When to chop Maple?

Ryan wrote:Full sun it is.

Going back to what Marty suggested, there is a branch about a foot and a half up or so. What if I chopped the tree there now, then come late spring I use the buds that pop from that chop and chop the tree even lower?

I would chop once...preferably after buds formed but before the leaves are out. Do not disturb the roots unless you have to. In your case, you have a reason (to put the tile and improve your nebari) so do it at the same time. Do the root cuts strategically, weaken/chop the strongest to give the weaker ones a chance as the tree compensates. You might have to do this a few times over the years. Avoid cutting the weak roots now if possible.

Good luck!

Poink88 wrote:

Ryan wrote:Full sun it is.

Going back to what Marty suggested, there is a branch about a foot and a half up or so. What if I chopped the tree there now, then come late spring I use the buds that pop from that chop and chop the tree even lower?

I would chop once...preferably after buds formed but before the leaves are out. Do not disturb the roots unless you have to. In your case, you have a reason (to put the tile and improve your nebari) so do it at the same time. Do the root cuts strategically, weaken/chop the strongest to give the weaker ones a chance as the tree compensates. You might have to do this a few times over the years. Avoid cutting the weak roots now if possible.

Good luck!

So then are you suggesting I do cut the roots or I don't?

Ryan wrote:

Poink88 wrote:
I would chop once...preferably after buds formed but before the leaves are out. Do not disturb the roots unless you have to. In your case, you have a reason (to put the tile and improve your nebari) so do it at the same time. Do the root cuts strategically, weaken/chop the strongest to give the weaker ones a chance as the tree compensates. You might have to do this a few times over the years. Avoid cutting the weak roots now if possible.

Good luck!

So then are you suggesting I do cut the roots or I don't?

Read my original message

This has been a very good and informative thread. Thanks to all who have contributed.

This quote by Jay just made me laugh, hehe.

drgonzo wrote:...when I went to bed last night, it was still in the 50's ...Out I dashed (4am) to grab my Trident, who's just leafing out, and bring her in...

My wife has learned to just accept this sort of madness...bless
-Jay

ryan, as poiken says, just cut once. If you cut down to the existing branch and leave it, you will not get as much budding down low because you will still be having a shoot apical meristem preventing budding from occurring lower on the trunk. and also by chopping it twice in the same season you will really weaken the tree because it will put all that energy into growth that you would have to then chop off again, the roots can only send out so much food to the tree to make growth in one season. Besides, as i mentioned earlier you will have more than enough shoots to chose from for a leader if you chop real low.

Thanks everyone. I'll chop the tree this weekend and reduce the rootball by at least 50-60%. Now I just need to find a suitable container to plant it in.

Here are some rootball shots, showing lots of healthy, growing roots:




There's about a foot of rootball.

take a saw and cut the bottom 60 percent of the root ball off for starters, otherwise youll never be able to tease out those roots up above.

bucknbonsai wrote:take a saw and cut the bottom 60 percent of the root ball off for starters, otherwise youll never be able to tease out those roots up above.

...what he said...

Dave, im saying 60% now and then even more once the top 40% are untangled

bucknbonsai wrote:Dave, im saying 60% now and then even more once the top 40% are untangled

I agree completely...that's how I have attacked pretty much all of the root bound nursery stock I've re-potted in the past. I'll do the same with conifers, but I'll be a bit more judicious reducing the remaining 40% as compared to a tree like a trident maple.

Thanks for the input everyone!

Something someone else suggested on another forum is that instead of chopping the tree, I scar the side that has little to no surface roots, bury it, then wait for roots to sprout there. I then chop it once roots have formed.

Have you been to NoVa's bonsai club meeting? It's in Arlington on Saturdays I believe. Cut the trunk short enough to get it into a vehicle, and take it to them. There are some very accomplished and very easy to talk with people there who can give you some help and direction. They've been there.

Ryan,

Note that there are different ways to achieve the same end result. You can do this one at a time; concentrate on the roots or trunk/branch first. You can also do it the same time. The choice is ultimately yours to make. You need to decide soon though.

If you observed well enough, your countless experiments with ficus should give you some idea what the tree will go through and how it will react/respond. It is (in most part) the same, just much slower so you will need more patience.

Good luck!

Very true Dario, good point.

Well, I went ahead and chopped and did rootwork today. I reduced the rootball by half and chopped the tree down low. And just in the knick of time, too, as the tree was just starting to push leaves:


My only concern is that not all of the rootball is covered at the surface. I ran out of turface and am. unable to get some until Monday. Hope this doesn't cause problems. Check out the pictures below.

Bought a concrete mixer:


Drilled holes in it, then covered them with netting:



Then chopped the rootball:


Removed that root that was too big:


And potted it up and watered it:

looks good for the soil level. Now sit back and wait for buds. Check for moistness about 1/2 to 1 inch down. ( I would soak it good now and wait 3 or 4 days to check again) It wont use much water until it has leaves. No fertilizer for a month or so.

Thanks Lordy.

At what temperatures should I bring this guy in at? We're supposed to get into the low 50s tonight, I assume that's probably fine?

Unless we get some weird cold snap, I think you're good for the season. I have all mine out, and for good. Yours already leafed out so it's ready to be out for the duration. Put the pot on the ground so that IF we get a frost or freeze the ground will moderate the temp of the soil. I'd think you could put the pot in the sun so the roots would be warmer and possibly accelerate recuperation. The sun wont be of direct aid to the trunk but the warmth may also help it push buds quicker. Now comes the patience thing with bonsai.

lordy wrote:Unless we get some weird cold snap, I think you're good for the season. I have all mine out, and for good. Yours already leafed out so it's ready to be out for the duration. Put the pot on the ground so that IF we get a frost or freeze the ground will moderate the temp of the soil. I'd think you could put the pot in the sun so the roots would be warmer and possibly accelerate recuperation. The sun wont be of direct aid to the trunk but the warmth may also help it push buds quicker. Now comes the patience thing with bonsai.

Forgot you were reasonably close to me. Good advice about the roots being warmed up. I'm hoping since it's in a black container that will help absorb the heat.

I noticed a bud starting to push, right down where a branch used to be but was cut off. Hoping it continues to push

Not sure if you can see the bud too clearly in this picture, but it's there all right....

Now, could I rotate the tree back and allow that bud to be more on top so that it becomes the new leader? You can see where it is on the trunk in the attached picture below...

Ryan wrote:Not sure if you can see the bud too clearly in this picture, but it's there all right....

There is a green bug in your picture here.

Nemphis wrote:

Ryan wrote:Not sure if you can see the bud too clearly in this picture, but it's there all right....

There is a green bug in your picture here.

Yep, that's just some harmless little bug.

dont move anything...just leave it alone for now and for the rest of the year to. And besides why rush into it based off 1 bud, there will be more to come. If you it tilted it back, think about what that would do to your nebari, it would lift them up out of the soil at a weird angle.