New to maples need advice

[leamos]

Just bought myself a small trident maple from bonsai art up at Terry Hills, just wanting a bit of advice regarding when to prune, I've read its best to wait till spring to repot maples but this little maple has branches all over the place and want to start styling it a bit. Also when is the best time to wire, i've read they can be tricky to wire. Any help would be appreciated

[Craig]

, a quick search turns up 81 pages with trident maple as key word,

search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&keywords=trident+maple

[leamos]

Thanks craig, was just looking through that before, takes alot of time to sort through it stuff, alomst too common for its own good haha

Here's a few pics of my first maple




The base starting to show some potential

[kcpoole]

Hi Leamos
I agree, when you have lots of info in our site here, it becomes very time consuming to sift thru large amounts of posts and info to find what we are looking for

For deciduous trees, Usually Just before Bud swell at the end of winter / early Spring is when we do our repotting, root prune, and major Branch and trunk works

Ken

[leamos]

Thanks ken, exactly what i needed to know

[shibui]

Ken's right that many growers prune, repot, etc in spring just before budburst but that is not the only time to work on trees. Pruning can be done at any time (except just after budburst). It is just easier to see what you are doing when the leaves are gone. I prune any time during winter until the trees start to grow. Major root reduction any time from July till buds start to grow.

From the leaf size I'm guessing your tree is quite small, maybe in a 20 cm pot. The branches are all quite thin so your 'pruning' is more like 'trimming' which can, and should, be done any time of the year. Now that the leaves have fallen I will be starting to shorten and thin all the twigs on my maples as soon as I get a bit of time as it will take me quite a lot of hours to get through them before spring ad I also have to fit in some repotting too.

You can wire at any time but keep an eye on the wires in spring. Its easy to forget they are on when the leaves cover the tree. Depending on how well the tree grows branches might be set in 1 or 2 months but can take longer sometimes.

[leamos]

Thanks shibui, Yes the tree is only very small, would only be a few years old. I originally bought it to bonsai straight away as a shohin but the more i think about it and see other maples I think its better in a grow pot for a few seasons to thicken up. Whats your thoughts?

[kcpoole]

I would give it trunk chop above the first branch on the right in the first photo.
that branch then becomes the new leader wired up and pot into a larger box / pot for a few years.

Lovely colour in it

Ken

[Grant Bowie]

CUT, SELECT, WIRE, GROW.
CUT, SELECT, WIRE, GROW.
CUT, SELECT, WIRE, GROW.

The new mantra from Mr Lo.

He advocated a comination of Lingnan cut and grow and wiring. Much faster he reckoned today at his masterclass and workshops here in WA.

Grant

[leamos]

wow not sure if i'm that brave right now, i'll have to psych myself up for it over winter

[LLK]

CUT, SELECT, WIRE, GROW.
CUT, SELECT, WIRE, GROW.
CUT, SELECT, WIRE, GROW.

The new mantra from Mr Lo.

Thanks, Grant, but I don't understand. Don't you first have to select before cutting?

Lisa

[leamos]

Should i go for the trunk chop, whens the best time before or after buds burst?
And do i just leave that new leader as is, once I wire it up? or is it best to give it a trim to promote back budding.
I know i'm full of questions and they've probably been answered before, sorry

[Grant Bowie]

CUT, SELECT, WIRE, GROW.
CUT, SELECT, WIRE, GROW.
CUT, SELECT, WIRE, GROW.

The new mantra from Mr Lo.

Thanks, Grant, but I don't understand. Don't you first have to select before cutting?

Lisa

Hi Lisa,

with the above maple you would cut back to a number of suitable branches, select the side branches(two), wire and then allow to grow. Then repeat forever.

Grant

[kcpoole]

Should i go for the trunk chop, whens the best time before or after buds burst?
And do i just leave that new leader as is, once I wire it up? or is it best to give it a trim to promote back budding.
I know i'm full of questions and they've probably been answered before, sorry

I would pick one of the lowest branches to to be the new leader and wire it now so it will set in place over winter and into spring. Chop the current trunk back to about 1-2 inches above that selected new leader to allow for die back.

Prune back the other shoots and branches if you want, but you can leave them to help thicken the lower trunk as they grow.

Once you have taken the wire off the new leader in mid spring, I would cut the remainder of the trunk stump back, and then apply cut paste to get it healing well.
Repot Just before Bud break in spring, and remember to spread the roots Radially in the new pot / Box at that time

Ken

[leamos]

So your saying i'm right to chop the trunk now? everything i have read on the subject says late spring to mid summer for trunk chops