AusBonsai

Hi all,

This past Father's Day my wife and kids gave me this bonsai landscape. Probably the best present I've ever received. I'm actually thinking of adding a few more trees in as it is quite a large pot.

I realise the trees would gain significant growth either in a larger plastic pot or in the ground, but I'm sensitive to the work my kids put into this for me, so I'm more than happy to leave them in the pot they're in now. One question I do have is when to cut unwanted branches? I have been looking at each tree for a little while and have of a style I'd like to go with these trees, the only thing I'd like to know is, should I cut branches now or wait till next season?

Cheers,
Nathan





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Id consider cutting the smaller branching back and putting some rooting hormone on them and place them strategically back in the pot to add depth to the forest as a starting point..This will also eventually give different thickness trees.. try add them so they are not orderly but a bit chaotic and give the forest depth. the younger trees towards the outside and the more mature ones towards the middle... NEVER mess with what your kids have done .. so much love in that.. just build on it!..eventually you may consider putting the larger trees closer together during the next repot.

Answer to your question is wait till end of this season. You should get some growth. Kids will see their love grow and in winter the colour turn. And then when it is all reduced to sticks in winter get down to cutting the branches that you don't need. That way everyone is happy

as already suggested, will be better to just let it grow for the season. If you search on the forum, there are few very good posts on some japanese maple progressions that will give you a good idea regarding timing for cuts/wiring/repotting etc, also check the wiki page for some basic overall care info. what i have experienced is that if you let it grow unhindered, you will get long internodes (as with most trees), the space between pairs of buds along a branch. ideally you want these to be shorter so you dont have blank spaces for when you grow out your primary and secondary branches. Just something to keep in mind for this growing season, as it may help you plan the coming winter in terms of how to progress with your vision.

How cool of your Kids to do that

I have a small Japanese maple forest that I put together about 2 years ago when I had a few seedlings left over.
I just keep the new growth under control bu cutting the new shoots back to 2 leaves once they shoot out past the first 2 leaves. It tends to keep them from extending too much and keeps the foliage in close

Ken

kcpoole wrote:I just keep the new growth under control by cutting the new shoots back to 2 leaves once they shoot out past the first 2 leaves. It tends to keep them from extending too much and keeps the foliage in close

Just to clarify your comments, Ken, is this what you mean by cutting new shoots back to 2 leaves once they shoot past them? [See pic]



The blue indicates the new shoots and the red indicates where I cut them back to.


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Yep that is correct

Ken

Great, thanks Ken. And thanks to everyone for their advice, it's much appreciated!

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