Maple Hardwood cutting experiment

[The Surgeon]

A few years ago I acquired a large-ish Japanese Maple. I took a couple of airlayers of the more interesting branches but most remaining branches were straight and not very interesting.

Last spring i decided to attempt a couple of hardwood cuttings. I read an article about taking hard wood cuttings, splitting the truck of lower portion of the cutting and inserting spacers in the splits to create a fared base to what will become the trunk.

Whilst the flaring of the trunk didn't really occur as I imagined the two hard wood cuttings took. (you can still see the split in the trunk of the smaller tree)

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The taller of the two has a little movement in the truck which is interesting. Now to leave the branches to grow to thicken.

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The smaller one was initially successful with two live veins running down both sides of the tree with mostly dead wood at the front.

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Early this growing season the RH live vein died and now all that is left is one single live vein which, from top to bottom, starts at the rear and twists around to the front.

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This little tree has only the Apex and one lower branch, feeding from that one vein.

Will let the branch thicken and see what comes of it and the apex. Will probably do more carving at some stage in an attempt to be able to see through the trunk.

[Stu]

Traditional view is that maples should not have dead-wood or so I have heard. I think you have the makings of a very interesting tree. Good job.

[The Surgeon]

Thanks Stu, looking forward to see how it ends up.

Not sure how i feel about some of those types of rules. The tree has deadwood, that is an undeniable fact, not sure what the alternative would be???

cheers

[Stu]

Apparently maples live unblemished lives and then die.

[The Surgeon]

don't we all