I have been slowly making decisions on a medium-large field grown trident maple. I have posted pictures of it before, and below is a re-post to remind you of what the tree looks like. From a traditional perspective, it has all kinds of issues: huge shoulders, bar branches, scars, inverse taper, etc. And yet, it also has a strange beauty about it, which is why I bought it. I have been looking for inspiration for a final design, AND. . .
While surfing the internet, I discovered a photo of a tree known as The Major Oak, located in Nottinghamshire England. Awesome, ancient tree, about 1000 years old, and it appears to have many of the same defects my trident has. What do you think? Does 1000 years of survival excuse me from having to follow traditional rules of aesthetics?
I think you found your inspiration - the goal is often to make our trees look old and even ancient. That is not the traditional Japanese image, particularly for a deciduous tree, but seems to be emerging as a theme is the west.
Iâve had the trident maple for a year, and have been trying to figure out how in the world am I going to get rid of the bulge without girdling the tree or inflicting some permanent, ugly scarring. The English oak shows me I donât have to do that. How many times have I heard the mantra, âIf you canât eliminate a defect, incorporate it into the design?â Thanks, for the comment, Marty.
OK, Iâve been making progress with this trident maple, and want to put up a couple of virtual optiopns for your critiques and opinions. Take a look at the photos below and feel free to make some comments:
Photo 1-- The actual tree as it stands today -October 27, 2023
Photo 4-- Virtual # 2-- Also building on existing bones but trying to eliminate the scar. The tree has already shown som great callus making vigor on some smaller scars on the other side. Need suggestions on how to make sure I donât wind up with a huge bump.
Hi @Makuen-amer, I was scrolling through past posts and you seem not to have gotten replies. Your tree has obviously progressed in a meantime and maybe youâve already made your design choices. In case you would still appreciate feedback: tridents are vigorous growers and can callous over big wounds, also your gaping one. It would require letting the side branches thicken substantially (and let grow a meter to the sides each) and dito for at least one of your two leaders. There I would make a choice between the two. I only have one picture to go on and it sounds a bit radical, but if it were my tree I would seriously consider chopping one of the leaders and in that way create more taper (and prevent more inverse taper at the top). See the picture. That would create an extra wound but that would callous over in approximately 5 years. Anyways, just some overdue input for your thought process!
Hey Eastbayvet, Maina, thanks for getting back to me and, no, itâs not too late yet. You managed to touch on all of the areas of concern for this tree: wound healing, inverse taper, apex development, thread grafts,
and branch development. I have been waiting for the large wound to heal before making the choices you outline here. I have included several photos for your review. I would be interested in additional observations you might make.
Powerful tree. I personally like the photo below. As the front. Iâd get rid of that one branch now to prevent inverse taper. In the fall at leaf drop Iâd make my thread graft right above wound callous and you could probably come into it obliquely. Thatâs a really thick trunk to drill through the full diameter.
Love the spring
Hi John, good to hear from you and thanks for the update. Indeed a powerful tree. I agree with Gary about the threat graft. I would opt to do more. The tree could use more primary branching.
I also agree about cutting the thick vertical growth on the left branch. On the apex I am still of the opinion that two thick leaders will result in a thick upper truck and thus reduce taper on a whole. I would still consider cutting the thick leader on the right. It would be another wound to heal but it would still callous over quicker than the main wound.
Whatever you do I donât think you need to wait for the main wound to heal before making design choices. That you can do this year and plan the years ahead accordingly. Good luck and keep us posted!
Maina and Eastbayvet,
I took both of yâalls suggestions and tried to do a Before and After virtual. See what you think. One thing we didnât talk about but I think is plain good sense is to take off the thick branch in the crown by air layering. It is a great size for a mature looking shohin. Further observations welcome.
It would be a huge mistake to remove the upper branch. Besides the possibility of die back as Ryan has said many times it will take years for something to grown in and replace it. I think itâs great actually but itâs just my humble opinion. Nice you can see what it would look like if you had mistakenly removed itđ€Ș
I respect your opinion Gary, but Iâd say that there are different options with both proâs and cons (instead of one being correct and the other a âhuge mistakeâ). Removing the right leader and filling that side with several thread graft would indeed take years to heal and build, with the upside of getting better taper in the top. I think the risk of die-back when removing it is minimal, certainly if youâd do it in two steps. One thick branch would remain right at the possible cut site.
I do see that the current right leader brings character to the tree and that would be an argument for keeping it. The downside of keeping it is that it would thicken the top section considerably more than it already is and thatâs something to take into account (you now have three thick branches coming from the same section). So itâs an aesthetic design choice, with years of work in either case.
Maina and Eastbayvet, I think Eastbayvetâs plan could work. But it would take several more thread grafts, and then there is the question âcan the thread grafts ever grow to be convincing primaries that are proportional to the two leaders?â The main benefit as I see it would be the character and movement that the right hand leader brings to the table.
In order for the second plan to work, the tree would need a couple of large scale pruning cuts, several âshavesâ to counter inverse taper and a large air layer and a follow-up one or two years after the air layer to cut the stub back to the shoulder at the main trunk. Here is that diagram:
Hi Makuen-amer, Iâm glad our feedback was of help to your thinking. I agree with your first paragraph. About the trimming of thick callus and the wedge cut Iâm less sure. I get how it could improve the taper, but it would also create new (large) wounds. That could add up to quite a moon landscape and areaâs where you couldnât thread graft, so those are downsides to consider. For the rest it sounds like a good plan. You could also not air layer and save a year on the process of building the top, but thatâs a minor consideration. Either way I wish you success in the next steps. Keep us posted!
Hello again. The thread graft I proposed was actually to help the scar heal by directing nutrients to the area nor to enhance the trident although that would be a byproduct of the tread graft as well. I really wouldnât remove anything. Youâll just have more big scars to heal
