In most books JM are supposed not to be needed to get pruned. In some of your galleries, I notices that some of you have been able to give very nice shapes to your JM by pruning. Could you advice a good book (or a good article in some magazines, reviews ...) specialised in JM pruning ? If it doesn't exist, can we find something in bonsai books ?
I recommend the following free resources: Pruning and refinement techniques: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z29rSrfEz8A (topic on Japanese maples starts at 3:06 on the player in case you want to skip the first topic) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KauXPxmiT5c (Developmental techniques) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zdEjZ-MiJU&list=UUMIZqKAtSetjReDVLvBV0tA&index=1&feature=plcp Here is a video on re-potting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OhuBvfJ8Xw&feature=relmfu Books: I recommend Bonsai with Japanese Maples by Peter Adams. Niwaki: Pruning, Training and Shaping Trees the Japanese Way by Jake Hobson is an interesting book on pruning, but it is heavy on evergreens and not specific to Japanese Maples. There is much conversation in this forum about pruning. Some of it is disagreement between theory’s, but there is good information. May I dare to share some advice that kind of goes against the norm? Then I ask you to consider the following tips: -Don’t prune during seasonal extremes. In the heat of the summer and the dead of winter, too much moisture is lost, weakening the branch or tree causing further die back. -In many areas of the country Japanese maples are susceptible to bacterial infections that tend to start to show themselves in spring. Winter damage or pruning cuts offer a great pathway for this bacteria to enter the tree. Therefor I don’t prune live wood during winter. I will however prune out dead wood during winter, but I am careful not to damage any live tissue. -Consider viewing the tree during winter to ponder pruning decisions. Mark any decisions with a small dot of paint or a small piece of twine (never tie it tight as branches may thicken come spring). Wait for the tree to leaf out in spring and re-evaluate your decisions. Sometimes what makes sense when the tree is bare makes little or no sense once you see the impact come spring. Also, the branch you intended to keep may start to fail come spring, making the once undesirable branch very desirable. -Do not prune late summer as it could promote new growth that will not have time to harden off before winter. This could cause winter die back. Let available energy in fall go towards root development and not new growth on the canopy that may not survive the winter. -Sometimes Japanese maples will suddenly put off a long leggy growth at a fast rate. I have found it’s best to put a stop to this big push in growth, by either pruning it or removing the leaf embryo in the center of the growth (providing it has not gotten too long). I find these long whips tend to pull available energy away from forming healthy / sustainable branch development from other areas of the tree. -It’s best to remove unsustainable growth very early in its development. If you wait for it to thicken and grow out for a few years, then remove it, you are left with a large scar. I feel this is most important for varieties that are grown for their beautiful bark. Wound wood stands out, because it will not take on the color of the bark. -Lastly, don’t rush home with a new tree, plant it, then start pruning it. Give the tree plenty of time to get established. The only exception would be a damaged or problem branch that needs attention. The best thing to keep in mind, when pruning Japanese maples, is how they grow. Leafs are in pairs along the branch. You will notice the placement alternates between leaf pairs (or bud pairs this time of year). One pair will grow in the horizontal and the next pair on the branch will grow in the vertical. Use this knowledge to properly plan your cuts. If you cut at a horizontal pair of leaves (or buds), two branches will form horizontally (left and right). If you cut at a vertical pair, you will have two branches form, one upward and one downward. Usually you want four leaf pairs (or more) to form before making a cut, when trying to develop branches and form. If you cut back to the first pair, you are taking the chance of the new growth failing. I usually let the growth develop at least 4 leaf pairs and then cut back to the second or third pair (dependent upon bud orientation and desired growth direction) The rest of it just comes down to good judgment, planning, and understanding balance. That's my two cents, hope it helps.
Thanks a lot all theses advices, especially this one : "Sometimes Japanese maples will suddenly put off a long leggy growth at a fast rate. I have found it’s best to put a stop to this big push in growth, by either pruning it or removing the leaf embryo in the center of the growth (providing it has not gotten too long). I find these long whips tend to pull available energy away from forming healthy / sustainable branch development from other areas of the tree. -It’s best to remove unsustainable growth very early in its development. If you wait for it to thicken and grow out for a few years, then remove it, you are left with a large scar. I feel this is most important for varieties that are grown for their beautiful bark. Wound wood stands out, because it will not take on the color of the bark." I wouldn't have dare to prune a new growth, I would have been afraid to weaken the three. I'm not sure to understand what you mean by "One pair will grow in the horizontal and the next pair on the branch will grow in the vertical."
I took a couple of pictures to help explain what I mean by the bud orientation along the branch and the corresponding new growth direction, based on where you make the pruning cut. If the pictures don't help, let me know and I will be glad to try and explain it better. Thank you
Thanks a lot, it's very clear. On this exemple, would you cut for an horizontal growth ? I observed my JM this afternoon and I fell I should always prune for an horizontal growth. In which case do you cut for a vertical growth. Thanks again for that kind of advice you seldom get.
I intend to create a horizontal pad with this branch. Yes, I will prune at the horizontal buds. Then new growth will form left and right. On that new growth, once developed, I will prune at a horizontal bud. Over the next few years, very diverse branching will form a nice horizontal pad. Some may choose to prune at the vertical bud. This is because Bihou tends to be a strong upright grower when young. It's grown for it's beautiful bark. To have several vertical growths adds a very nice contrast in the winter garden, as diverse vertical growth stands out more when viewed from a distance. For my tree, I have several vertical growths giving it a nice form and appearance, so now I am going to start creating the horizontal pads tiered along the outside of all the vertical growth. I feel this will add more interest during the growing season. The layered pads also compliments the overall feeling of my garden. This is an example of where understanding balance (placement of tiered pads) and planning (having an overall goal in mind of creating pads, planning cuts strategically to develop the desired growth over the next several seasons). Balance is also the balance of available energy within the tree, but I think I am getting too philosophical.
Thanks a lot. If you don't mind, tomorow I will post a pic of an Aoyagi Ive just bought this automn. It doesn't have a good shape, I would like you to tell me what you"ll do to try to give it a better shape.
You can see that this young graft of 2 or 3 years has not a good shape, I think when it was pruned for the first time it made only one branch instead of two. What could I do to reshape it ?
When a tree is young like this one, it’s still developing its personality. I always hesitate to start taking drastic actions on such a young tree. But I do have a few recommendations. First, please see the attached picture with some corrections. Looking at the other picture of the overall form. Consider staking the tree to pull it slightly left (nothing too drastic). This may help improve the sense of balance to the tree, since it has a strong lean and growth to the right. It will still have interesting curves to the trunk, but I think it will improve the overall appearance. I wound also consider removing the long branch from the left side, that crosses over to the right and continues far away from the tree. This appears to be a strong push of growth, from last season, that should have been addressed before it got out of control. It is stealing energy from the apex (top of the tree). Be sure the right side of the tree is getting a fair amount of light. It seems that it’s possible when at the nursery the left side of the tree was getting more light than the right side. I recommend waiting until spring before taking any action. Take a second look after everything has leafed out and started growing before getting started. Do not stake the tree this time of year, because the wood is very brittle and can snap very easily. Also, I must say it’s hard to give pruning advice from pictures. I like to look at the tree from all angles when pruning. Also stepping back and looking at it from a distance too. If any recommendations above, don’t make sense in person, then you are seeing something I can’t see from the pictures. It’s better to be safe and not prune something, watch it, and maybe decide later, than it is to prune something and wish you had not.
Unless you are after a specific look or style, like the bonsai niche, or traditional Japanese garden, don't get too focused on Japanese maple pruning books. Find good pruning books. Japanese maples, most, are comparable to pruning most trees. Actually, I think that fruit tree pruning is the most demanding or difficult, if done strategically. But Japanese maples follow the same basic approach as most trees ... even though their size is not very monumental. Even the weeping ones are similar, in an inverted sort of way. With a tree that's still that puny? I'd consider staking, bracing or bending it for a year or two and reshape it that way, as an alternative to pruning. Shape it, let the new wood cast the new shape, then pull the bracing. *********************** Keep in mind, too, that Japanese maple bonsai cutting is not the same as general Japanese maple tree pruning cutting. The bonsai approach often uses a gouging that goes deeper than "flush-cutting". For typical pruning, flush cutting is usually too close of a cut. And bonsai exceeds the flush cut, but pretty much needs it, to attain a certain look. ...
The book that I recommend has “Bonsai†in the title (Bonsai with Japanese maples), but the first 1/3 of the book is all about growing, caring, and maintaining Japanese maples (it all applies to landscape grown maples). It does not promote a “gouging†cut. It promotes proper pruning techniques that can be applied to any Japanese maple regardless of its growing conditions (container or landscape grown). The book re-affirmed much of the knowledge I learned from experience growing Japanese maples in the landscape and container. The book is packed with valuable knowledge and it goes into greater detail than most books on the subject of Japanese maples. It’s sad that the term “Bonsai†in the title turns people off. Much of the maintenance and care questions on this forum are covered and answered in this book. It’s surprising that more collectors and maple enthusiast don’t check it out. I feel if you don’t want to own it or you think I’m nuts, at the very least check it out at the library. Then let me know if you know of a better book that covers growing, caring, and maintaining Japanese maples better.
Thanks you both for your advices. I would have made a mistake : I would have pruned the main trunk just before the curve thinking I would have got two new growths .... and got a better balanced tree. I will wait for march to stake the tree with bamboos. But my main concern are the 3 branches after the "curve" : you couldn't see them on the pevious pictures but two other branches (out of the fours branches) are very long and leggy and are not going in a right direction. Should I stake them with the " long growth" ? removing only the long growth (from the intersection ?) ? cutting off the top of the two other long branches ?
Here are a couple options. (A) involves branch removal and bending others into place. (B) keeps all branches, just shortening the long growth to the left and bending it back into a position on the correct side of the tree. Along with bending a few other branches. There are many techniques to branch bending. Too many for me to explain in detail. here are a couple of those techniques. With branch bending, first stake the main trunk into place. Branches can be gently bent into place and staked, then pruned to the proper length. Or a horizontal bamboo can be secured to the vertical bamboo (that is staking the main trunk). The branch can be bent and secured to the horizontal bamboo. Do not over bend and break the branch. The branch can be bent into place slowly over time, rather than all at once. If you are a risk taker with a sense of adventure and very patient, you could make a cut on the trunk as you described. It will be a big setback, but it would be an opportunity to train the tree as you want, as it grows in the future. Remember that it will take a few seasons to grow back. The risk is that it may not bud and develop new growth where you want it. The even bigger risk is the cut may not heal like you want and it may start to die back further down the trunk. Which could be the start of the decline of this tree. If you take the more conservative approach, the idea is to properly maintain the tree this season. Do not over water or over fertilize as you will be left with more leggy growth. Rather, the goal is to allow the tree to fill out and develop from the growth it has already put out. Allowing the tree to fill in more and develop more branches off of the existing growth (from the inner part of the tree).
When I first enrolled in college here, Bonsai was a course, with a master Bonsai instructor. That influenced my pruning for landscape trees, even when I was not miniaturizing them. ...
JT1, thank you so much for your advices. I think I woud chose your second options : I might get a multi trunks three. Few more questions if you don't mind. - When should I start staking and bending ? After leaves out or just before ? - How much should I bend the branches ? I read some of your threads with great interest. Could you develop this "Another technique is to plan a couple seasons ahead and remove one out of two leaf pairs (on every pair) on a branch that is destin to outgrow the space. By doing this a couple seasons before the branch is a problem, allows more lite into the branch. The idea is to promote back budding and new branching closer to the trunk. As those branches develop, the original branch can be cut back without creating a big void in the tree. The new branches will have developed enough to keep balance in the tree."
Hi, I shall have to check out the Adams one of these days. Here's some cheap advice. ;) Don't prune young trees too much. I think maybe John and DM are both saying this to some extent. I always feel that root growth at this stage is the primary focus, and to achieve root growth you need some top to feed the roots. If you cut back too hard, the beneficial cycle of leaf growth/root growth is interrupted, which can significantly weaken the young plant. And as we all know well, weak APs are a recipe for a number of failure modes. I'd get rid of the wispy crossing branch, gently bend the trunk in as has been suggested, and then look at it next fall. It is frequently pointed out but is still worth remembering: once you cut, you can't change your mind. So it's a good idea to go slowly! Of course, it's fun to experiment sometimes also, and with a tree this small (if it's not rare) there's very little investment to lose. cheers, -E
Thank you for sharing that a bonsai course influenced your pruning of landscape trees. I am self-taught and it makes sense to me that bonsai is a great foundation for understanding pruning and how plants grow (but lacking a horticulture or botany related degree, I thought maybe I was missing something). So, I can't tell you how good it feels to know that someone with your great education and experience recognizes the benefit. Sure, I think some people take bonsai a little too seriously (a big part of why I never joined a local bonsai club). Maybe this seriousness or being too focused on rules is what turns some people off. But I feel that bonsai on a more practical level (or bonsai as an art) has helped me develop a better understanding of plants. Wait until it gets warm and things have leafed out. If you do it too early, the branches are very brittle over winter and they will snap easily. When doing it make sure not to break or damage any growth. Bend with great care. Do not just bend the branch in one small area (like grabbing a pencil with two fists and breaking it in two- this is not what you want), rather bend along the length of the branch. If it were me, I would place one hand about 1/4 from the tip. The other would be at the turn closest to the trunk. (keep in mind the thinnest and thickest wood tends to break; thin, because it can't take much stress, and thick because it is stuck in its ways and does not want to bend easily. Thick will bend very little and break). The wood in-between the two is most malleable and most forgiving. This is the wood that we want to absorb the bend over the length (not isolated to one small area, like breaking a pencil). So one hand is in from the tip, past that thin wood at the tip. The other is just after the thicker wood supporting it, because it does not want to bend easily. The goal is to prevent the branch from breaking or tearing at the trunk too. The other is to prevent stress on the wood at the tip. Go slow and bring the branch tip to the center of the tree. Evaluate the stress on the branch. Since it's young it should be able to bend more. It's this point from the vertical position, to bringing the branch to the correct side of the tree is where you need to be most careful. You will feel the tension. If there is little tension, keep going slowly. If you feel a lot of tension, stop and secure the branch into place. Give it a month and then bend further towards the direction you want the branch to grow. A thin piece of bamboo can be secured along the branch to help reduce the stress along the branch. It's always a good idea to have a helping hand. Have all supplies ready and on hand. Doing this on your own or going to fetch some supplies to secure the branch and then bending again, increases the chance of breaking the branch. The other mistake is to take a hand that is critically supporting the bend and using it to grab for twine or scissors, snap! I can’t tell you how many mistakes I regret, because I was too proud to ask for a helping hand. In bonsai, a stubborn branch is wrapped before bending to help support the bend from breaking. The tight wrapping support around the branch keeps it from snapping. Usually on a branch this long and young, it's not necessary to wrap the branch before bending. Be sure to get the 2006 hard cover with the trident maple on the front. An old 80's soft cover with an AP on the cover is out there, but it does not have as much information. I am sure the older version was great in its time, but I recommend the newest edition.
I was so glad to see the mention of the Adams book on Bonsai With Japanese Maples. Has anyone tried the fast trunk development on p. 34? I took five seedlings last year and followed his directions. I will be on year two, but at the present I can't look at how they are doing because the tent I have over them is frozen to the ground. Hopefully, I can get to the "late winter" instructions in the next couple weeks. I am anxious to move on to the next step. So, I would love to hear from anyone who has tried this. Just doesn't seem like it would work as well as the pictures. Kay
Hello, Bonsai techniques are useful, but a patio tree or a tree in the ground is a bit different. When potted, the soil mix is selected (usually, 75 to 95 % inorganic). Not to mention feeding, and watering. Most bonsai pruning techniques can be applied to garden trees, but potted trees and grounded trees react a bit differently. So, to me, OK with aesthetic considerations and basic pruning techniques, but careful with cultivation, it's not the same scale/environment...
I tryed to follow your advices : what do you think about it ? Would you do some cutting this spring ?
Hello, I wanted to share a couple Japanese maple pruning videos. This is a good video for people just getting started or experienced and looking to expand their pruning knowledge. It's hard to find something that covers everything, that applies to everyone’s needs (or applies to every tree). So with that being said, here are two informational videos that you may find helpful and some of the techniques may or may not be applicable to the Japanese maples growing in your garden. I am sharing them, because I feel they are well done and give a good foundation in pruning. I think many could benefit from taking the time to view these videos. It's early in the season, so make sure you get the 2013 growing season off to a good start. Japanese pruning (part 2 of 4): Fan Pruning of Japanese upright maples http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vETbhB_6Gs Japanese pruning (part 3 of 4) Shell Pruning of Japanese laceleaf maples http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGH9jC5_CBI There are two other videos in the series that you may be interested in checking out too, which will come up as related videos when watching the two listed above. I hope you find them helpful. Enjoy!
I have one more recommendation, then I will stop with my video recommendations :-) About 4 years ago, I started to get real serious about pruning. Here is a video that helped me a great deal: http://vimeo.com/3857498 Now the above video is not specific to Japanese maples, and more specific to shrubs, but check out the beautifully pruned Japanese maples in the background, while learning how to properly prune mound shaped shrubs. Another video by the same person demonstrates pruning a Japanese maple to bring out it's inner beauty: http://vimeo.com/7119865 Why is this so important? It's my opinion, that you need to not only know proper pruning techniques (the basics), but it's also important to know how to properly maintain a specimen tree. The video shows how a beautiful specimen can hide itself with new growth if it's not properly maintained. This is so important for those who invest in a beautiful specimen, because you can lose that beauty in a matter of a few seasons, if you don't understand proper maintenance pruning. If you don't properly maintain your investment, you will lose value and beauty. I hope these videos and the videos in the post above can give the average gardener a better understanding in pruning. I hope this helps. Enjoy!
