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NCSU Horticulture
Join Date: Jan-2005
Location: NC
Country: USA
Posts: 194
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Trident Maple Suggestions
Hi,
I'm fairly new to this forum, but I would like to say that (from reading the old posts) the quality of advice given here has been quite impressive. Obviously, there are many experienced members of the bonsaitalk community. I have found this forum an invaluable tool in my bonsai experience and would like to thank all with whom I have corresponded for there advice, help, and encouragement. However, I realized today that I have yet to post a tree for the scrutiny and suggestions of you all. I decided to go ahead and post a trident maple that I bought last spring, and I humbly ask for your suggestions. First of all, I still consider myself a beginner, but one of the most important lessons I have learned from my mentors is that it is better to have a few quality trees to learn with than a bunch of sticks which will take fifty years to develop. I still enjoy growing trees from seed, but each year I save and buy at least one quality root stock to work on and develop over the years. I would recommend this to other beginners as well. With this in mind, I offer this trident maple that I have worked on for about a year. I bought this tree for its excellent nebari, good lower branches, and overall vigorous and healthy appearance; it stands about 20". I would like suggestions on a few concerns I have with it though. First, the lack of taper in the middle part of the trunk. Second, the large wound in the lower left corner of the trunk. Third, the primary branch. The primary branch is my main concern at this point because it lacks a nice taper. It does have some nice tertiary branches I could cut it back to, but I will not be able to lower the branch any more if cut off the end. Right now, I plan to continue gradually cranking down the branch until it levels off and then cut it back to a tertiary branch to fix the taper problems. The first picture is after its first trimming last spring and the second picture is a behind view in its winter home. Anyway, I look forward to your suggestions.
All the best,
JDL
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