Yamadori Vine Maples

I thought I'd show a couple of my collected vine maples here as I don't often see them used for bonsai and think they deserve more of our attention. There are a few of us working with them in the Pacific Northwest and they seem to do pretty well in this climate as well as in a small pot. This species grows as an understory tree in the wild eeking out a living in the shade of towering doug firs and other large conifers. You often see them taking over areas of forest that have been logged at some point. I have seen them used in landscaping and there they can grow a little larger but they never seem to become a big tree. They also have a habit of growing gracefully curving branches in their search for sunlight in the dense forest. Here is one that I collected in 2007 that was first potted in an eight inch plastic pot. In three years it had gained in vigor and I potted it in a Michael Hagedorn pot I commissioned for another tree, but it suited this tree as well:



And a detail shot of the trunk since it's shaded by the canopy:



Please visit my blog to see more vine maples as well as more natives as bonsai: brendenstudio.wordpress.com Thanks for looking!

Looks like your doing well with these, nothing better than working with native stock

With such a nice small very old looking trunk you could chop right back and have a lovely shoin

Regards Chris

Thanks for the reply Chris. Cutting back to a shohin is an option but I like it this size for now. If you take the link to my blog, I have two small vine maples already plus some very big ones. One thing I am working on just now is partial defoliation to build better ramification. I'm also slowly working on branch selection. This species isn't as vigorous as Japanese maples, so we have to be a bit careful

Just moved out the the NW a year ago, this was my first collecting season, I got two Vine Maples, one has a whole lot of potential, any advice how these guys react to collecting ect. The big one seems to be recovering fine, I got a lot of roots and they are putting out shoots everywhere. The first flush of leaves came out largely fine, but there are a few lower ones that look scorched, almost like a wilt, but it doesn't seem to be spreading- we had a week of strong sun immediately after I collected them- even in the rainy NW the weather refuses to be predictable, so maybe they just got a little burnt- just wondering if you experienced similar things in your trees. Any advice on this species would be helpful- thanks

Where-abouts are you located? We experienced some hot weather here in Portland Mother's Day week end; I watered twice a day during that stretch and I know of at least one other who watered three times/day. You might not need to water as much if they have just been collected and there aren't many feeder roots but once established they need quite a lot of water. Leaf quality was one of the complaints I heard from locals that tried them and scorching was at the top of the list. Remember, these are understory trees in their native habitat and are perfectly happy growing in full shade. I would provide full morning sun and afternoon shade for your vine maples once established. Day-long partial shade is what I'd recommend if they're just collected. Do you have a shade tree you can put them under to get them established? I fertilize lightly with an organic pelletized fertilizer I get from the Rose Society of Portland. 5-5-4 I think is the ratio. Let them grow freely until you feel there is a marked increase in vigor. Mine have taken anywhere from two to three years in a grow box/pot and four years for larger ones. I've got more trees and more detailed descriptions on my blog: brendenstudio.wordpress.com

I live in Portland, and you are right it was a real summer week, but that is all over now. I have always had problems with collected trees dying on me so I put these straight into the ground. They get morning sun but a fence shields them from afternoon sun and a large tree takes over in the evening. When I collected them there were in a logged bolder field so they had 100% sun, but I don't imagine that is their ideal. I plan to amend my usual picking at trees and just let these guys go for a year possibly put them in a pot this spring. I will post a picture when I get around to that- thanks for the link to your blog- where are you in relation to Portland? New leaves seem to be coming out fine, lets hope it stays that way- where do you get the rose garden fetilizer, I have heard of the stuff, it is supposed to be amazing, but I have no Idea where to get it.

I live in Milwaukie and really closer to Clackamas. I'm 1st VP of programs for the Bonsai Society of Portland--you should join us for a meeting, there's no charge to check out a meeting to see what's going on. I found the Rose Society fertilizer through a member of the club who's also a member of the Rose Society. Her husband was on the 'fertilizer committee' and I asked him if they could sell to us. So he brings 20# bags for sale to our monthly meetings in the spring. The price is $16/bag and we are getting it at cost as the Rose Society is also a non-profit. It's a great deal and makes being a member of BSOP worth it for that alone. We meet the fourth Tuesday of every month except July and August. That would be June 26th from 7 to 9 p.m. at St Philip Neri Perish, 2408 Southeast 16th Ave. Portland OR 97214 if you're inclined to attend The Rose Society fertilizer will be available that night. We are also making an exception for our summer break as Ryan Neil is bringing Ron Lang in for a program in July. Ron is a potter who makes excellent handmade bonsai pots and he's really come a long way according to Ryan. We get Ryan and Michael Hagedorn in for programs at least once a year, so I think we've got really great stuff to offer. I only wish I had access to a club like ours when I was first starting out

Thanks for inviting me, I came by a meeting about a year ago when I first moved to portland and then just ran out of time, typical excuses. I will try to make it to the June meeting as I would like to be involved in a bonsai community again.

Do it Austin! I think it would be worth it. You have some serious skills with the wood carving and you know your trees pretty well. I'll be sure to post a pic of that one you gave me to look after. Just as soon as I get a sunny day and track down my tripod.

We miss you here in Philadelphia

joe, you are stalking me on a bonsai forum- you dork- send me a text or private message through here with your email, i lost the sheet i wrote it down on. If i had to wait for a sunny day here you would never get a photo

I moved away to Europe, but before I left I managed to grab two of this species. I always imagined a cluster-style composition since they seem to grow like that in the wild. I loved playing in forests and swinging on these trees as a kid. It's nice to see that recently more people have begun to stick them into pots and see how they evolve. I look forward to see how they develop.

Thomas

nice to see this thread revived. I dug a few small vine maples last fall and they all seem to have survived the winter. The buds are just now showing green. nothing spectacular potential wise but good to start paying my "dues" to learn what to expect.

Was good to see you at the meeting last week Dick   Good to hear your maples made it through the winter. All of mine are really pushing now and it's as though cold winter we had did them good. Now is a good time to do hard pruning of larger limbs and trunk chops if that sort of thing is necessary. When you do it early like this, they have the entire growing season to begin forming callous tissue. And like all maples, the best time to pot/repot them also is now, when the buds are swelling. It would be a good time to collect them too if there isn't too much snow for access. My best ones come from places where it's too late to collect them by the time the snow melts, forcing you to collect them late in the season instead...which works most of the time.

Thanks Greg for your input and advice.

Hi Greg, any update on this maple? I would really love to see what's happened since 2012?

ditto... at the time it looked like it was just being grown for vigor...

wondering where you went with it, design wise...
it had a good naturalistic start with many options.