acer palmatum sango kaku

[craigw60]

I was recently given a coral bark maple which was grown by Alan Raper one of the early Melbourne growers. This cultivar is not often seen in Japanese collections. Does any one know if it is possible to get really good ramification on these trees ?

[Jamie]

not a clue craig, but would love to see a pic of the tree you have, being a maple i am sure you will be able to refine it to a certain degree!


jamie

[craigw60]

Here is a picture of the tree in question. I will give you a brief history. When I received the tree it had two trunks the second trunk was too ugly and the branching was very straight and had very little foliage. The tree had not been potted for about 10 years. I removed the second trunk and 90% of the branches. I am now working on a new branch structure. I realise it is a slightly unusual style for a japanese maple but we work with what we have. The best thing is the pot which is a hand made japanese pot signed.
Rgards from Craig

[Jamie]

looks interesting craig you said you received it as a twin trunk, was it a negleted tree then? or was it well maintained? if you can remember when ya got it if it had a dense structure or not then that will tell you if it can get good ramification! it may be an unusual style for a maple but i like to see things outside of the box with different species sometimes and i think this one will work out just fine

did you try and airlayer the tree or did you just chop it off straight up?


jamie

[craigw60]

Hi Jamie,
The tree was really neglected with almost no ramification. I am growing a completely new set of branches. I just removed the second trunk I need more trees like a hole in the head

[Jamie]

lol, ya cant have enough trees! im sure you will be able to build some decent ramification with the tree. being a maple, it will get some sort of density to it i am sure, even though i dont know much bout maples i am sure you can work it into something


jamie

[NathanM]

These look awesome when the bark si new and orange ^_^ Nice work! I'd love to get one, but it'd struggle up here :/

[craigw60]

Hi Nathan,
I have a couple of lovely old sango kaku maples in the garden and always look forward to winter when the red stems show up

[NathanM]

here's one!!

[NathanM]

Nice one mate!! Anything worth diffing up and turning into bonsai??

[Jarrod]

How long are the normal node Craig? It you can't get smaller nodes then dense foilage will be tough!

Starting to fill in a bit since I last saw it!

[craigw60]

Hi Jarod the internodes seem to be quite long and it sends out lots of shoots at the juncture of trunk and branch. I have been rubbing them out constantly.

[Jarrod]

I'm not sure it's going to reduce node lenght too well. It's definately going to be tough to thicken branches without losing control of node lenght lower on the branch.

I still think this will be a lovely tree and the pot definately makes up for it.

[Mojo Moyogi]

Craig, I have grown a few Sango Kakus that have new owners now, ramification is definitely possible with this species,and they make very presentable mini bonsai. I did notice that they have a habit of throwing long first internodes after summer pruning, especially when freely watered and fed. The bud response coming out of dormancy in spring is usually more workable.
Hope this helps.

Cheers
MM

[craigw60]

Thanks MM that is good advice. I am a very enthusiastic feeder so maybe I should hold back a bit on the coral bark. I am always a bit wary of using japanese cultivars that are so rarely seen as bonsai in japan.