Maple Progression, 7 yrs

Below is a japanese maple progression over 7 yrs. Now with a 3" trunk, 6" root spread, 20" tall, 16" pot. This is my first maple, sangu kaku. I began with garden nursery stock purchase 15 yrs ago, which I was surprised to find had decent roots and no graft. It was too tall (for trunk width), but too pretty to chop, so I read some books and decided to air layer the top, and made this pairing. It has begun a pleasant journey for me with maples. In 2008 I read some more about root base spreading from Peter Adams, and chose to work on roots with a shallower pot, which are coming along nicely. Spring and autumn are my favorite times of the year for this tree, spring allows one to see new leaves against pink bark on small branches, and autumn color is light pink turning to bright yellow. I may soon need a larger pot.

Any thoughts, recommendation and ideas appreciated.


Summer 2004:


Summer 2006:


Early Spring 2008:


Spring 2008:


Summer 2008:


Autumn 2008:




Summer 2011:

Very nice maple!

Great tree !

The picture when it's leafless shows how carefully you've trained it, congratulations, it's really beautiful.

Beautiful leaves and shape. Well done. It's hard not to have zone envy.

PS I love the background in the first photo. Great yard!

What wire are you using in the 3 and 4th pictures? Great progression!!

Great job!!!! The progression is amazing. A really beautiful tree.

Have a great week!!!
Sam

kellyronald6,

There wire you see is aluminum that I covered with cloth athletic tape, in effort to limit bark damage. A bit of a hassle, I guess it worked alright. Now I am more likely to use tie downs or plain aluminum and take off earlier.

Lovely tree, I guess it not only looks good in Spring and Falls but all year long

Xuan

Hi Josh, what a stunning maple. I know that sangu kaku is one of the harder cultivars to achieve good ramification so you need to be doubly congratulated.
Craigw