Trident Maple Question

Nivizoit

I bought a healthy trident maple and i live in az. i know i may possibly loose it in the summer but im going to try and be the exception and keep it alive. anyways, my question is how to make it grow big and get it's branches longer and thicker, to thicken up the trunk, without creating the ugly knobby look that they can get. ive seen some horrible looking ones and i don't want this one to look like that if i can avoid it...if it even survives. I have it in a 5 gallon pot that doesn't ever get dry...but isn't waterlogged. what is the best way to prune it so that i don't get that knobby look that ruins the bonsai?

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Joanie

That's a lot of information for one post....

If you were able to buy the John Naka Bonsai Techniques I book, maybe you could get some ideas... because it is always a balancing act between giving the tree lots of room to grow (and not trimming it either top or bottom) which makes for a larger trunk, and trimming and pruning it back (mostly the top) so that you create taper and movement. In some stages, you are doing one thing, and in other stages, you are doing the other. You need to learn what goal you want to go for first. You CAN'T grow the maple out to be a nice respectable sized trunk without scars at all. It would take more time than you will want to commit. You CAN grow the maple out for a good trunk, while minimizing the scars and using your knowledge of how the maple grows to create the taper and movement you want. There will be scars, but if you know how to prune the branches (and when, and have the right tools, and cut paste, etc) the scars will close up eventually.

Read, read, read. Borrow books from the library. Read this forum, especially searching for threads about growing out trunks. Read the articles on Evergreen Gardenworks site.

Joanie

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