Trident maple

[BILBO76]

Had this for a couple years still don’t know what I am doing lol. Any critique or advice

 

[rockm]

Looks like you’re doing pretty well. Tree looks healthy and looks like it’s been cut back appropriately

Would be more instructive for us to see it without leaves in the fall

 

[BILBO76]

Yes sir will post some this fall. Thanks for reply

 

[BILBO76]

Also had a question on the roots. Sorry should have taken pictures of them. They are long thick roots with fine roots at the end. They are growing horizontally but too long and big. So my question is, when I repot next spring how many should I cut in a single repot?

 

[Shibui]

Also had a question on the roots. Sorry should have taken pictures of them. They are long thick roots with fine roots at the end. They are growing horizontally but too long and big. So my question is, when I repot next spring how many should I cut in a single repot?

This is common as so many people are scared of pruning roots.
Trident maples cope extremely well with root reduction. I often remove 75% of roots at repotting. Trees straight from the grow beds routinely have all main roots pruned back to be around the same length as the trunk diameter. At that stage they don't have much in the way of branches to support when the leaves open so plenty of scope to regenerate roots with less demand from above. Might be prudent to be a little less invasive now that your tree has better developed branches and canopy but I would still be comfortable removing 75% in Spring, before the leaves open.

Here's a few photos showing how much I cut trident roots.
Routine root pruning on 2 or 3 year old field grown trident trunk:


Root pruning and trunk chop a 2-3 year old feral trident that has never been root pruned before.


Another feral trident dug at 2-3 years. Some massive roots that had to be cut hard.

and, in case anyone wonders if that last tree survived, here's a shot of the new roots 12 months later.

New roots will emerge from the exposed cambium all around the cut ends of roots. That means the closer to the trunk you cut the roots, the closer to the trunk you'll get root ramification.

 

[rockm]

Also had a question on the roots. Sorry should have taken pictures of them. They are long thick roots with fine roots at the end. They are growing horizontally but too long and big. So my question is, when I repot next spring how many should I cut in a single repot?

Shibui's response is spot on. This is how tridents are root pruned. Don't be too scared. Tridents are extremely vigorous growers and will recover.

 

[BILBO76]

Thank you Shibui! You are correct I was scared to cut them back. Your answer was so informative thank you for taking the time

 

[TNJed]

For years I was nervous about chopping roots. My trees haven’t been healthier since I started being more aggressive.