the changing face of an acer

hi,
out on the bench now we have one acer just stating to show autumn colour and it got me thinking how great trees that show seasonal change are -I had been looking for a nice deshojo for 3 years now and stumbled on this one quite by chance at Willowbog earlier this year. the tree was incredibly bright pink / red, went green and is now just showing some Autumn colour. Although listed as deshojo it seemed very bright and the leaves are quite small with a longer delicate center lobe. Showing the tree to the owner of a nice japanese garden who 'collects' acers he was pretty sure the cultivar is either Beni komachi or Beni maiko - both show finer growth and better colour which seems to be the trend with this tree, but what ever it is it behaves very well

i want to extend the low branches a lot as i really like the classic japanese maple style with the long low branch, and they need to fatten a bit too, then the layers and tiers will be formed from the base up. I did a mid summer repot into a larger oval so the roots could run wider and the branches were under-pinned with humidity keeping leaf quality good through the hot days. A few weeks later the tree spurred into growth and it strengthened all the inner twigs and buds as can be seen from the increase in density. No hard pruning took place as i wanted to build the trees strength, - i'll prune (and wire if needed) once the leaves are off and we can see the structure better

early summer - june

mid summer - august

late summer - sept

today


she'll soon be naked !! so one more picture before we prune her

cheers Marcus

I like it alot, love those Acers. To me it doesnt look like a deshojo either, those are more darkred like atropupureum. Ive got three acers myself with colors just like yours, problem is I do not know the cultivar-name
...but enough with that, deshojo or no deshojo, it is a nice specimen. Do you have the sizes of the tree?
Gr
David

Diantasti tree!!

Did you transfer up to a bigger pot this summer!? It looks better in the bigger pot

Cheers, Bryan

hi guys, cheers.

David, the tree is 33" tall above the pot, the bigger oval pot is 28" wide, the first pot is a lovely japanese pot but was too small for the big trunk and root base, plus it dried out in a few hours 'down south', risking the leaves drying on the edges. the bigger pot and 100% acadama has held the moisture to keep the leaves good and the tree healthy. i read and re-read peter adams maple book about using wide shallow pots for the big specimen acers to underpin the branches with moisture and humidity and i like the stability it adds to the tree, plus the obvious health benefits.

yes brian, the repot to the bigger pot was this summer - no roots were cut off but they were combed out to lay evenly in the bigger pot, i wont touch it in spring 2012 but repot a bit more to the right in 2013 as the brances develop wider. it is a nice pot - has a chop mark that looks like japanese company having them made in china - nice pots at a better price

cheers Marcus

Really beautiful series of photos Marcus ! I envy you guys with the change of seasons & colors. Something we don't have a lot of down here in South Florida. Great tree !

Ed

This is a very beautiful tree !!!! I like the root base a lot.. to me nothing needs changing... nice take care john

Hi Marcus, love the tree and pot combination, where did you get the pot from? I'm looking for a large shallow oval like that but have drawn a blank so far in the UK.

thanks

Nick

chagoi10 wrote:Hi Marcus, love the tree and pot combination, where did you get the pot from? I'm looking for a large shallow oval like that but have drawn a blank so far in the UK.

thanks

Nick

hi nick - the pot is from the 'japanese garden and bonsai nursery' in St mawgan village, near Newquay in Cornwall. lots of very good pots to chose from, no online sales to see the stock but its only 4 miles from my house so let me know size, colour, etc and i'll pop in, see whats there and take a few pictures if you like. We tried the tree in a slightly smaller one before chosing this one, but i know there are quite a few there atm.

i'm there most weeks having a mooch about !

cheers Marcus

chagoi10 wrote:Hi Marcus, love the tree and pot combination, where did you get the pot from? I'm looking for a large shallow oval like that but have drawn a blank so far in the UK.

thanks

Nick

Hello Nick. What tree do you want a pot for? There are many potters in the UK that will make a pot specifically for your tree. On the pot forum you will find Stone Monkey, Gwyther, Dan Barton and John Pitt. There are many more out there as well.

Thanks for the info Marcus, much appreciated.

I have a large Palmatum in need of a shallow oval pot approx 30 inches by 22 and 3in deep in brown or cream. Not able to get one made by UK potters as it's too big! If they have anythink like that i'd be very interested. I keep looking at the specimen Seigen Maple in Peter Adams Japanese Maple book - that pot would be perfect!!

Thanks again

Nick

will baddeley wrote:

chagoi10 wrote:Hi Marcus, love the tree and pot combination, where did you get the pot from? I'm looking for a large shallow oval like that but have drawn a blank so far in the UK.

thanks

Nick

Hello Nick. What tree do you want a pot for? There are many potters in the UK that will make a pot specifically for your tree. On the pot forum you will find Stone Monkey, Gwyther, Dan Barton and John Pitt. There are many more out there as well.

Hi Will, I've asked Dan and John and the 30"+ pot I need is just a bit bigger than they can fit in their kilns, i'll have a look at the other artists you mention and see what they can do.

Thanks for your help

Nick

Sorry Marcus and I will keep the hijack to a minimum (Great colours by the way). If the other potters haven't the kiln space, I know that Bryan Albright and Gordon Duffett make very large pots. Again my apologies.

will baddeley wrote:

chagoi10 wrote:Hi Marcus, love the tree and pot combination, where did you get the pot from? I'm looking for a large shallow oval like that but have drawn a blank so far in the UK.

thanks

Nick

Hello Nick. What tree do you want a pot for? There are many potters in the UK that will make a pot specifically for your tree. On the pot forum you will find Stone Monkey, Gwyther, Dan Barton and John Pitt. There are many more out there as well.

hi Will,

lots of the UK guys go a bit pale when you try to get a 28-36" shallow oval out of them !!!! I guess its the tendancy to sag or warp, plus the kiln size needed maybe ? not sure though, i was told they take up so much space that not a lot else can be put in too. also price comes into it, this one was priced at £115 in the shop. they have the classic lines of japanese designs, but made in china makes the prices very good - they have a chop mark no-one on the pot part of the forum recognises (i have 4 different pots now, same chop but all from different areas - one came with a satsuki from lee verhorevoort, one from john trott with a juniper, 2 from st mawgan bought off the shelf.)

hopefully a uk potter will join in to the thread - then i can tempt someone to make an antique appearing white crackle glazed oval around 30" for one of my big acers...........

cheers Marcus

will baddeley wrote:Sorry Marcus and I will keep the hijack to a minimum (Great colours by the way). If the other potters haven't the kiln space, I know that Bryan Albright and Gordon Duffett make very large pots. Again my apologies.

haha, thats fine m8, i like the way threads evolve into something totally different, even though we get told off by teacher for doing it sometimes

i will look at those two potters too, i want something crackled but delicate for the kiyohime clump -

cheers

Have a look at page 8, about half way down. If thats what your after then Gordon Duffett's your man.https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t1633p105-you-showed-me-yours-i-ll-show-you-mine?highlight=you+showed+me+yours

hi nick,

these two are 28" ovals, left one is alan harriman / china mist and the other is david jones / walsall ceramics



cheers Will , i'll take a look

I'm going to throw this out there because it's hitting me in the face every time I look at this tree, but I'll probably be crucified....

Marcus, have you ever considered air-layering the top out of this tree? I see exaggerated curves in the lower 2/3's, then a straight section with no curves or branching. I can't help but see one nice small tree sitting on top of another nice tree. It appears that the movement of the trunk runs right up into the branch on the right. Couldn't you make a new head with that and a wonderful little tree out of the top?

OK, I feel better now.

Russell Coker wrote:I'm going to throw this out there because it's hitting me in the face every time I look at this tree, but I'll probably be crucified... OK, I feel better now.

haha, the'll be no crucifixion here today

there are two trees in there like you see.... the upper trunk is a bit decieving from the current front though, as it curves away from us then back into the crown. viewed in a photo it looks straight but once the tree is turned about 20 degrees clockwise the upper trunk has gentle curves again (this turn of the tree also improves the appearance of some of the main branches, and is part of the 2013 repotting plan).

there are only 2 reasons why i wouldn't consider an airlay at this time - firstly i think the upper tree would just be a fairly normal small to medium sized bonsai with nothing outstanding about it, but far more importantly red maples are far better trees when grafted (this one is, but its a good one!, and now grown out nicely with the bark matching up). So many layered deshojo types seem quite weak on their own roots, often with quite course twiggy growth and larger but fewer leaves. At my local nursery they have given up with layers and cuttings from them as they root ok but die at random over 3-5 years, with lots of twig dieback too while they stay alive.

because my grand plan is along the lines of the peter adams seigen outline I will keep the height as is and add 10-12" to the width at the bottom - to regrow a new top from that branch would put the first chop off mark on the trunk and i dont like trunk chops if they can be avoided.

i do think a branch in this section will be good though, the tree throws new buds out all over the trunk but i may thread a thin back extension through a drilled hole in the spring, this will fill the fairly large gap properly - thanks for making me look closely at this section of the tree.

cheers Marcus

Great seasonal colors on that tree! Really lovely.

Any chance you can post a photo of the new planned front?

Chris

marcus watts wrote:hi nick,

these two are 28" ovals, left one is alan harriman / china mist and the other is david jones / walsall ceramics



cheers Will , i'll take a look

Marcus, I'm in touch with Bryan Albright about a 31inch pot. He can make such a beast without issues!

Regards

Nick

coh wrote:Great seasonal colors on that tree! Really lovely.

Any chance you can post a photo of the new planned front?

Chris

hi chris, thanks,

yes, i'll let the leaves come off this week and take a picture with the pot turned to the proposed angle -or i may do a quick little repot as no roots will need cutting to turn the tree to the better angle- i just had a look and there is a lovely curve in that top section and a nice branch too, its just from the current front it looks straight and the branch is not that visible !

hi Nick - thats great news, thanks Will !, i looked at the link Will posted and the crackle glaze of gordon duffett looks just what i'm after - i'm just contemplating the overall size the tree will end up before deciding on the pot size.

cheers everyone, i'll do a gentle repot next week and post a pic

thanks Marcus

Marcus;

looks like Beni maiko to my eyes. The "red dancing girl" and boy does that name fit in this case, what curves! Its definitely not Beni komachi.

I too keep Maples I think firstly for their fall colors. Cool trick about the long low pot for humidity, I think I need to get that book it does seem like thats the Bible for Japanese maples. All the Deshojo cultivars are hard to come by on my side of the pond. Thats a wonderful tree.

great bonsai and pots! tks for sharing!