Japanese Maple need help, starting from a thick trunk

[her0d]

Hey Folks,

Here is my starter Japanese maple that has been in a large growing pot for about 5 years. It has thickened up but due to it being left unattended for most of it's life, it has little taper in the trunk as you can see. At the moment the main trunk goes up to about 25cm and is about as thick as a 50 cent piece. It has a slight lean from the root base.

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What would you guys recommend I do with this plant?
Should I try and turn it into a shohin and abandon the straight height?
Anything I should be doing to the trunk scars? (pruned back this year)

Cheers,

Jack

[Daluke]

Put it in the ground mate. Feed like crazy. When the first branch gets to 3/4 of the girth of the trunk cut the branch to the first bud and continue.

[MountainFrost]

You got a decent base with this tree, but as you said it has little taper and a very straight trunk, I can't think of anything you could do with it like it is. You have two options, if your happy with the size, I would suggest a V shaped cut, removing a majority of the straight section, and turning it into a broom style. If you want something else repot it into a large pot or even better the ground and fertilise it over a few years. Hope this helps.

[her0d]

Thanks for your replies guys.

What I you mean by doing v cuts to the trunk? IS that similar to v nothin where you notch a v cut into the side and pull the tree down where the cut is made so that the trunk has a new angle?

I do like the base of this maple and will enjoy discovering all of it in a winter repot.

[MountainFrost]

Thanks for your replies guys.

What I you mean by doing v cuts to the trunk? IS that similar to v nothin where you notch a v cut into the side and pull the tree down where the cut is made so that the trunk has a new angle?

I do like the base of this maple and will enjoy discovering all of it in a winter repot.

If you have a look here (https://sites.google.com/site/cnybonsai/broom ), this person has done a V cut on their elm. You could possibly do this with your maple (im not sure whens the best time), personally I wouldn't do it as low as done with the elm if you were to go with this style, but it's all up to you. There are also other styles that you could go with, not really sure how to describe them, but it helps to browse google and see if you find anything you think is possible with your tree.

[her0d]

I see what you mean now MountainFrost!
I could do this next springtime at about the middle of the second intersection of the trunk. It would be the first time doing a cut like that and would be interesting to learn from it.
I feel like it's a bit too late to try and achieve what I want from this tree, I may as well do a low trunk chop and start with a new leader to create movement.

What do other people think? I'm sure this is a common problem "stick in a pot" that many have experienced.

[kcpoole]

HI Herod.
VEry common in fact to let trees go too far then have years of work to recover them.
Cut back hard and wait for an new shoot to develop as the second section of trunk and wire early for shape.
Next repot you can tilt the base of the trunk to create movement out of the ground.

Ken

[her0d]

Thanks for the reply Ken. Would you suggest cutting it back hard now? Or wait until early Spring?

[Nate.bonsai]

HI Herod.
VEry common in fact to let trees go too far then have years of work to recover them.
Cut back hard and wait for an new shoot to develop as the second section of trunk and wire early for shape.
Next repot you can tilt the base of the trunk to create movement out of the ground.

Ken

I second that approach. It is not too thick that a drastic/dramatic (read: low) cut scar will ruin the tree for years to come.

Chop, chop, chop and wire some movement in earlier this time. You will still be retaining all of the benefit of the thick base, so you won't be 'losing' those years of growth.


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[her0d]

Thanks for all your comments and advice so far!
In last few weeks there have been some buds appearing around the scar at the second part of the trunk and a small one at the first section.

I am hoping they continue and become branches and I will make one of them a leader.

I've been advised to do the big chop in winter, does that sound right?

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Cheers

[shibui]

I'm happy to chop trees pretty much any time of year but I would wait until you have some strong shoots growing well before chopping. JM are prone to dying back if they don't have strong shoots left below the cut.

You can expect lots of new buds around that scar. That's one of the problems with JM. Unless you ruthlessly remove buds from around scars they will thicken the area even more.

[her0d]

Thanks for the reply Shibui. I just read your post about JPM sprouting buds in clusters near branches and totally see what you mean