Trunk Chop Large Maple

[Gr8tfuldad]

So I found a 7-8’ green maple in the wild maple forest I would like to collect. It is in the ground and growing healthy. The first three feet has awesome movement and flare. The downside it does not have any branches/leaves for the first 5’ to cutback to. Given this situation, would it be better to chop the trunk and collect the following year rather than chopping and collecting at the same time? Would it better to chop before bud swell so there is still energy to be sent up to the nodes that are no longer lower on the tree? Thanks for your guidance.

 

[Forsoothe!]

I would chop it now with a nice angle, visit it a few times next year to guide its growth, and collect it spring 2023.

 

[PonderingSage:]

If you not in a rush it might be better to let it grow out in the ground for a few seasons after chopping. I would give myself some insurance and chop a bit higher so if it dies back you don’t lose the movement.

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

If you not in a rush it might be better to let it grow out in the ground for a few seasons after chopping. I would give myself some insurance and chop a bit higher so if it dies back you don’t lose the movement.

Thank you, that was my plan

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

I guess my next question. Do you always have to chop back to where you want your first branch. Can you chop below where the final apex will be and develop the branches when it buds back? Thank you.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Yes.

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

Yes.

Yes which one lol

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Though it is not a universal opinion, I always seal large pruning scars on maples. Downside? None... other than your time and a little pruning sealer. Upside? May protect against fungus, may reduce die-back and accelerate callous development, and may help buds develop at the margin of your cut.

And @Forsoothe! meant "yes you can cut below any branch, and (in the case of an established maple in the field) they will produce new buds and you can develop your new leader off of those. P.S. Bonsainut is awesome". At least that's what I imagine him saying

 

[Forsoothe!]

It's your call. You can chop at an angle with a bud at the peak and it may or may not grow from that bud. It's a crap shoot. You can chop but you can't predict exactly where a bud will grow.

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

Though it is not a universal opinion, I always seal large pruning scars on maples. Downside? None... other than your time and a little pruning sealer. Upside? May protect against fungus, and may reduce die-back and accelerate callous development.

I planned on sealing with putty, thank you for confirming.

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

Wouldn’t a trunk chop now be riskier? (Tree will not have time to heal chop because it is going dormant soon?)

 

[Pitoon]

You Sir, have been bitten by the bonsai bug.

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

You Sir, have been bitten by the bonsai bug.

I have always been into it, just now I am taking action. Lots of it

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

You Sir, have been bitten by the bonsai bug.

I wish you were closer, I would love to show you this place my dad showed me about. There is a ton of old Japanese maples growing in the woods. Someone must have planted some JM many years ago and they just self seeded everywhere. It is probably as close to a Japanese mountainside in NJ as you can get. They are literally growing everywhere.

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

Although nothing is for free. I learned a section not to go into when collecting some trees.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Wouldn’t a trunk chop now be riskier? (Tree will not have time to heal chop because it is going dormant soon?)

No, this is a good time because of that. In the spring there is a rush of sap to refill the canopy. The tree can transition some tertiary buds into primary and secondary in-between now and spring. Buds that you can't see now will become evident in late winter. Visit it then and slice off those you don't want, pairs and clusters, or otherwise poorly placed for your ends. There may have been a nursery there eons ago. I found three like that 40 years ago, about 1973. Here's one of them 20 years ago...

 

[Bonsai Nut]

You can trunk chop AFTER the leaves have dropped in fall. Seal the wound and you should be gtg. Otherwise, early spring just as the buds swell.

 

[Pitoon]

I wish you were closer, I would love to show you this place my dad showed me about. There is a ton of old Japanese maples growing in the woods. Someone must have planted some JM many years ago and they just self seeded everywhere. It is probably as close to a Japanese mountainside in NJ as you can get. They are literally growing everywhere.

Where in Jersey is this place?

 

[Forsoothe!]

Gotta watch what you tell Pitoon, he's a serious collector...

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

Where in Jersey is this place?

It’s by a river