Two years of root work on a trident maple The value of learning by doing.

This post is a good example of the value of experimenting, reading and especially learning by doing.

I thought I'd post a sequence of work I've been doing with a trident maple...aka frankenstien. The tree was in a 10 gallon nursery pot when I first bought it, and the surface roots were non existent. I decided to try my first ground layer. The first photo is the result. Remarkably the tree survived.

The second photo was a year later after thread grafting seedlings to improve the surface roots. I later learned that approach grafting was a better choice. None the less it was good experience and most roots took.

The third photo was taken this morning. What an amazing difference. I potted the tree in a very very shallow pot with 100% akadama and fed it with rapeseed cakes.

The tree is back in a plastic tub after a good root pruning. I'll post some photos of the branch structure later.

"The second photo was a year later after thread grafting seedlings to improve the surface roots. I later learned that approach grafting was a better choice. None the less it was good experience and most roots took."

Hi Neil, can I ask why and how you learnt approach grafting was better than thread grafting on this occasion? Just curious as I have always used thread grafting but never tryed approach.

Marko,
After two years the thread grafted roots had not improved in vigor very much, while the above soil side of the thread graft became very vigorous and thickened significantly. My guess is that above the soil the thread graft took more quickly, then the root growth slowed. The roots took hold more rapidly with approach grafting. I am now using the above soil grafts as sacrifice branches to thicken the trunk this year.

Neil

Thanks Neil, thats good to know.

I've had mixed results myself with thread grafting. In fact last year the opposite happened me with a Japanese larch. The rooted side thrived while the growth side (new branch) became less vigorious until this Spring there was no new buds. I had thought the sap to the saplings tip has been reduced as the trunk thinkened through the drilled hole, rather than bonding the sapling was simple strangled? I probably should have also controlled the amount of growth on both sides and tryed to keep them equal by pruning thus distributing vigor equally? Anyways, I'll give approach grafting ago with my next try.