Fused-trunk Trident, Acer buergerianum

Ted Clausen wrote:How long did you wait before removing the tie-wraps? There doesn't seem to be any scarring or evidence of the wraps on the tree.

The twist-ties don't have to be removed. As the seedlings thicken, they engulf the twist-ties the same way you sometimes see trees engulfing old barbed-wire fencing. The wires in the twist-ties are thin enough that they don't leave a scar.

I should mention that I always use paper-covered twist-ties rather than plastic-covered. I think paper is better because it will eventually disappear when it is exposed to the elements. Plastic is more permanent.

Gday William!

Truly inspiring stuff here! I - like many here - have been familiar with Dugzbonsai.com for a number of years, but it is always great to see others achieve his level of success within relatively short time. I am particulary impressed with the root flare you have created here: lots of tight, even rooting, and none of the fat, straight roots that I associate with 'normal' field-grown Tridents of comparable size.

I have recently taken delivery of 50 Trident whips for use in a couple of 'makeover' projects, but your thread has me wishing I had seized the opportunity to buy more...

Thanks, and goodonya!

FlyBri.

I was given about 100 pin oak seedlings by someone who thought they would make good bonsai.....I made 3 fusions but did not make a wire frame. I also twisted them. They seem quite healthy in garden center pots. I've experimented w leaf pruning on oaks before to reduce leaf size with great success. I have 3 other oak being field grown w leaves just over a 3 cm in length. I guess I will plant them in ground and leave then be for a few yrs. Good to see someone having succes w a shortcut to a fat trunk

do you have anymore pictures of the progress on this tree over the last year?

armagh wrote:[i]But let's play the "devil's advocate" (correct translation welcome):

That's the correct English idiom.
Iris

bucknbonsai wrote:do you have anymore pictures of the progress on this tree over the last year?

Nothing dramatic. The big scars have a little more callus on them, but not much, and I probably won't be removing any big branches this year. I think it had to spend some time getting re-established after I cut back the roots.

any more pictures yet?

Come on Will, let's see it now. Inquiring minds want to know!

Okay, I'll take some new photos over the weekend. But don't get your hopes up. There haven't really been any dramatic changes.

I think you should lift it and bring it to the meeting. There should be a good crowd for the guest speaker.

Spring of 2012:



This "sacrifice branch" is almost touching the trunk. If they both thicken a little more, they might fuse, and I'll be able to incorporate it into the trunk instead of just cutting it flush at the bottom.


Another view of the same branch: (On the right.)


A closeup shows how the two sacrifice branches are helping to close the wound left by another sacrifice branch:


Here are some more fused-trunk trident maples in progress. They should really have stayed in the ground for a few more years, but I was evicted from my community garden plot and had to dig them up.

I think this is the one whose photo I posted in February 2010:



Here are some fused-trunk katsura trees, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, in progress:

the first pic in the most recent post is quite impressive in how the whips fused. I wonder if you were to remove a part of another grouping and made an approach graft, or let it fuse to this trunk, would it speed up closing the holes? I would love to see that tree in person if you lift it this year.

Really interesting technique, and awesome results. I can't wait to watch it's progression.

As today is the Acer (update)

I really like the results of this technique, and the speed at which you can get to this result, but for some reason I want to stick to naturally growing a single trunk. I can't really pin-point the reason why, maybe in the back of my head it has a similar reason for not doing Tanuki.

Don't get me wrong, this technique brings out excellent results... just not my cup of tea.

Can you post an update please?

Bonjour,

Since I have more than two dozen 2 yr-old seedlings, I'll try to use some of them to make a root-over-rock tree on a very straight piece of slate: the trunks themselves would then be the "roots", some of them crossing each other and eventually fusing together.
The roots themselves woul be laid flat at the bottom of the rock, see what I mean?

Hi Iris,

(the others, if not interested in arguing about words, texts and their interpretation can skip this post )

bonsaisr wrote:

armagh wrote:But let's play the "devil's advocate" (correct translation welcome):

That's the correct English idiom.
Iris

"Etre l'avocat du diable", or "Se faire l'avocat du diable" (from Latin "advocatus diaboli") is a very common expression in French. The culture here is mainly based (so far) on the Catholic tradition.

When the Catholic church set up a procedure for a "canonisation" (making someone a saint), there was a clerk whose task was to try and find out all the argulments against it.

When we face a problem, or have a discussion, trying to imagine all the arguments against what at first seems to be what will be accepted is "se faire l'avocat du diable".

But what surprised me was that when I checked, I found references in French, English and Polski (the latter doesn't surprise me ), but no reference in Italian, or Spanish, Italy or Spain being "very Catholic" countries.

I know this is a bit off-topic, but I would really be interested in having inputs from others in the "Romanese  Catholic" cultural area.

EDIT: mind you, I'm of Polish origins. I'm proud to be, 99%, and I also feel proud to be French, 101%, because my family and I owe to France for reason you can imagine. So please don't be stupid and do not take irony for xenophobia. Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité as Kosciusko, Lafayette and Washington could say...