was the buds and that tiny shoot opening I was looking at. With a second look the bark does look much more like trident and those shoots are way too small to make an accurate ID. Apologies for my assumption. Mature leaves will definitely help in ID.
Tridents are not quite as prone to producing clusters of shoots after pruning but the same general principles apply so rub off any that are not in good locations before they get strong and cause problems.