Cheering ourselves up with Maples

I've had a lot of die-back on some of my maples, but not on my 'Bi-hoo'. The only twig that turned dark was the leader. I cut it last week, and I took the opportunity of this post to go and see it again, and I removed the stub.
It hasn't been repotted and fertilized (except once in a year with liquid 6-6-6 fert.) for at least three years. It's now over 1,80 metres (6 feet). I can't believe it's so healthy, I've read so much bad feedback from other people. Maybe the quality of the rootstock ?...



Funny enough, both my 'Beni hagoromo' lost a lot of side branches whereas they were verey densely leaved in the previous years. I put the blame on a very warm period followed by rather heavy frosts.



Too much sun, too much contrast, but it's becomming quite leggy.

A good candidate for an air-layer so I can see if it can live on its own roots ? Anyway, I'll have to prune it if I want to keep it a rather compact shape (see Otto Bjornson's posts), so what do I have to lose ?...

I put my thermometer all day in the shade, and today's max. temp. shows 29.4°C. (!!!)
From tomorrow and on, we're supposed to have 24-25 and rainstorms, or showers of rain, that's the ideal time for this kind of "surgery"...

 

Good afternoon D :) I share your woes..

I have one Bihoo that has grown at least 2 foot, no dieback for 2 years and is clearly loving life (so much so you can hardly see the yellow bark for leaves!) and the other is on suicide watch list year in year out..I’ve just clipped all the dead wood off that one..both bought at the same time, both potted, same soil, same location..very strange. Pls ignore the SK in the background.

 

It is a strange cultivar indeed R. I would put Bi-hoo on the buyer beware list tbh.

 

I think you could have a very good point there Alain re the rootstock.. but it is also good to see R @dicky5ash has one very nice Bi-hoo over here. Though I think I might have the same rootstock as his suicide watch one, lol.

 

Re-<LOL>

The problem with a lot of "Japanese maples" is that they can be healthy for several years, and suddenly, "patatrac !" as we say here, all of a sudden they die in a short period of time and you don't really know why.

(Most of the time, I think onometopoeiae in English are more evocative than their equivalent in French, but "patatrac", with the French "r" is really evocative of something that crumbles down all of a sudden...) ;°)

 

Interesting points Alain...My Beni Hagoromo lost a lot of density of leaves last year..spaced out petioles, rather that vigorous and dense like previous years.. it’s come back a bit this year but hardly any coverage midway and lower down.. it has developed a really thick, strong trunk about 4/5cm across in the meantime.

 

You are Soooo right Alain and 'patatrac' is a very good way of expressing what happens.
How many of us have done everything right over years of nurturing a maple, only to wake up one morning and in front of us is a dead tree.
Then we question ourselves, friends and forum members asking 'WHY', when there is often NO answer, other than, 'sometimes trees die'.

So I feel your posting is perfect for the Cheering ourselves up thread, as it stops us beating ourselves up over the loss of a maple.

Thanks Alain for putting it all in perspective.

D

 

What confuses me is small trees (say 40-50cm) leafing out strong in April, looking great, then suddenly snuffing it in May.. had another 2 go this year, same cycle as last year…different weather pattern though

 

I can see yours, like mine, is potted.

I know that some don't really agree with Otto's way of pruning maples, but I think that the right approch with potted trees is similar to what bonsai enthusiasts do : trimming the roots and trimming the top so the branches are not too elongated and to keep the internodes shorter.

I have two maple "brothers", one in the ground, over 3 metres (ten feet) tall, and my oldest "bonsai", both were cuttings from the same plant done the same year, probably 1998-1999.

Here's the little one, a "root-over-rock" that I already posted, Nov. 20th 2020, 25 cm (5 inches) tall :

 

I think Otto made a very good point the other day when saying these two year old grafts shouldn't really be being sold.
Another well liked member, Charlie of Amazing Maples said that several years back he bought hundreds of these small trees and 75% of them died. I think we should all listen to those stats and think about buying older specimens. But then having seen some of the silly prices out there atm, who can really afford them.
I saw a red dissectum on ebay only yesterday in a pot for £15,000.
What is going on ????

 

After being "locked out", people are probably getting loose.

But idiots have existed long before.

Or perhaps it was a typo, one too many zeros, £15.00 could be an excellent bargain.

 

For the size of it, yes a very good bargain Lol.

 

Haha, if I was single (and I wouldn't have a wife that would be mad when I bought more), I would already have a couple big ones extra, you can bet :-)

 

Wonderful bonsai tree you have there Alain. That is an unbelievable story of two siblings..You would never guess they were the same age.

I have only started root pruning over the last 2 years and I don’t tend to touch the top...but seeing Otto amd Roebuk’s trees, there is a definitely advantages in doing so.

 

And yes, they are.
When you lose such trees, which happened, you learn something : humility. You realize that you can work for the future, but not yours.
That beauty, like life, is ephemeral, so let's enjoy it while we're here, and sharing it with others is a source of joy.
Isn't it ? ;0)

 

Delayed reply from me as I was out watering mine with a nice glass of red in hand :)

I agree with what you say entirely!

 

@AlainK and @dicky5ash you guys are brutal to read I’m at work right now it’s 28 degrees and I can think about is my trees and what new ones I get Monday and where to put them. You guys are killing me with your watering and wine!!!

 

I would not worry about which ones to get. I would just buy them all :-D

 

Thanks for that @Riverdale27 most helpful I do only have a city lot. But I’m a doing so I’ll make it work

 

Only 28º, that's not too bad. Officially here at Anglemont it is also 28º, but feels like 31º. I don't have any idea just where it is that they take the temperature, but here on our property it's 35.1º and that is IN THE SHADE. It is definitely cooler down by the water, we were just there 15 minutes ago.

 

Oh nice

 

Good morning, I hope everyone is enjoying the lovely weather. We are here in Southern England. So with possible thundery showers a bit later, here are a few of my maples today.
Momoiro Koyasan

Seedling 4 years old

Hessei

Ueno yama

Shigitatsu sawa

Will's Devine

Going Green

Lileeanes Jewel

Mystic Jewel

Beni Otaki

Felice

Red Flash

 

Hi @Acerholic, that Shigitatsu sawa is really really beautiful. Going to put that on my list for sure!

I see you also have a "going green". They sell these 20-30 cm for about 10 € down here... Do they grow fast? You have them in containers?

 

Good morning Kurt, thanks, Shigitatsu Sawa is the parent of all the reticulates and tbh it is still the best IMO.
Re Going Green, it is a fast grower and can take full sun very well, I've had mine for 30 years now and would definatly not be without it. If you buy one then do not feed it at all, as it can outgrow itself and liable to splitting bark.
For 10 Euros I would say go for it. The Autum yellows are stunning.

D

 

'Beni otake' cascades with the weight of fog residue...