Collected from a neighbour's hedge

Hello

I dug this stump from a neighbour's garden. He had sawed the top off sometime earlier in the year, there was no foliege on it when I collected in April. Neither of us were sure what it was.

Anyway, after 6 weeks it's budding everywhere! When I first saw the leaves, I thought it might be a field maple, which are very common here. Take a look and see what you think, I'm having second thoughts now, thinking it may be in the rose family.

The leaves are still young with a few hairs, don't know if they will change colour. The bark is very light in colour and fairly smooth.

Hello Rich. Thats Field Maple allright. You might want to reduce it further, once its settled in the pot. Could make a nice shohin.

Hi Will

Thanks for your reply! It doesn't look very flattering at the moment..it's planted at such a strange angle in order to cover as many roots as possible. Don't want to disturb it for a couple of seasons.

I've been giving it blood fish and boneand it's responded well so far, do you think it's a good idea will up the fertiliser later on in the year?

cheers

Rich

I wouldn't usually feed a tree in the first year after collection but Field maple are pretty tough. Older collected specimens, I would say it's a no no but this one is relatively young.

Definitely a field maple, and looking good so far!

You folks are so lucky over there. Around here, the only maple you would find in a hedge is Norway maple or something worse. I once collected a hawthorn seedling in a vacant lot, but it came down with several different galls & other diseases before I could do anything with it. Of course you can collect interesting things in the Adirondacks, but not in suburban hedges. There are garden shrubs to watch for, but bonsai worthy specimens are not common.
Iris

Looking good rich. If you leaf prune now, you will increase the twigginess.

Ok Will, sounds like a plan! So I should cut off all the leaves, or cut in half and wait for them to fall off? I thought this was only for final ramification, didn't realise it for for trees in training. Despite being in full sun some of the growth is pretty course, although f. maple seem to do that in the wild as well.


Iris- yeh suppose we do get lucky over here! Although I live in the countryside so it's not too difficult to pick up weird and wonderful material here and there if you know what you're looking for and are polite. Rather strangely I find it's always easier to stop and talk to people in their yamadori-ridden gardens if you're walking a dog, so she's my collecting companion right now. If only she could hold a spade then we'd be golden..