Trident Maple Concern ? Plz Help

[Flickitfar]

Hey all,
I have an outdoor only Trident maple, (about 8-10) years old, kept in a grow box.
After winter dormancy, she came back in spring. But failed to bud at the branch ends/ tips, The new branch, leaf growth is thriving, the overall tree health seems fine, but it’s just odd, that it’s not growing out of the expected branch tip bud area. I am not very concerned about it dying off, but was happy with the branch structure and form, (not the prettiest bonsai, but my wife loved it because it reminded her of a Dr Suess tree).
Should I prune off the branch ends that seem dead, will that help overall health of the tree, or hold off and hope that it will develop buds off of the old branch structure eventually.

 

[Gabler]

Pruning dead parts of the tree will not help anything at the moment. Give the tree some time, so you are better able to discern the line between live and dead parts of the trunk, and then cut off the dead parts. Overall, I would not plan to style anything this year. Just let the tree grow freely and recover.

 

[rockm]

Hey all,
I have an outdoor only Trident maple, (about 8-10) years old, kept in a grow box.
After winter dormancy, she came back in spring. But failed to bud at the branch ends/ tips, The new branch, leaf growth is thriving, the overall tree health seems fine, but it’s just odd, that it’s not growing out of the expected branch tip bud area. I am not very concerned about it dying off, but was happy with the branch structure and form, (not the prettiest bonsai, but my wife loved it because it reminded her of a Dr Suess tree).
Should I prune off the branch ends that seem dead, will that help overall health of the tree, or hold off and hope that it will develop buds off of the old branch structure eventually.

How was this tree overwintered? The more mature beaching looks dead. The new growth only from the trunk suggests the truck are also dead above that new growth. Dead branching and trunk don’t resprout new growth

 

[River's Edge]

Hey all,
I have an outdoor only Trident maple, (about 8-10) years old, kept in a grow box.
After winter dormancy, she came back in spring. But failed to bud at the branch ends/ tips, The new branch, leaf growth is thriving, the overall tree health seems fine, but it’s just odd, that it’s not growing out of the expected branch tip bud area. I am not very concerned about it dying off, but was happy with the branch structure and form, (not the prettiest bonsai, but my wife loved it because it reminded her of a Dr Suess tree).
Should I prune off the branch ends that seem dead, will that help overall health of the tree, or hold off and hope that it will develop buds off of the old branch structure eventually.

Cannot help but wonder what is the rest of the story? Was the tree repotted in the past year? What care routines changed? Or did you just have a much colder winter than usual? Just wondering, trident are pretty strong trees.

 

[Flickitfar]

Cannot help but wonder what is the rest of the story? Was the tree repotted in the past year? What care routines changed? Or did you just have a much colder winter than usual? Just wondering, trident are pretty strong trees.

Sorry. I should have included that information in the main post. I am new here. No repotting in the past few years. I’ll include a pic from spring ‘23 and I saw it in the background of a pick mid summer ‘21, so most likely that spring or maybe even as early as spring ‘20. I grew this from seed, originally in I think ‘14 or ‘15, I have had no other issues it’s growth has always been vigorous. I live in New Jersey, we did have a colder winter then we have in a while, so maybe that is it.
From reading through other posts on this forum, I did try a “scratch” test and most of the branching does have a green underlayer, except close to the top near where the branches, branch out and the buds would form, But the small branch ends do not seem overly brittle.
It has been a few years in that box, But I wasn’t very concerned of it being root bound, it’s a large box, (a typical flower planter box) It sits out back next to our deck, It’s a great lil tree, ppl comment on it often in summer.

 

[Flickitfar]

Pruning dead parts of the tree will not help anything at the moment. Give the tree some time, so you are better able to discern the line between live and dead parts of the trunk, and then cut off the dead parts. Overall, I would not plan to style anything this year. Just let the tree grow freely and recover.

Thank you this is helpful, I appreciate your insight. I was hoping to not lose any, but if I have to cut some in the future to keep the tree alive, Better to know that now, and not be overly aggressive on cutting back now, Or not cutting at all and losing the whole thing. It does not look like an infection.