Tridents Grow Up & Out :)

Treebeard

Hi,

This is a Trident maple I acquired in spring 2003. When in leaf the branch structure is totally covered over by the leaves. As you can see from this winter picture, the branches grow upwards and outwards...

The photo is taken from the end of the pot, that is why it looks a bit strange.

It is in need of pruning and wiring; any thoughts, ideas and suggestions before I do it?

Regards,

TB/Chris.

Attached Images

maple.jpg (66.4 KB, 413 views)

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TreeBay

Hey, I am enjoying this ramification a lot. It doesn't look like it needs a whole lot of pruning, maybe some tip pruning, but those lower branches need to grow so you wouldn't want to prune them much, would you?

The roots must be great to get branching like that. Definitely turn the pot 180 degrees when you repot. The roots need some room to spread laterally.

Regards,

Matt

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David Yedwab

the branches don't bother me. I assume there is less crossing in 3 dimensions. What does bother me is the scar in the front of the picture and the obvious trunk chop at the top. Is this picture the front of the tree or could a 90 degree counter-clockwise turn (Looking down on the tree)?

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David Yedwab

Thomas_J.

TB
I also don't have a problem with the way the branches are going.
What you need is just a good cleanup. Something like I've done here, just a bit more intense. Don't be afraid to clean up hard on the thin branches. Clean it up good and give it a few years to ramify with new ones and you'll be surprised at what you done. If you go to my gallery, you'll notice my trident that closely resembles yours. It took seven years to get there, even though it's still not where I want it to be, I'm quite satisified with it now too.

Attached Images

tbs maple.jpg (46.6 KB, 381 views)

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Thomas J.

Ralph

David, I respectfully disagree with you about the scar. In this case, I think it gives the tree some character. The trunk chop still needs to heal over, but the branching in that area looks like it will take care of that.
Just my opinion of course, for whatever it is worth.

Attila

Hi Chris,

The biggest deficiency I see is the lack of nebari which to me is the best feature of tridents. Few trees can match the beauty of trident nebari.

This may be easy to fix if you reveal another inch below the soil line. If, however, there is nothing to reveal due to lack of nebari, I would work on that placing it into a growth box for a while. It doesn't take too long to grow a nice root base.

Letting it grow for a while would also smooth out the obvious trunk chop that is too visible right now.

Regards,
Attila

Treebeard

Thanks for the comments chaps.

Matt, You're right, the lower ones need some more growth... the pruning would be further up near the top.

Dyedwab, the picture shows the proposed new front. This view has a much better trunk line than the view from the left of the picture.

Thomas, I like your virtual. I will definitely aim for something like it when I get down to it. If it ends up like yours I will be very pleased.

Ralph, I agree about the front scar giving character. It just needs a little tidying up, re-cutting the obvious "V" that is there at the moment and a little hollowing. The trunk chop at the top is actually 2 small chops, the branches in front are giving the impression of 1 large one. Like you say, the branches there will help them to heal over. The arrow in the picture points to one of the chop stubs, the carving of which will help visually.

Attila, there is some good-ish nebari under the moss and soil. Not perfect, but something to work with.

Thanks again all.

Regards,

Chris/TB

Attached Images

arrow.jpg (26.1 KB, 265 views)

__________________
"Do not be hasty, that is my motto"
-JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers.
-----------------------------------
christopherguise.co.uk

GaryS

Chris,

I think it's going to be a good tree. A little cleanup like David suggested and carve out that scar and your good to go. I'd let those bottom branches grow wild next Spring and thicken up.

It doesn't seem to have any verticle shoots which is good. Generally I think you just bud pick it this Winter and Spring and remove any dormant buds that you don't want to sprout (buds that will go straight up, and ones that will make crossing branches etc.)

Who knows what lurks underneath the moss.
Show us in the Spring!

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GaryS

Rene_Voortwist

Hi Chris,

I think your tree would look better if you would lower the left and righthand low branches a bit. The tree would have a more mature look. What do you think ?

René

Attached Images

mapletreebeardvirt.jpg (65.8 KB, 153 views)