Just got this trident maple and would like some advice on how to move forward. I love Walter Pall’s designs, but would love to hear what you all think.
i like # 3 as the front. i have the best base . needs to stay in development and grow some branches . did you just make all the big cuts? i personally think the rear trunk should be cut down to the smaller branches as there is some big invers taper going on . but that will mean years of development and healing but i don’t see a way around that at this point.
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I have been looking at that as a front also, and I want to do some root grafts in the back to make it look better from that angle.
It was just cut back and shipped to me, so I’m a little worried doing any more cuts till it starts to grow out again.
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Root grafting is a good plan and definitely wait until it recovers before doing any work
We all need to remember that bonsai is a long game, particularly for deciduous trees. If it were my tree I would plan on the following.
- Select and wire shoots to create branches and new leaders this year. Make sure to put some movement into first few inches of the leaders.
- Assuming good growth this year, chop the trunks to different heights leaving a stub early next year (2026). Allow the new leaders to run wild gain girth.
- Trim back the stubs, repot into a shallower box, and do the root grafts the following year (2027). Depending upon the leader girth, either cut back to a new leader or allow them to continue to run.
- Continue branch and leader development (2028).
- Repot into a bonsai pot as you transition from development to refinement (2029).
- Show at your club show after another repot (2031).
Marty
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This is a better 6 year plan than I have for my own life, what an amazing response!
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Thanks that is the best advice I’ve gotten. I’m going to save it in the album for this tree. Thanks Marty.
It is starting to push a lot of buds. Now to see which ones survive.
@NEBeech it is far easier to create long-term plans for trees than for people - they are much more predictable.
@Rod glad that this was useful. One of the biggest issues I have with long-term plans is remembering them from year-to-year. I am getting better.
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I may post my trident forest I just put together it has a long ways to go. But I could use some guidance.
One more question when do I start fertilizing and how heavily would you want to fertilize
The tree was bare rooted so I would wait about 2 months before fertilizing. I would also stick to organic fertilizer for the first month or so to help build the soil biology. You can then start to mix in some chemical fertilizer to push the growth, but I would still keep a strong organic component.
I would start light and ramp it up. The goal this year is to get good root development and then back buds that that can used. Without strong roots you are fighting an uphill battle.
I use almost all organic fertilizer (mostly solids on the surface) for my trees that are in traditional bonsai soil. For my trees that are earlier in development, I alternate chemical liquid and fish emulsion, but those trees are in a mix of bark and pumice to encourage stronger growth.
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Fungi and Bacteria with Karen O’Hanlon | Bonsai Mirai: Asymmetry. worth a listen
Ahh I been meaning to listen to this one just haven’t bothered to look it up guess I’ll take a hent from the brain trust.
She makes a bold but likely accurate statement about mycorrhizal and how the relationship is established when the tree or plant is in the seed or codaliding phase and it is a very specific relationship so the idea of inoculating through the soil is snake oil…I am paraphrasing but still worth the listen.
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Yup makes me wonder if one could inoculate the seeds. Above my pay grade lol.
In theory if you could match up the symbiotic relationship with the correct trees species it would have a higher probability assuming it isnt environmentally depending (which is probably is) …Its one of the reasons why you want to keep some of the native soil when collecting yamadori (even if we scientifically cant explain why) …along with leaving a portion of feeder roots undistributed which seems like the more obvious reason .
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