first proper yamadori

maple, bought from a fine chap for a mere £50. any ideas would be welcome:

I see why it was only £50.

Nik Rozman wrote:I see why it was only £50.

yeah, that was helpful mate. nice one.

Did you plant it at that angle? Why is it laying over like that? Hard to give any advice until we can see it upright.

JimLewis wrote:Did you plant it at that angle? Why is it laying over like that? Hard to give any advice until we can see it upright.

no, that's how it is. grew at that angle.

Hi bobby,....can you give us handles where do you want to take this?

For instance did you repot
Is it possible to change angles,.....please tell us.

Now its a picture on a poster,....gets me lost....?

littleart-fx wrote:Hi bobby,....can you give us handles where do you want to take this?

For instance did you repot
Is it possible to change angles,.....please tell us.

Now its a picture on a poster,....gets me lost....?

o.k. I bought it in the pot it's in. It grew at that angle when something else got in the way of it growing straight up. My photography skills are rubbish, so it's not possible to see the roots on the picture, but the angle it is at seems tp preclude using it as a raft. It has a big chunky trunk and nice roots, and I thought with some carving at the top (end?) and using the leader visible on the left I could give it more of a taper, then grow some pads down the trunk.

It has a massive straight trunk, pushed aside nifty piece..... if roots did react on this witch you dont know right now,.... but you need to know more.

When u buy this my question is,....do u see instant bonsai? i'd say no but who am i
This could get somewhere,....



@ nick meet in the middle,...

This is me,.....if joy of bonsai is in bath who needs to be cleaned,...humble me and sincerely yours Mr M Life indeed is fun!

littleart-fx wrote:It has a massive straight trunk, pushed aside nifty piece..... if roots did react on this witch you dont know right now,.... but you need to know more.

When u buy this my question is,....do u see instant bonsai? i'd say no but who am i
This could get somewhere,....



@ nick meet in the middle,...

This is me,.....if joy of bonsai is in bath who needs to be cleaned,...humble me and sincerely yours Mr M Life indeed is fun!

certainly didn't. Which was part of the attraction. create something out of a lump of wood, but the lump of wood is substantial and has a groovy trunk and nebari. Mind you, I haven't got the basics down yet, so this is a long term project.

Hello Bobby. Did the seller tell you how long its been in the pot? If its a couple of years, then I suggest you take it out of the pot, clean off the soil, photograph it from several angles, repot it and post the pics. It could possibly make a long term shohin but I reserve judgement until I see the nebari.

is it safe to do all that business this time of year? I'm still scared walter might tell me off again

Now is the ideal time to repot. Just before it comes into leaf, as the buds begin to swell.

ok chap. I just got my hands on a digital camera so I will sort it and post the pictures. thanks for the constructive responses folks.

Certainly good potential for a fat tree. Tridents, as you can see, put out buds "everywhere". Not knowing what the roots look like, but hoping that there are some nice roots under the surface, I would raise the trunk to approx 30-40 degrees. Then chop (saw and seal)) a straight cut from the "middle" thickest leader - to include the thicker "middle" branch on the bottom of the trunk. (you can carve later). This strategy will give you a leader (top) which will get better over time. It will also give you a good platform to grow your first left branch. I see an "extreme" slanting style which could even develop into a semi cascade. Look in John Naka's books. I don't know how to perform virtual graphics, but hope this helps. The best time to repot is when you start to see green-leaf parts "just" emerging from the buds; but you have a good two week window either side of this time. Good luck! Regards, Todd

bare rooted:








and repotted at a better angle I think. The rather phallic root poking up on the right was left on pending advice. should I cut it off? My instict is to do so:




all of a sudden it seems much simpler. any thoughts about alternative angles and root chopping would be welcome.

Bobby, is this a Trident Maple?

yup.

Firstly I think you paid too much for this tree. Secondly, this is not yamadori, it is field grown material.Now you can stop swearing at me cos all is not lost. It's one redeeming feature is that it is a Trident and they callous extremely well. What I suggest you do is cut it where the red line is, seal the cut with wound paste, plasticine, copydex and replant it how it was,either in the garden or a large container. Then let it grow for 2 years. Not a long time in the scheme of things.

I'm seeing a fat shohin again if you do that. But as one of several possibilities that might arise as a result of the action. Go for it.

Ah trident maples; how nice that something in life is affected positively by cutbacks!

If you go for the cut and plant out, which I heartily recommend, take a bit of time to sort out the very best roots options too. This is your main opportunity.

Is the suggestion of cutting it back so low in response to the lack of taper? Couldn't a cut be made here as well? Still resulting in taper formation and one less heart attack for him?

I'm getting pains in my left arm.

Joe Hatfields solution is a way you can take it but will take a lot longer to build any taper. With the cut I suggested, you have taper immediately. Trust me

will baddeley wrote: Trust me

Now listen Bobby be brave and listen to uncle Will your tree will be all the better for it. DO IT NOW!

aye man. going to do it in the next couple of days. can't see how it will work oot, but will take his word for it.