AusBonsai

BirchMan wrote:Hi Grant,

If the next graft is in August will it be just at bud-swell or when the first leaves have come through? I'm guessing you have to strip the leaves off the thread to get it through anyway.

Cheers

Hi,

No. the maples in Canberra do not come into leaf until around late september; so no need to leaf strip.

grant

This series is absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for posting all of that, especially with such detailed pictures. That was one of the most in-depth progressions I've seen on a bonsai forum. I really appreciate you taking the time to post it.

tyroneslothrop wrote:This series is absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for posting all of that, especially with such detailed pictures. That was one of the most in-depth progressions I've seen on a bonsai forum. I really appreciate you taking the time to post it.

Welcome Tyrone; all part of the service.

We are prepping the tree for its next thread in about 5 months time.

Grant

Hi Grant,

Thanks for the detailed pics of the Thread-grafting and beyond. One of my Trident maples needs a thread graft, which I wasnt looking forward to doing, but this detailed thread really helps me alot.

Thanks

Hi all,

Leigh is taking photos of most of the trees in the collection so we will post a few as we go.

Here is the Japanese Maple as of today. The next place to be filled with a thread graft is very obvious in this shot. The crown will gradually fill out over the next few years and should look great.

Grant

Hi all,

Well its winter and the maple is now fully deciduous. The new thread graft took so well; almost too well! It will have to be lightly wired down and start the ramification process.

We will be starting to remove a lot of the shaggy look this Friday by removing a number of small shoots pointing up and down; and simplifying and thinning the other branchlets as well.

The rounded shape will be restored over the next few years as the middle and upper branches will grow and elongate quicker than the lower branches.

The next thread graft in August will fill the gap about 2/3rds up the trunk. I will try and keep the new graft thinner and in keeping with that portion of the trunk.

We have photoshopped it into a new pot as well. The old one was too fancy and rounded. This one is lower and sleeker looking.
Grant

Grant that new pot suits the tree to a tee the graft looks good too i have some ready for seperation on some maples as well. also a fig but it can wait untill spring. LOVELY TREE

Hi everyone,

We will be doing the next(and hopefully last) thread graft on this Japanese maple this coming Friday from 10.30am.

So if you are in Canberra or can make it come and see us.

Grant

Would love to Grant, but most of us have jobs that we dislike and must attend.]


Mick

Grant Bowie wrote:Hi everyone,

We will be doing the next(and hopefully last) thread graft on this Japanese maple this coming Friday from 10.30am.

So if you are in Canberra or can make it come and see us.

Grant

&*^%!!! I just remembered about this...only 5 mins around the corner too!

How did you go? I'll have to come and have a look on the weekend.

The thread graft went well, and with the experience of the last one, everything went smooth and without a hitch. Here are some pictures.

The tree did draw quite a lot of sap from the wound, so we decided to repot and root prune to help stem this bleeding.

Thanks for the update Grant. What a great pictorial progression!
How long do you expect it to take until you can cut the donor branch?

Looks like a beautiful day in Canberra too.

Regards,
Steven

Steven wrote:Thanks for the update Grant. What a great pictorial progression!
How long do you expect it to take until you can cut the donor branch?

Looks like a beautiful day in Canberra too.

Regards,
Steven

Hi Steven,

We have had glorious weather the last few days; up to 21 degrees; however just 13 days ago we had minus 9 degrees.

We have virtually finished re potting all the deciduous trees at the collection and some are already bursting; Catlin elm, Seiju elm, Chinese elm, Trident maple.

Any how re the thread graft; going on lasts years experience this will be our schedule;
Let the two buds at the tip of the new branch elongate to 3 or 4 sets of leaves and then , if the bud on the underside of the new branch has elongated, then pinch.
If only the two buds at the tip elongate and no others grow then I would let those two grow a little longer before pinching.
Do the usual pinch out technique on the rest of the japanese maple as usual.
Defoliate the whole tree except the new branch as usual around mid December.
Once the new branch looks fatter on the "out side" than the "in side" we would consider half cutting the donor branch or possibly three quarters or total cut off by about late Feb. We are trying to keep this new branch small and elegant as it is about 2/3rds up the trunk, so we are trying to control the thickening..
We will probably cut off some (two) heavy short branches just above the new branch when we defoliate in mid December as well.
This tree should look very respectable by autumn.

Grant

Just looking back through the thread we cut off the donor branch on the 18th Feb so we should have this one finished maybe by mid January or even earlier.

As always each season is different so we keep an eye on how its going and respond as necessary,

Grant

Thanks for the update Grant, a pity I missed it.