Newbie attemppting to air layer a Japanese maple

[gr8bookworm]

Hi all,

My third posting this evening. As a novice i have read quite a lot of books and magazines and have had a nursery stock japanese Male sitting in a large pot for a few years and the truck/nenar etc has thicked. With my re-newed interedst in bonsai i have decided to attempt an air layer to remove the straight main trunk so that i can try to start styling and repotting the tree next Spring.

My questions more revolve around care of the the tree now since the airlayer was started about 3/4 days ago? Also I would like your initial thoughts on what I should be looking at doing with the tree once the air layer has been removed (big assumption here is that it works????) i would have asked for all your advice before doing the air layer but I have only just found the Ausbonsai website











Any advice please?

Thanks,

Mark

[kcpoole]

Hey Mark
Great work and nice stock

treat just like you have been will be ideal as the tree is very healthy looking

After you take the Layer off, I would cut back real hard ( assumeing enough time before winter) else wait for next spring.

See my Virt where I have cut back and rotated in the pot about 18 deg to get soem movement out of the ground and ge tthe ne trunkline more upright

of course this may not be possible, or desirable with the tree "in the Bark", but a thought


How long have you had it?

Ken

[Leigh Taafe]

Hey Mark - nice base on that maple mate! The existing stock will make a fine tree one day!

[gr8bookworm]

Hi guys,

Well after an 8 month wait for this project, I got home early from work today and decided it was such a great day, it was time to work on my Bonsai

I had already removed the air layer (sucessfully I think, as it has already started to shoot out in some sections...by the way should i just let this grow now for a season or 2?)

Well after a bit of effort imanaged to remove the remaining larger unwanted branches and have started to work on cleaning up the scars. I would love some advice on how far to go here as my basic knowledge says to remove some of the offending wood to make a slight hollow so that the scar can heal over, is this correct? how much should I remove?

I am making it hard for myself as this is the largest tree I have ever worked on and I only have the smaller concave cuters etc.

Hre's some pics, all comments welcome!

[kcpoole]

Nice work
Probably quite enough if wanted to take a little more out to hollow out the scars will be good. Do you have a dremel?
If not you can just keep scratching away and you shoud be good.

you shoud now cover the wounds with putty, sealer or whatever you ahve and leave alone

The layer you took off, just leave on the bench now to power on till next year, then repot and sort out the roots to give good nebari in the future.

Ken

[BonsaiElmo]

Just curious Ken, if cleaning up the cut sections with a dremel which is the best attachment?

I know kaizenbonsai have a range of termites, weezles on other great named implements. Are these required or will any of the standard bits suffice?

Also Mark, how long did you leave the airlayer on? Nice tree by the way.

Cheers
Elmo

[kcpoole]

Hi elmo
I would use an ordinary Round grinder type one just to grind out a small hollow.
like these ones http://www.pierfishing.com/resources/im ... spctr1.jpg

Ken

[gr8bookworm]

Hi ken,

thanks for your comments. I do own a dremmel so ill try and get some time to get it out over the weekend!

Elmo, I believe I cut the layer off just prior to Winter, maybe April/ May sometime so it would have been a good 3/4 months before I removed it.

I'll take a pic of what it looks like now. i hope some more roots have gron since the potting?

Mark

[Bretts]

WOW G8 stuff Mark.
You definitely have been reading alot as that is exceptional work for a newbie
I still wonder how much to take off when hoping for scars to heal so I would not disagree with KC but it is dam close to what I would do so I would suggest don't get too carried away maybe just clean it up a little with a carver.
I don't have a nice sized Japanese maple yet so I am envious of this one
My advice would be to keep the tree strong by minimal work for the next year or two.

[gr8bookworm]

Ok, my plan now is to root prune and put into a smaller growing container, perhaps a styrofoam box????

On that, is it ok to root prune after such a heavy cutback? I assume so but wanted to get all you excellent thoughts on the matter?

Also again from my knowledge I should pick a couple of new shoots when they appear at each of the cuts and remove the rest? How long do I wait to do this, as soon as the shoots appear of after a set of leaves open etc?

Or should I just let it grow wild and remove unwanted branches later, in 12 months etc?

Sorry for all the questions but any advice from here on in is appreciated.

Mark

[Gerard]

Nice work Mark,
Now would be the perfect time to repot, prune the fat roots faily hard and encourage the finer feeder roots. Remove as much of the downward growing roots as you dare and keep those growing out to the sides. This is also the best time to make an adjustment to the potting angle. Try to avoid a very deep pot but large is good.
Keep as much leaf growth as possible for the next year, this will be needed to help heal those big cuts.

[gr8bookworm]

So keep ALL the new shoots?

[James W]

Geetings all,

Mark, I’m just wondering if there has been a follow up on all this great work?
As I’m planning to do some air layering on a Japanese Maple in later this year..


Thanks,
James