Pheonix grafted Trident Maple

[Andrew F]

And your Sabina tanuki too plz

[Andrew Legg]

Blimey Mate,

If you can get twine to root you must have greener fingers than we thought! What's your secret?

[alpineart]

Hi Luke , this is the shot taken after i trimmed it back to the first set of leaves 2 days ago

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.Plenty of side shoots all over so now it can run on unhindered for the rest of the season . This should improve the branch selection and aid the fusing process .I may try to remove the wire on the selected branches and concentrate on them .

Cheers Alpineart

[The Ficus Guy]

So you took the trunk that you stapled the saplings too out from them? How did you manage to do that seeing as they were stapled? Probably a dumb question, but it's got me wondering. Nicely done!

[alpineart]

Hi Mate , after sitting in the ground for 12 months most had began to rust away . The rest were simply levered out . As the whips grow they certainly tighten up on the stump . My original thoughts were to leave the stump in , however it made a perfect place for bugs to thrive in . It should make good progress this season .

Cheers Alpineart

[Luke308]

Not sure if you mentioned this in your post somewhere, its late and I cant remember from the last time I read this thread, but I found a detailed explanation of this. Thought I should share so we can all experiment http://www.dugzbonsai.com/tridenttrunk.htm

Sorry if this was mentioned earlier

[alpineart]

Hi Luke , had seen the wire frame method , thought it was way to time consuming , but i hadn't seen the wooden trunk carved item . I used it simply because i'm a chippy and wood comes natural in all shapes and forms . I removed mine from the block because of the slaters made a nice home in it and ring barked some of the whips . At the end of the day it will weighs very little . Hope someone here has a go at this and make a monster . I have Tridents Japanese Maples and figs growing on carved trunks or frames even Plaited ,Braided Twisted , these methods have endless for opportunities to make big bases .

Cheers Alpineart

[alpineart]

Couldn't see the wood for the leaves

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so i decided to give it a trim and strip the sacrifice branches back

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.There is a quite a few dead whips on one side , it may not be an issue , might just add to the character of the finished trunk . Either way progress is being made . The ground growing trunks are doing well , they wont get any treatment until winter .I have made the decision to put this in the ground today, my benches are a bit cluttered and i think the roots will fill the pot before the seasons end and slow the process down , while i'm out getting down and dirty i will throw the Chinese elms in the grow beds as well , more room for more plants in the ground

Cheers Alpineart

[bodhidharma]

, while i'm out getting down and dirty i will throw the Chinese elms in the grow beds as well , more room for more plants in the ground

Yeah, but then you gotta dig em up again. Yesterdays dig was enough for me not to do it again. Well, at least until another temptation comes up.

[alpineart]

Hi Dodi a few months in the ground won't make it too difficult to remove but a heck of a lot easier to look after or not look after !!! .

Cheers Alpine

[John P.]

Glad I just stumbled upon this! Seems there are many people trying to fuse Tridents these days!

Here's mine from January 2011 to early December 2011 (Southern California):






I started a blog recently with information on my projects, as well as links to other peoples' efforts:
http://frankenbonsai.wordpress.com/

[alpineart]

Hi John p . there is more than one way to skin a cat , that's for sure .These are 1-2-3 year old fusing stock many different deciduous

100_8512.jpg

Trident Maples , during winter , braided , twisted , plaited,bundled , fused rafts , clump styles .

100_8511.jpg

American Hornbeams , Crab Apples , Trident maples and Chinese elms , clump style root over rock rafts and informal twisted trunks .Sometimes too many other times not enough . Plaited trunks fuse the quickest here compared to any other method

Cheers Alpineart