Vine maple

There are really just two things to remember about maples and once that is understood the rest is rather easy.
1. Build the top first.
2. Build the base second.

Building the top
One has to decide what kind of maple is going to be made. This is important. One is very easy to do and the other is very difficult to do. This is why there is a severe shortage of maples that look like trees and an over abundance of maples that look like pines. While it seems the Japanese grow either very well, here in America growers seem to gravitate to the pointy topped overly exaggerated tapered trunks so commonly seen.
The other commonly seen maple is also very tapered but has branches that seem to splay out and reach skyward getting away from the horizontal branching or even worse, the downward pointing branches of the pine tree style. In this style even though the tree is upright and tapered the trunk displays a sort of graceful nature.
In either there are just a couple things that can be done to help make the tree good from the start. Maples over time seem to melt and flow with regularity. In other words you can count on them to fix itself and make itself beautiful. Not many trees have the ability to do this , which is why maples are so much fun to work with. Make no mistake, there is no fast road, to make a high quality tree, it may take four or five decades to have a flawless trunk with no scars. Many people pay huge sums of money to have that in their lifetime and I am OK with that, I just don't have the bankroll to do it. I have to make mine. I can share with you what I have found out along the way.

Hint no. one
Short makes big. On maples and a lot of deciduous trees in general, making short makes things big. Don't always think height, think roots, branches and also trunk. Maples in general if left to grow all season unchecked will double the next season if cut back near the trunk. This part is very hard for most people to do. It means that for five or more seasons the tree is a wonk. Branches left to grow five feet long only to cut it back to one inch the first year, two inches the second year, three the third, etc., etc. By the third year there should have been some secondaries reserved along the branch length that will get the same treatment along the way.

• First year grow long
  
• Second year cut back to one inch from trunk, Allow divisions to grow.
  
• Third year, cut back divisions to two inches total from trunk. Allow new divisions from these new secondaries to grow,
  
• Fourth year, cut back last years growth to one inch from last years cut and overall branch should now be no more than four inches long.
  

After this point the branch will have good structure and ramification can now be worked on.

Hint no. two
Chop every year, even in the ground. Always let the tree grow all season. Remember we are making trees not grooming a tree. In the fall let the tree be all winter. In the spring, when the buds are swelling, about a week before they break, we chop. We always chop to a bud, or better still many buds. Chop as low as you can, keeping in mind the need for the buds or node rings, they will sprout also. What we want is for all these basal buds to sprout and grow. Gather them up when they get about two feet tall and tie them together to keep them growing straight up. If it does fork, cut one off, keep it to one leader if possible but individual shoots is OK, rather like a clump. At each years chop, always chop back to no more than an inch from the previous chop. The most interesting trunks come from trees grown with as many directional changes as possible. No straight sections. Wire is OK here, keep in mind that it will grow fast so be careful about scars. With each yearly chop it is to be expected to almost double each years previous girth. If you start a 1/2 sapling on this plan you can expect a 2 inch trunk in about three years with a good season. Northern climates will not experience rapid growth as the southern locations will.

Hint no. three.
Do not dig the tree up. You can plant it in a colander and set it on the ground to escape or plant it in the ground, or in a big box on the ground that can escape. Escape is everything, without the ground the doubling will not happen. One can grow shohin size maples in boxes with out the ground but to grow a 30 inch tall maple with a 5 inch trunk we need the ground. The bottom of the tree will be developed later.

Hint no. four
Year three is the time to decide what type of tree is going to be made, spreading oak or pine tree. At year three branches will be decided upon or forking of the trunk to get the oak look. The trunk should only be about three inches tall or so at this point and is the perfect time to start the branching process. At this point by years five we will be back to hint one and the shortening process of the sub trunks or branches we are doing along the way.