Last year I purchased a cute little Burgundy Lace Maple. I am really happy that it survived the winter and just now, I noticed it is beginning to develop leaves, they haven't opened completely yet. My question is... at the bottom of the trunk, it has some twiggy branches and I would like to remove them so it will look nice. Can I just snip them off now? Is there a 'special' way to do this? Should I fertilize now? If so, what should I use. Thanks everyone.
If they are below the graft union they should be snipped off, but if above you could just trim them back to having 3-5 leaves to help build up and shade the trunk and remove them in later years if you want a single stemmed trunk. Don't really think fertilizer is necessary in our climate, a bark mulch is good though.
Hi Chimera, Thank you for your reply...and help. Okay, I understand everything but I'm not sure where the graft union is. What is a graft union? I also noticed one or two branches are dead near the tips, should they be snipped? I have never fertilized them but they have do have bark mulch and I keep the mulch away from the stem a bit. The twiggy branches are coming out of the trunk about a foot up from the ground. Thanks Chimera.
hi Lily, you're welcome if it's any help. The graft union is where the cultivar has been grafted onto the rootstalk. It's sometimes noticable with a different colouration to the bark or more obvious where you can see the rootstalk stem has been clipped near the trunk base. It could be that your tree is grafted higher than the usual low graft {within 6" or 15 cm. of ground level}, being grafted below the main branch structure. The leaves on the rootstalk should be quite different than the 'Burgundy Lace' leaves, you can wait till it's fully leafed out to be sure. A picture may help if possible. The dead tips could be snipped to about a 1/4" or .5 cm above the live wood, cutting back further dieback later. The branch will die back to the lower set of live buds or branches.
Yuba, believe they are grown there, if you use the ''Search This Forum" box and enter "California" some info and maybe growers living in that area should come up in the threads.
Chimera - Thanks for your help. Sorry it took so long for me to take a pic. Here it is. So, should I remove the bottom branches? and if so, which ones? and how do I cut them off properly? I hope this picture helps. I planted the tree a year ago last fall and I'm really happy it made it through the winter months. I really appreciate your help.
Hi lily, Nice photos. If it was my tree i wouldn't do much with it right now, would have the bark mulch 10-15cm. {4-6"} away from the trunk though. Later in August i'd think about shortening the left outward growing branch in the second photo, below the top fork. A clean cut with a sharp pruner about 2.5cm { 1"} above the next set of lower leaved stems. Thinking it may eventually be better to get the lower branch on that stem {above the lower fork} to push some growth and still allowing enough leaves on that side to shade the stems, but maybe this isn't even necessary, your preference. Not really familiar with the growth habit of 'Burgundy Lace', believe the one here must be mislabeled as it is more of a low growing spreading dissectum variety not matching the descriptions i've seen, although it's a very nice burgundy fall colour. Various ways of pruning these and as many opinions. Growing conditions, each specific cultivars' growth habits, and personal preferences to style help determine the pruning. Basically here, with the heavy wet winter snow, it seems important to not allow too much heavy or twiggy top growth, yet not thinning so much that the stems and trunks are unshaded and there are some leaves along the stems to increase their size and strength. No expert here, still learning, and had quite a bit of wet snow damage this past winter, which may have been avoided with earlier pruning. It's hard to get all the snow knocked off the trees sometimes, and a lot of times borderline temperatures causing both snow and rain the same day or week over a couple of months. The Acer japonicum cultivars seem to withstand the winter weather better here than the regular A. palmatum varieties of course, being more strongly branched and not twiggy. Others may have some more helpful suggestions.
Chimera - I've pulled the mulch away from the trunk of the tree as you suggested. In August, I will remove that branch. (Do I cut the branch on 45 degree angle)? I would like to shape the tree so that the end results in a nice canopy without the lower leaves, is that possible? Sort of like a weeping willow shape. Yes, this is definitely a Burgundy Lace. It is burgundy now but will become a nice brilliant red in the fall. Thanks again for all your helpful advice.
Hi Lily, You can just cut the branch straight across, there will be some dieback of the snub that is left and you can snap that off later. Sure you can form the tree to a canopy over time, pruning the lower limbs gradually as the canopy develops. As the top spreads it will create shade for the lower parts of the tree and protect it from hot sun in the summer. I like to keep the lower trunk shaded on the south side here during winter if possible, thinking it is less liable to have bark split from the sun's reflection on the snow and freezing and thawing temperatures maybe causing the sap to run.
