Home depot find

Found this At Home Depot, I did a minimal amount of trimming, raised it in the pot a few inches because it was burried deep and I think this little gem will look very good in a few yrs. I used a larger pot so it could develope a bit more. Just thought I would share a nice garden center find.

If you could find a shallower pot for it, the tree can start training its roots. VERY nice find at HD.

I was afraid to repot, I thought it should wait until next spring b4 leafing out. Is it still early enough to repot? If I can repot how intense should I get on the roots? I've dabbled in bonsai for a while but starting to have more time to get more in depth, any thoughts would be appreaciated.

OK. I assumed you'd done some root work when you put it into a new pot. Just be carfeul with your watering and do not let it stay wet.

I didn't do any root work. I carefully removed the burlap that was around the rootball so it would not strangle itself. Then I gently removed some of the soil that was around the top of the trunk. It was burried deeper in the soil up to the first branches. I left rootball alone but placed more organic material below the rootball so it would sit higher and just cleaned off the trunk. The pot drains well and I do let it dry out before watering. Thanks for the input every bit helps

Wow! From Home Depot? not bad man.

Do you see a graft scar anywhere on the trunk, I cant seem to see any in the pics. If this is your first Japanese Maple congratulations, they are addicting. I would recommend you practice your growing skills on it and just learn how to keep it thriving. Play with it next year when you can get at the roots and decide where the front will be. This guy needs afternoon shade out of strong winds. try and water with rain water if you have hard water so as not to skew the soil Ph.

Did it have a tag telling you what the cultivar was?

Nice!
-Jay

ETA I think I see the scar, not too bad though...

One problem is that the top half of the tree has what we call a slingshot (in UK a catapult), two competing trunks. Once it is growing well, you need to choose one & cut off the other one. The maple experts who know more than I do can advise you exactly when to do this.
Iris

drgonzo wrote:Wow! From Home Depot? not bad man.

Do you see a graft scar anywhere on the trunk, I cant seem to see any in the pics. If this is your first Japanese Maple congratulations, they are addicting. I would recommend you practice your growing skills on it and just learn how to keep it thriving. Play with it next year when you can get at the roots and decide where the front will be. This guy needs afternoon shade out of strong winds. try and water with rain water if you have hard water so as not to skew the soil Ph.

Did it have a tag telling you what the cultivar was?

Nice!
-Jay

ETA I think I see the scar, not too bad though...

The cultivar is Gwen's Rose Delight, I had to almost use a maginifiying glass to see the graft, if you can see it in the picture you got great eyes (or mine are that bad ) the trunk is almost seamless at the graft. I know grafted plants are a no no but this one looked too good to pass up and yes the graft was burried untill I got it home anyway

bonsaisr wrote:One problem is that the top half of the tree has what we call a slingshot (in UK a catapult), two competing trunks. Once it is growing well, you need to choose one & cut off the other one. The maple experts who know more than I do can advise you exactly when to do this.
Iris

In your opinion do you think shortening the "slingshot" portion of the right trunk would be ok if it was trimmed down to above the first branch above the V of the slingshot? Thats kinda what I was thinking


I am going to leave it fill out untill next spring

Nice score! Regarding the slingshot, it is a bit tough to tell from one 2D view, so keep looking at it from all sides. It may turn out that you decide to remove the right side trunk altogether. Or, you may choose to develop a kind of mother-daughter style.

Chuck-815 wrote:
The cultivar is Gwen's Rose Delight, I had to almost use a maginifiying glass to see the graft, if you can see it in the picture you got great eyes (or mine are that bad ) the trunk is almost seamless at the graft. I know grafted plants are a no no but this one looked too good to pass up and yes the graft was burried untill I got it home anyway

When dealing with specialty Maples and bonsai, grafts are quite common its something we just have to live with though many c/v's are good on their own roots as well but cutting grown stock is harder to find and the selection more limited. The trick is to just get a nice clean graft down low near the soil level on a rootstock of similar vigor so that in say 15 years you don't wind up with a tree that looks "necked down" because the rootstock out grew the scion. Perhaps what i saw was just a scar from and old branch. Usually, on a really good graft, you have to run your hand over it to find it.

I'll have to look up Gwen's Rose Delight thank you for telling me the name!
-Jay