AusBonsai

Hi everyone.
Just a question, I've tried about 3 times now to get a good root spread on my maples by using the wire tourniquet method. Each time I've had 1 root grow and then the bark seems to just grow over the wire. Should I use the ringbark method and bury it. Is that safe on maples. I've had success in air layering maples before. How safe is ground layering with ringbark method. Thanks for any input.
Cheers Peter

Hi antipodists

What you call the "tourniquet method" is probably not the best for maples.

It works very well with Fagus (either the Japanese, or European species) : gauge out the bark the size of the wire that you will then secure in February (here, late winter), and it will produce star-like roots a couple of months later.

But for maples, the "ringbark method" is the appropriate one : remove the bark around the trunk/branch, a height corresponding to the diameter of the trunk/branch, or a little more. Make sure the cambium is scraped. Apply sphagnum moss, or any water retaining mix, coarse sand and composted pine bark works well too. If done properly, 100% success on the plain Acer palmatum and most cultivars (I did it with 'Orange Dream', 'Phoenix', 'Koto hime', and others).

You can either bury it if the layer is close to the ground/soil, or use a plastic pot to air-layer it. Two examples :
Etc.

How I made a kind of "Ground layer", because the roots of a tree were damaged. Actually, much better now...
Cheers from France, where we're having records of heat and drought for a month of June.
Fortunately, at the moment we're having a few days of stormy weather with a lot of rain, but unfortunately with strong gusts of wind (pots tipped over and broken, etc).

Alain

Hi Alain,
It looks like when peterb started this thread it was somehow duplicated and so there were several responses on the "other" identical thread here ..
viewtopic.php?p=300378#p300378
Good news is, the advice is consistent no matter where in the world you are... and your pics are a great illustration of the process.
Nice maples!