7 years work on a acer palmatum obtained from a garden center

Hi,

I started this Acer Palmatum about 7 years ago wich i bought in a local garden center.
This tree was about 2,5m high at that time....so i had to chop it a few times.
In the past years i did some rootgraftings and also grafted some new branches true the trunk.
I finally put the tree in a bonsaipot and this is the result.
I like to know your opinion and suggestions a lot.....
first pic. the tree how it came from the garden center..(2005)

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and the years that followed....

Great progress. Its looking really good.

Luc

there were maybe ways to have it developed further after these 7 years (quite a while for acer), but still good shortening, and its on its way. Nice trunk base and good root spread, that can only develop further into something beautiful.

kohaku..never heard or seen that nick before, yet you're also from belgium. And never seen this tree before.

Regards,

After leafcutting in late spring...

you hadnt posted all pictures yet...ok...so now i see the tree as it is now.

What is your opinion about the top part... is that a final image? you're now only refning it as is?
If you want, and if you would consider it, there is definitely improvement that can be made on the trunk line with only shortening it. But then again, this will take you back to the beginning, surely for the top part. If you look at it now, maybe you could have chopped it off further down, the top part with all that curve in it, looks too heavy and is not in balance with the lower trunk parts, it shoud have compartimentalized in smaller trunk parts the higher up the tree you go.

But still, good efforts for starting from a nursery plant. That was a nice plant by the way, you dont see them often in that size and with that much branches.

haha second time i post, and still you're uploading more pictures? haha tell us when you'll be done first?

Hi Yves....
I'm not sure yet how i will make the top in future...
Can you tell me where you should chop it...
thx

some pics from autumn 2012

this is what 'could' be possible, with the tree you allready have.
When you could do it all over again, perhaps there were even possibilities to trunk chop it even further down, if you wanted a better taper. In 7 years the scar would have had time to heal (mostly) and many new branches would have formed offcourse, not necessarely in the places you have now, so it would then also have fitted the tree. But this is the option for the tree you have now, in my opinion. The top is lowered drastically, you are left with e good taper in the top part, offcourse further ramification and new shoots then produce what is needed.
On other branches you would have to (re)balance it too, some shortening, you get the idea, since you have come this far.

Very nice, thanks for posting.

Yves,

Yep i'm from Belgium...and yes i posted here before maybe a year ore 5 ago....
What do you think of this virtual???
Maybe if i shorten the top a little and let som shoots on the back of the tree grow unchecked for a year or 2.....
This could give the existing top a more massive look....an maybe this wil be better for the taper of the tree??
This following virtual could show the tree in a Year ore 3 i think........
Personally i think the virtual you made is not bad , but here's maybe another possebillity.....



And something like this in a year or 6 ??

thanks for sharing the journey in photos...with your chatline name, I keep thinking will see one of your creations next to a pond.
They say koi keeping starts and ends with kohaku

For me, the tree is too high, a virtual tree : branch sacrifice, the head of the tree now, which served to heal must be reduced in height
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yes, abcd's virtual is similar too what i said. Its not just the height, but about reducing that height because that last trunk part seems unbalanced/out or proportion with the way the rest of the trunkline is built up.

I show what i mean with this drawing in paint, based on your last virtual, in which i circled the 'problem' zone in RED. With problemzone i mean the lengthe of this part of the trunk and combined with the way how this part has an angle to the lower part of the trunk, together it makes it a bit unbalanced. Its like this part in red circle is not needed, better would be the upper part above red circle on top of the trunk part below the red circle. But in my virtual i just show what you possible could do with your tree now, if you want to improve that.
And the parts that also need mending then, that is carving or cutting the wounds in proportion to a better trunkline and taper on those parts, when the actual top would be removed. Also you would need the 'old' wound to carve, make into proportion.

The blue dots then simply represent the new trunkline.

greetings, but all in all you allready made good efforts, especially on the branching part.

Yves,

I know the top of my tree isn't perfect at all, and as you said there's an unbalance in it.
Chop it the way you showed would make in my opinion another big wound on the opposit side op the other wound. When you see it on a drawing or virtual it maybe looks ok but in real i think it will look like a sort of arrow. Curving the old wound would make the trunkline in the front sight better, but wil only leave two small strokes in the front and back to feed the top. Another problem that's not visible on your virt is the new trunkleader wich is pointing to the back of the tree.
When i turn the tree a little, and bring the left side a little more to the front the unbalance seems to dissapear a little, because the part thats going to the left looks a little shorter this way.

Dick......yes there are kohaku and there's a koipond

Wow, what a fantastic garden setup you have there!

kohaku wrote:Yves,

I know the top of my tree isn't perfect at all, and as you said there's an unbalance in it.
Chop it the way you showed would make in my opinion another big wound on the opposit side op the other wound. When you see it on a drawing or virtual it maybe looks ok but in real i think it will look like a sort of arrow. Curving the old wound would make the trunkline in the front sight better, but wil only leave two small strokes in the front and back to feed the top. Another problem that's not visible on your virt is the new trunkleader wich is pointing to the back of the tree.
When i turn the tree a little, and bring the left side a little more to the front the unbalance seems to dissapear a little, because the part thats going to the left looks a little shorter this way.

well, you did a big chop/wound 7 years ago, and you've seen what healing can do especially on acer, if you combine it with sacfrice branches. But yes, it would take time again, offcourse. I am not an expert in virtuals and i thought it would be very clear/obvious what my point was, and where the new leader would be, you've don it before you get the idea... The new chop on the left would stretch betwee two main branches so good healing possibilities. On the right, the old wound, you could play with a little hollow (slight) too in time, between the callus that is allready formed, so maybe not so drastic as you would thinkg. Sorry yes, i did not do the effort of creating a virtual new top with new necessary shoots. And as i said in my first posts, this should have been done 7 years ago, but there is room for mending even with wounds. Just to clarify my point.

kind regards

Ok yves. thx for your opinion.

Problem is i don't want to chop the tree as low as you describe...don't want to lose those years and want to think abouth other options to improve this tree....Every drastic chop brings also a risk of die back on the trunk of an acer palmatum even when there are branches at top and bottem of the wounds.

Today i made some pics of slightly different angles....maybe i can improve the tree a little bij rotating it a little ?
I'll also ad some pics from the healing wound (first chop)

I also could not resist to lower the top a little today