Tree identification please

Hi everyone!

I am remoddeling part of the garden, and 1 1/2 years ago I dug out a shrub that was scheduled to become fire wood.
It was put in a plastic bag with almost no soil attached to it, but it started to show new growth and after closer inspection I saw some potential in it for a future little bonsai.

Problem is, I have no idea what kind of tree it is. All I know is it can take a beating (shows growth after 1 year in a plastic bag, root pruned and potted up, heavy cutting in old wood and total defoliation the year after ).

Here are some recent images i took of it:







Maybe next year I'll reduce the tree to about 1/3 of it's height, and since it grows so straight, it perhaps could become a nice broom style

Perhaps there is someone that can tell me what species this tree is?

Thanks, Remco

Looks like a trident mapple!?

Look more like a flowering currant Ribes sanguineum to me or possibly a gooseberry Ribes uva-crispa. Definitely not Trident Maple, Acer buergerianum

I agree not a Maple, but I can't help otherwise.

I agree, it does look rather like a flowering currant...

Kev Bailey wrote:Look more like a flowering currant Ribes sanguineum to me or possibly a gooseberry Ribes uva-crispa. Definitely not Trident Maple, Acer buergerianum

Do the ribes have a woody trunk?
This year I've got 10 of these things and I planted them at my grandma's house.Do they suit bonsai?

Yes they do have woody trunks, that can get thick with a few years in the ground. They are admirably suited to bonsai. I have a shohin Gooseberry that is always a favourite with the public at shows, once they spot the fruit and realise what it is.

Do the leaves have any scent? If so I may change my opinion and say Blackcurrant - Ribes nigrum. I haven't tried this for bonsai as the leaves are a fair bit larger.

Thanks for all the replies!

I did some reading on the Ribes species, and it looks very similar. Here in the Netherlands they grow native and we use the berries in pies.
The leaves did not smell though after rubbing them through my fingers, no sweet or sour smell that would stand out.

Hopefully the tree flowers soon, so I can determine if it indeed is a Ribes and perhaps what kind.

Thanks again for the help!

- Remco

R3mco wrote:Thanks for all the replies!

I did some reading on the Ribes species, and it looks very similar. Here in the Netherlands they grow native and we use the berries in pies.
The leaves did not smell though after rubbing them through my fingers, no sweet or sour smell that would stand out.

Hopefully the tree flowers soon, so I can determine if it indeed is a Ribes and perhaps what kind.

Thanks again for the help!

- Remco

Another thing except pies the berries can be used at making wine,and what a good wine!

Hello Remco.
Nice material.
There are a lot of Ribes varieties, the Esveld nurserie has about 60.
This one i think is more the hedge sort with few red berries, not the ones that are grown specially for the berries,
does it flower now like this?
This is the variety i got in my garden, you gave me an idea, i have to look if i find a suitable one.

Sunip

Hi R3mco

It looks like the wildform of Ribes...Ribes Alpinum...The flowers are the same too
We can find it the nature in Denmark..And It makes great small bonsai, I have a mame from 1995. Not pretty now, was restyled last year.

Kind regards Yvonne

Hopefully it starts to grow some flowers soon, for now it needs to recover because I've repotted the tree about 1 1/2 months ago.

I've made some "heavy" fertilizer cakes, 13-16-9, bloodmeal-bonemeal-vinassekali (lime is the English word for it I think) and superthrive for trees like these to grow fast and strong, which I'll begin using as soon as the Biogold cakes run out.
Hopefully it helps

- Remco