Advice please, first post- Crepe Myrtle & Maple

[gr8bookworm]

Hi all,

I am very much a novice and have recently been given a couple of Nursery trees. One I believe is a Crepe Myrtle and was about 2.5/3M tall. I had to cut it way back to get into my care and this is how she looks today when i have gotten home:







As you can see it currently has not much to work with but as a beginner I am hoping it can amount to something many years in the future?

My questions are:

Should I just feed and water it now until next year and let it grow or should I take the plunge now and cut back further now?

Should the first lower branch be trained as the new trunk or should I wait for a new bud to select?

Any other advice? With so litttle experinece it is hard for me to see into the future of what the tree "could' look like...any thoughts?

Second I also have a maple which I beleive may be a Acer Rubrum if I can make out the faint label correctly, Is this a good Bonsai subject?
Similar story to the first tree, having looked at many Bonsai in books, magazines etc i would love to have a maple with a "twin" trunk or similar, would this work here with the correct training?








I also have 2 other trees that I would like to discuss but I will start a seperate thread for those.

I hope the pics are ok.

Thanks,

Mark

[rowan]

I would advise you to wait a bit until they throw out more shoots - don't worry, it won't take long - then you will be able to better see your options. Both trees have some potential but it will take time before they will look anything great. Just practice with them and over time you will get to know how they behave and how they react when you trim them certain ways etc. What I'm trying to say is to be patient and experiment, you're not likely to do any irrepairable damage.

The branching on the maple is too high for a twin trunk so wait for shoots and you may have changed your mind on the styling by then.

Cheers,
Rowan

[Damian Bee]

I would be taking the Crepe Myrtle back down to that first shoot that has pushed out near the soil.
You can then start to work on that as the new trunk. Of course it would be worth having a look at the roots too.
I have one of these oin a pot and one in the ground, they can sucker like crazy so enjoy your cuttings

[kcpoole]

I woud take the Crepe down much further, to the1st branch probably and then cut that one back to about 2inches long and regrow from there

The Maple I would cut back real hard too. Probably take off the thicker trunk altogether, and then pick one of the shoots to keep on the other branch as theleader but cut it back. Take off the other smaller branch

Ken

[MattA]

Hey mark,

i would also cut the crepe back to that first shoot & then just let it go. Suckering will only occur once you start tampering with roots or if it was grown from a sucker. This looks like it was probably grown from a hardwood cutting.

With the maple you ask about a twin trunk, this tree as is would not be suitable as it is, but if you did an air layer like on your other maple where the 2 branchs come away from the trunk, this would give you agreat base to train as a twin trunk. Just another option for you other than chopping.

Matt

[Ron]

...i would also cut the crepe back to that first shoot & then just let it go.

Is there a right time of the year to do that to Crepes, Matt, or can it be done anytime?

Ron ...

[MattA]

...i would also cut the crepe back to that first shoot & then just let it go.

Is there a right time of the year to do that to Crepes, Matt, or can it be done anytime?

Ron ...

Hey Ron,

I find I get the best regrowth from Crepe's if I butcher/repot around november here in newcastle.. they will reshoot like crazy & still flower, if you hit them now they will still reshoot like crazy but wont flower.

When a tree is in the development stages this can be an advantage, you can get an extra ramification each season & because the tree isnt pumping energy to flowers & seed they will generally make more growth & be slightly thicker at the end of the growing season...

Matt

[Ron]

Thanks, Matt.

Cheers, Ron.

[gr8bookworm]

Thanks for your replies guys!

Looks like I will be getting the Branch cutters out this evening.

Is it ok to do the same for the Acer this time of year?

Also I assume that as I have not touched the roots that I can feed them normally now or should I give them a bit more/less?

[LLK]

Thanks for your replies guys!

Looks like I will be getting the Branch cutters out this evening.

Hi Mark, don't be in too much of a hurry! Yes, three people advised you to cut back the Crepe Myrtle to the first shoot,
but one told you to wait. If this were a Chinese elm or a trident, I would agree with the big chop, in principle, but with a Crepe Myrtle it's worth stopping to think. The most beautiful feature of this tree is its bark, not its flowers, and to get a really great thick trunk with regularly peeling bark takes time. On yours, the bark is beginning to peel, and the trunk has a nice diameter for a starter; also, it's not 100% straight and boring. Besides these considerations, you shouldn't really undertake a big trunk chop before you have looked at the roots. Take Rowan's advice - that's my advice too - and WAIT.
Once a large section of trunk is off, it's off, and it takes a long time to get a balanced, worthwhile tree again.

By the way, that knee jerk reflex of cutting back a trunk as far as possible to obtain a compact tree in the long run, that really gets to me. It really doesn't always apply to every tree!!!

Your maple looks like it may have been grafted. Not sure about the Acer rubrum id., because of the way the petioles are attached to the leaf. Compare wisth this http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Acer_rubrum.jpg

Good luck, you've got good starters, just think things through before you start cutting.

Lisa

[gr8bookworm]

Thanks Lisa!

As a novice it is very hard to understand how a tree will grow over time without actually having experineced it first. I was only just reading an article online where a student in Japan actually said that when he first entered Bonsdi he did a lot of hacking and slashing of trees and now he has learnt it is more important to learn how to grow a tree first before learning how to cut it back!

I agree that the trunk actually has some shape to it on the Crepe Myrtle and that the bark will be the best feature of this tree in years to come, but I was looking at the lack of taper in the trunk but at the same time I would like to start having a few "bigger" trees in my collection as so far most will only end up being 30cm high.

If I wanted this tree to end up more like 60cm in height should I just let it grow now, have a look at the roots next Spring and maybe pot into a grow box?

Thanks,

Mark

[LLK]

No, to get taper, you have to cut back the trunk and grow a branch as a new leader. I would just advise not to cut as low as that first side branch. For a 60 cm tree, you could cut back to 300 - 400 mm, depending on what you like. The Acer is the better tree for a twin trunk, the Crepe Myrtle doesn't appear to have the basic structure for it. Having a look at the roots early in Spring and putting it in a grow box is a good program. Cutting back for the deciduous trees is late winter/very early Spring, before sap rise. Seal the cuts.

Best wishes,

Lisa

[Craig]

Hi Mark, although the peeling and flaking bark is a real treat on Crepe Myrtles, I personally love the Flowers aswell. I think they're rather special. The beauty of it is (in my experience) that the bark peels at a different time to when it flowers, so it has different attractions at different times of the year . - Craig

crepemyrtlesm01jan-#2010#%.jpg

crepemyrtle001jan-#2010#%.jpg