J.Maple/Limestone Rock

A little background,
Typical nursery J. Maple rescued from a city lot re-development, the large mother tree was removed/relocated but this little fellow was up for grabs (about 3-5 years old) and its basic shape was formed by its struggle to survive in the overgrown plot. I knew that the root base was very poor and didn't have any experience with air/ground layering so I put the two together in the spring of 2010.
2008

2008 root base

Limestone rock - has a ledge and hole where I placed some of the remaining roots.

Here it is in the fall of 2010 and again in late fall 2011;


This is how it looks during/after some recent wiring. The native spreading Stonecrop (Sedum divergens) has really nice yellow flowers in the summer.


Cheers
Graham

Here it is after another good growing year:
Before with leaf colour,  

defoliated before wiring:

after wiring front:

and after wiring back:

Cheers
G

Fun tree to work with. I look forward to the future.

Thanks Jim,
I let it go wild this summer with the intention of building up its root mass as its been in this pot 3 seasons now.....ready for repotting next spring.
Cheers
Graham

I like the windswept image. Can you tie the trunk closer to the rock so that the story of the tree growing in the lee of the rock is better told?

In the futur , virtual photographie , my vision of this tree
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Here is an update...........the shape has been recently altered by a local resident deer (2 point coastal black tail)- it tried the Walter Pall shear trimming method.  I may defoliate it some more and see if I can get some leaf size reduction.
I couldn't resist using this old rustic Milk container as a stand (maybe I should remove the wooden platform?).
Cheers
G

You know what, G? I really like this tree and milk always does a body good. Nice use of the material and good horts....with a little chew from mother nature!! Nice!!

Thanks Lance.
The deer comes into the garden every afternoon for its nap and has sampled all of my deciduous trees , this home for us is only temporary but his "grazing" may pay dividends....only time will tell.
Cheers
G.

Eat the deer.

Here is a fall colour update, will repot spring 2016 .....lifting the stone in height and expose the hidden roots (ones that I put into the hole in the stone) if the have some visual interest.
Cheers
Graham

Fantastic color G.....I love fall!!

Except the squirrels

Looks great,

best regards