What do I do with this trident???

[Matt3839]

Got this trident maple when I was giving away some cuttings and the person was nice enough to just give me this tree as a trade. I have no idea what to do with it though. A large set of roots comes off the trunk about an inch or two higher than soil level. The owner said it needed a repot really bad so I’m wondering if I should maybe bury the tree up to the top roots? I’m really not sure… anyone have any thoughts?

 

[Jrmcmich]

Hard to tell root condition until repotting but appears to have multiple root levels so maybe you could pick one when repotting. Seems like you could always do a ground layer as an option too?

 

[JudyB]

Since this was a freebie (and it’s a trident and can take a lot of abuse) you should use it to practice techniques you don’t know but want to learn. Either a ground layer, or an air layer (or both lol). If there are viable roots under these you could get rid of these, although there will be scars to heal, or you can get rid of the lower ones in favor of these and learn the Ebihara method. You can graft seedlings into the places where it doesn’t have roots, there are so many things you can learn on this tree!

Edit: maybe you already have all these skillzzz in your toolbox, sorry don’t mean to offend if so.

 

[Matt3839]

The pot is only about 3 inches deep and nothing but roots.. so no shortage.

And no I don’t have any of those skills. I’ll probably bring it to my class next week and see what they say too but it seems I’m probably out of repotting season this year.

I think I’d like to either try air or ground layer, or at least keep the higher up roots.
The trunk is straight from the top set of roots for about 5-6 inches and about 3/4 inch thick so it may be hard to get much movement in it.

 

[Shibui]

Tridents are masters of growing new roots so it is not unusual to see several layers of roots growing from different levels on the trunk. It just indicates that, at some stage the soil level was higher. Tridents are tough so no problem cutting some off.
When upper roots have grown to this size you'll almost always find the trunk is thicker at that point than below so removing the upper roots will leave you with disappointing inverse taper down there. Much better to remove the lower roots by chopping the trunk immediately below the upper roots. Don't worry, a trident can cope with that when done at the right time of year but it's a bit late for you as the tree already has leaves so I would defer that to next spring. For this season, Lift the root ball out of the pot. Add some new potting soil to the pot, tease some roots out of the root ball, replace the tree and fill with more good potting soil to just cover the upper roots.
Then fertilise and water well through Summer to gain strength for the root prune next Spring.

You could even take advantage of the coming year to get those upper roots to ramify. Simply chop all the upper roots quite short - maybe chop about 1 trunk thickness out from the trunk? - before topping up the soil. Again, don't worry that might harm the tree. It is a trident and can take some root reduction, even when in leaf provided you leave the remaining roots largely intact and provide good care for the tree. If the chopped roots are kept covered and damp, new roots will grow from the cut ends which will give you masses of healthy, new feeder roots close to the trunk when you chop the lower roots next Spring.

Nothing for scale in the photos but I'm assuming the trunk is less than finger thick? In that case I would allow lots of growth to thicken the trunk this year.

The top and branching can be addressed in future.