This is an Acer campestre (hedge maple) that I grew in the ground for a few years to thicken. It developed 2 major roots that then divided. There is actually a little space under the trunk as you can see in the detail picture. Any comments on how to handle this?
A. Leave it as a feature and accentuate it during future repots.
B. Root graft seedlings (I have them) to give a more traditionally spread nebari
C. Insert a rock with carving to fit to provide a reason for the roots splitting to either side.
Hey @MartyWeiser,
I’d love to see some more angles of this tree as well!
For me the symmetry of the split and the negative space under the roots are the biggest problems.
Maybe rotate the tree a little and fill in the void with some sphagnum and akadama.
When you do your next repot you could probably crank that smaller root towards the right a little to close the gap.
That long root coming towards the front could be buried a little and moved toward the left.
Thanks for the feedback. I have included pictures from the back and the right side. The roots in the back don’t spread nearly as much as the front. The right side view shows that the base of the tree is very 2D and and that I have been growing and cutting back a leader towards the current front for a few years.
If I keep the current front (likely) I will be cutting off the overlapping root on the right and cutting back the long straight root on the left. I will encourage both to produce new, finer roots. As a side note this was a 1 year old seedling in 2006 that was planted in the ground from about 2009-16.
I vote A. Leave it and eventually accentuate it. I like it there and would love to see it create somewhat of a hollow at the base like you see in large trees in the forest.
Oddly , Marty… I only have one hedge maple in a pot. I do have several large ones in my garden… they got away from me…
They heal slowly and poorly, especially large cuts.
Never tried a graft on one…
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That said, I vote for one sapling graft in front AND two in back…
Do you think a THROUGH graft would leve a better appearing scar in the endgame, after excising the sapling top? Maybe at a acute angle sideways?
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Just saying…
Good looking tree you got there.
Yeah, the current front seems the best option.
I’d try adding some thread or approach graft to fill in the empty spaces of the nebari.
I think a graft would be your best bet. Second best is to accentuate it by carving the bottom out between those big roots (kind of shaped like the top half of an tear). The latter occurs frequently in nature when a secondary trunk dies.
