Suggestions for japanese maple

[Lenny]

Hi guys!
Just after some advice/suggestions for my japanese maple. I've had it for about 4 years now, but was just letting it grow as it was very young when I purchased it. I defoliated it, 'cause I read a bonsai book and it recommended doing so if you want smaller leaves. I'm going to remove the wire (see photo) & start from scratch I think. Any suggestions/advice on what style/shape would be the best for it? Informal upright? I'm not really too sure so any tips would be great!

Thanks in advance!

[Ray M]

Hi Lenny,
I would like to make some suggestions. They may seem radical to you at this point in time. The trunk is to simalar in thickness all the way to the top. To get some tapper you will need to be radical.

This is a suggestion.

maple-5.jpg

If you cut back and change the angle this should help to develop some tapper and shape. You may be wise to plant it in the ground to develop some bulk.

Regards Ray

[Petra]

Hi Lenny,
without a size comparison,eg (a drink can or bottle). Some sugestions could be unnessasary from information you've just
given. More details and pictures of your tree should have been given for the advice your after. You say this tree is 4 years
old. To me looks like it has more growing to do, I would sugest you slip pot it out into a growing area or a styrafoam box
for a few more years.
Feed it up, encourage more roots & trunk thickning and bending as it grows. Get more information latter in the years, im sure you will get that
beautiful Bonsai yet. Cheers!

[NathanM]

Hi Lenny,
It looks like a Sango Kako (spelling??) by the bark? I think they look fantastic!!
My suggestion would be to cut it off at the first branch and use that as the new leader. That way you are getting some taper and also a bit more movement.
Wire some movement into the new leader and let it go nuts for a while!

[gr8bookworm]

Hi Lenny,

As a newbie, most of my trees are young and small and I am really just trying to do as Petra has suggested and put my small starter trees it into a large pot and let it grow, perhaps put a bit of movement into the trunk.

One tip I was given (not sure if others do this) is to put another smaller pot upside down under the rootball so that the roots develop outwards and not downwards!

Mark

[LLK]

Hi Lenny,
It looks like a Sango Kako (spelling??) by the bark? I think they look fantastic!!
My suggestion would be to cut it off at the first branch and use that as the new leader. That way you are getting some taper and also a bit more movement.
Wire some movement into the new leader and let it go nuts for a while!
NathanM

I agree with Nathan that it is probably a Sango Kaku (or Senkaku). You can cut it back as he suggests and even leave the wire on the first branch, using it to give some movement to the new leader. Re-anchor the wire, though. Seal the cut straight away. Yes, young trees (and this one is very young!) grow better in a pot where their roots have plenty of room, but in this case the pot is already so outsize that there is no need to transplant it now. For general growth instructions, you can't do better than the ones given by shibui on Jan.17 under this thread. viewtopic.php?f=129&t=7379 Note that he does not mention defoliating! Young trees, or trees that have strong growing to do, are generally not defoliated. Reading about bonsai is a good thing, but just picking out unrelated or incomplete chapters here and there can cause trouble.
Finally, some people expressed the opinion a bit earlier in the season that Acer palm. Senkaku is not suitable for bonsai, because the leaves don't reduce. That's incorrect. I've got two big bonsai ones and they
are as good or better than the average Japanese maple. Give your tree 8 - 10 years and if you treated it right, it should be a beauty by then.

Lisa

Lisa

[Lenny]

Thanks for all the advice so far! When I read the book (I did read the whole book, just to clarify) it doesn't actually mention anything about the age of the tree (mine has sprouted new leaves, hooray). It just instructs you to not defoliate 2 years in a row as this stresses the tree, and to not defoliate sick trees. So, as a guide, how old does a tree have to be before I defoliate? Just so I know for future reference...

[LLK]

What your book mentioned about defoliating isn't wrong, it's just darn incomplete. Please read this chapter on the website of Bonsai4me: http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATdefoliating.htm
Look especially at the paragraph starting "Defoliating is also a technique intended for 'finished' bonsai only;...." It's worthwhile bookmarking this site, as it's one of the very best ones on the internet. Also read the "Bonsai Basics" chapter, as the photograph you posted of the work you did on your young maple shows that a revision of the basics might be helpful. Sorry if all of this sounds darn patronising, but some things just have to be said.

Lisa

[Lenny]

Lisa,

Don't worry about sounding patronising, haha, I'm here to learn so I'd rather you point out the mistakes and whatnot!
Thanks for the link to the site too, it's really helpful as I haven't found many high quality bonsai sites. Some of them say completely different things about the same topics, so it can be a little confusing at times! I know I'm only new at this, so hopefully over time I'll improve with experience & good advice