AusBonsai

Does anyone grow maples up here?
I would like to try some maple bonsai, either Trident or Japanese. I think the winters would be cold enough to induce some decent leaf colours but I'm concerned about the hot summers and also the humidity.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Mal.

Hi Mal...I have major problems with my trident maples on the Gold Coast. I have a forest of seven trees. I suspect it is the heat and wind that knocks themaround. Leaves go crinkly and brown on the edges and the forest looks very sad indeed in the summer...leaves fall off and I have seven sticks in the winter. If you have a dig through this site you will find some very good and indepth discussion about maples and their care for QLD growers. If you do have a go with Maples and have some success....let me know your secret. Cheers.

Thanks for the reply.
I used to live in Caloundra, a block back from the beach, and never had any success with maples. I think the hot salt air was the culprit. Here in Gympie the climate is a bit different even though it's not that far from the coast, maybe 40km as the crow flies. I was thinking that if I provided some summer protection from the heat & wind there might be a chance of growing them successfully.

Hi Mal,
You should be fine growing Trident Maples in Gympie, protection from intense sun in and windy conditions in the height of summer would be your biggest concern. If I were you I would keep Tridents in full sun in spring up until the days begin to get into the 30s on a regular basis, then move the tree to under a 50% shade cloth screen, or to a position where the tree recieves full shade from midday onwards. If there are overcast or rainy days in summer, by all means move them out into the open for the day. Obviously this approach to growing is going to have to find a balance with your lifestyle in regards to watering. I have found that in most cases growing decidous bonsai under shade cover all year can produce large sappy leaves, long internodes and in general weak trees.

A few point worth considering that will help your chances of success.

1) Be sensible about depth of pot, Maples that are under potted are going to be difficult unless you are able to be hands-on with them throughout the day, give extra consideration to covering up small or fine roots on the soil surface, by all means expose the nebari but don't bake the upper root system by having it too high in the pot. I see a lot of deciduous trees potted like this and it is tempting fate. Lighter pot colours will help keep root temperatures down too.

2) An ideal soil for Tridents in your climate would need to have good moisture retention to provide available water throughout the day in summer and provide air filled porosity. I won't go into detail about bonsai soil now, I will say hovever that water saving crystals are a huge no no and there are off the shelf bonsai mixes available at the big green hardware shed that contain them. There are othe components to avoid as well.

3) If you are concerned about snuffing Tridents in your climate, then experiment with some inexpensive trees and see how you go.

I'm sure others can add to these recommendations.

Cheers,
Mojo

gday mal

I have never had any success with maples, trident or japanese, no matter how much I tried, I was considering building a small shade enclosure to try again but havent the funds or time to do so. I have found an alternative to maples is the LA, in saying that they generally are better as a larger tree, unless you are growing them for ramification and bare silhouette like i am.

my biggest prob with maples would be they would grow strong, then after a hard prune or defoliation they would just not come back and die slowly. gympie is probably a better climate for them though, taffy has been growing a couple of triedent maples for years in maryborough his success has come down to having them under shade cloth and protection from winds i beleive.

jamie

Mal, I live in Maryborough and I have two Tridents in Bonsai pots. The first (larger one) was purchased as a reject from Ray Nesci's nursery in Sydney in 1993. The second was purchased in Darwin as a skinny rooted cutting in 1991.

Both trees are kept under shade-cloth because the leaves do burn in the summer sun. Under the shade-cloth they don't. As you can see, they are quite healthy - and have just put out their first flush of leaves for the Spring. The shade is only over the top. The sides of my shade area are completely open.

The only thing I've noticed with them is that they don't give the magnificent Maple colours in the Autumn - they just go brown and fall off.

I don't think I'd like to try Japanese Maples (Palmatum etc) up here - but as you can see Tridents DO grow quite happily in our climate as long as they are under shade-cloth.

No Jamie - they aren't protected from wind at all. As I said, my shade area is open on all sides - and these two are on an outer bench.

Hope this answers your question.

No Jamie - they aren't protected from wind at all. As I said, my shade area is open on all sides - and these two are on an outer bench.

hi mate,

just said I knew you have kept them for years, wasnt 100% sure on side/wind protection, just knew about the shadecloth..

im in the northern rivers near byron bay, and i have recently planted lots of maple seedlings in the ground for future bonsais, i also have some cuttings that are doing well, also some bonsai stock plants that are 4 years old, the reall test will be this summer as i have only got them just before winter. cheers simo

Thanks for the replies. You have sort of confirmed what I thought, that Tridents might have more success than the Japanese maples.
They are nice trees Tman. Do you keep them under shade-cloth all year round or just in the hotter months?
Mojo, that's sound advice. A deeper pot would help keep the roots cooler & provide a greater reservoir of water.
A few years back (maybe 7 or 8) when Gerrit & Bertina had the Kiel Mountain Nursery near Nambour, they had a few Tridents that were growing well. Gympie would have a very similar climate to Nambour so Tridents might be worth a go.
Jamie, I was also thinking of Liquidambers. There's a few growing around here and they seem to do well, although they are in the ground. They produce reasonable Autumnal colourings too, albiet not as intense as down south.
Cheers. The advice is very much appreciated.
Mal.

G'day Mal come to our meeting today, mate, I will bring my Trident Maple along to show you.
James

gday mal

yea liquid amber are sweet in pots up here too, the one I have is in a nursery pot cut down right now but is in perfect health and growing strongly, I found that the new growth on my LA is a very nice deep red which turn to green after a bit, dont know about autumn colour yet as i got it in a dormant state but with the way the new growth was i am hoping it to be similar, I did have a chinese elm get some brilliant colour this year so heres hoping.

The LA when its new growth come out deep red it reminded me of the JR maple will get a pic when/if it shows autumn colour. but they do grow very strong up here so in gympie where you get a colder winter you should get some colour. oh, mines in full sun too.

jamie

Jamie wrote:gday mal

yea liquid amber are sweet in pots up here too, the one I have is in a nursery pot cut down right now but is in perfect health and growing strongly, I found that the new growth on my LA is a very nice deep red which turn to green after a bit, dont know about autumn colour yet as i got it in a dormant state but with the way the new growth was i am hoping it to be similar, I did have a chinese elm get some brilliant colour this year so heres hoping.

The LA when its new growth come out deep red it reminded me of the JR maple will get a pic when/if it shows autumn colour. but they do grow very strong up here so in gympie where you get a colder winter you should get some colour. oh, mines in full sun too.

jamie

I have two small seedling liquidambar, and both got gorgeous red leaves in autumn and now are just sticks with buds on them. Waiting for them to open. I also have one small seedling trident maple. The leaves did get some red colouring but didn't fall. Just withered around the edges. Looked today and it has two new leaves just emerging. I got a Japanese maple by accident and it died pronto. I am a bit further north than you, though.

Glenda