trident maple

I want to do this right !! how do you prune a trident ?? they leafed out earley in the green house and need a haircut now.. thanks much john

Where is it in the development cycle?
- Needs to thicken - let it grow wild and cut back later. I have gotten a meter of growth both before and after cut back and I don't have a long growing season.
- Still developing or needs to regain strength - let it grow out 6 - 8 leaves and then cut back the first or second pair of leaves depending upon how long the branch should be. Remember to wire now if the branch should have some curves at the base. You can remove the wire in a few weeks when you cut back.
- Moderately developed - cut back to a single pair of leaves except where it needs to grow where you follow the still developing mode.
- Refinement - As the shoots elongate, carefully spread the first pair of leaves with tweezers and pinch out the bud that will become the second and later pair of leaves. This keeps the first internode short.

For the record I don't have any tridents that are quite to the refinement stage - next year. However, I have Japanese maple (A. palmatum) and Amur maple (A. ginnala) where I am applying the refinement method. For the Amur maple I found that you have to skip straight to the refinement stage in order to create any form of ramification and that you need to check at least every other day for new shoots to pinch out. This is because it naturally grows very fast and coarse and does not heal large wounds very well.

Marty

MARTY,,,Thank you much for your information... i will look and try what you suggested..take care john

sorry to hijack but what about Acer rubrum that has just be trunk chopped and is putting growth out like crazy?

IT is ok with me just one person answerer mine anyway... I would think a trunk choped tree you need to pick a apex ,,wire it up... let your branches you keep grow to thicken up like you want them....my opion only.. good luck john

Giga,
If this is the one that was just collected then I would let the tree grow freely this year and then begin thinking about styling it next year.

Todd

For a trunk chop you generally let it grow freely. However, once the branch has a few pairs of leaves it is a good idea to loosely wire the base to give them some direction and possibly movement. This avoids getting thick branches that are pointing at odd angles, particularly the new apex. You are going to cut off all but perhaps the first two internodes so there is no need to wire much beyond that. Watch closely to keep the wire from cutting in very much. A little will heal over, but a lot will not. I would expect A. rubrum to behave much like trident or amur maple based upon what others have said about it - we don't have them here.

Walter Pall has a "hedge trimming" technique. This is on a Japanese maple but trident should respond.
http://walter-pall-bonsai.blogspot.com/2013/02/refurbishing-japanese-maple-hedge.html

Frank p 999,, thanks for walters progression,, my trees look nothing like his but i try... thank you take care john