Here is the progress of my trident maple I got on February 12th of this year to now.
Growing like a weed. You might wire and direct some shoots to the side that you think will be part of the future design. Otherwise let it grow until fall when you cut it back enough to get it into storage.
I have an Amur maple in the same state where I plan to decide upon the best angle and front at a club meeting in a little over a week. A year to recover (more for weaker species) with minimal styling since digging them was a major insult even if they are growing like weeds.
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The one coming up from main trunk is about a1/2” now. What would you think the size of that trunk extension should be. 3/4 or bigger?
If you are planning to cut back to this as a new leader, I would let it grow to at least 1/2 the diameter of the trunk below and even better 2/3 the diameter. You will want to cut the trunk above the new leader to a stub with a length about the same as the diameter of the trunk. If that leaves a bunch of growth below the new leader you can probably do it now since it is a trident and is growing really well so it directs the growth in the new leader. This violates the rule of one insult per year, but since is a trident that is growing really well and the rest of the growth will go unchecked for the year it should work well. Tridents heal wounds well so the fresh cut will callus this summer and fall and start the process to create a collar on the stub so you will know where to cut in a year or two. I would not do this on other maples and will give my amur a full year of growth to create roots.
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Thanks you’ve given me a lot to think about. If you get a chance send a picture of your Amur maple.
You obviously read my mind since I took a picture to post this evening. This was dug/torn out of the ground as we cleaned out a member’s front bed this spring with only a few roots and nobody else wanted it. The two trunks are about 5 cm diameter, and it was a couple of meters tall in the ground with only a spindly branch or two below the trunk chops. It was planted in solid pumice that ranged from 1 to 10 mm. I have a good idea about what to do, but hope to engage the club members in the design process.
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I really like the movement in those trunks. That is on it way to being spectacular. What is the final height.
Be sure to follow up with a design concept once you settle down your front and angle. Great tree but the shape has me personally baffled. I’m sure you have a solid plan, so I’m eager to learn how you might handle it!
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My plans for this tree is the naturalist style of Walter Pall. It has a lot of the basic features of most of his trees. I plan to work on several sup trunks and branching from there.