Can Anything Be Done -- Maple

riprap

I bought this three-trunked Japanese maple as a balled-and-burlaped nursery tree some years ago and reduced it to about its present height of 24 inches (~58 cm). I thought that with time the unrelieved cylindrical shape of the trunks would be less of a problem, but that doesn't seem to be happening. I don't see any obvious places to chop. The trunks are all almost the same thickness (right one in this view very slightly thinner). The base, which I will show in the next post, has an unattractive urn-shape. And to make matters worse (see post after next) all three trunks have a similar bow-curve. Can anything be done to style this tree? Ideas appreciated.

Barry

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riprap

Here is a view of the base, from the present front. The U-shape and lack of a good transition into rootage is troubling.

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riprap

And a view from the right side, showing the identical bow-curves of the three trunks.

Again, ideas are appreciated.

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nathan

I am no expert but i think i would remove the middle trunk (and carve it down), chop the other 2, let the left trunk grow freely (since it is already slightly bigger), keep the smaller trunk pruned back and I think you could have a nice twin trunk bonsai. Here is what i see.

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-nathan

DeadLeaves

That's exactly what I was thinking. I think A Twin Trunk is the way to go.

DavidN

I couldn't possibly thinking of chopping any of these trunks. If this would be mine I would keep all the trunks. I would move the middle trunk closer to the left trunk and space the smaller trunk further away from the other two. In fact it almost looks like a five trunk clump. If you are worried about the root then I would take the clump out of the bonsai pot and plant in a well draining soil mix burried and with spagnum moss packed around the base of the clump. In a year or two this will fix your root problem.

I would really hate to see you chop any of these trunks.

Here is what I imagine.

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riprap

Thanks very much for both these responses, one radical, the other gentler. The two-trunk, chopped option is obviously irreversible, so I will meditate on the tree a bit longer before taking that step. In the meantime, DavidN's suggestion how to improve the base will work for whatever style we wind up with, so I'll do that.

With thanks again,

Barry

Carl_Bergstrom

To me, this thread seems to be a perfect illustration for our previous discussion on the perils of uninformed and dangerously bad advice.

Here I see these assertions - without justification - of a completely half-cocked, destructive approach to really excellent material. This tree will be very nice, in the vein of much of Reiner Goebel's work, if left as a triple trunk. David is right on the mark. The other posters? I think they should read the above thread carefully.

Sorry to be so blunt,
Carl

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nathan

I do not see how it is bad advice. Personally I think the trunks divide too high from the soil to make a good clump. The idea I gave would make the division much lower to the soil and more attractive. Chopping would also create a much better taper over time. I wasn't suggesting an instant fix I was suggesting what I thought would be a better long term approach and I still feel that years down the line the advice I gave would make for a more attractive tree.

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-nathan