I'm wondering if any one else has tried hanging rocks on the branches of the trees, to reshape their maples. I've done it with apple trees, and other fruit trees, when I have lost a branch. It is a slow process, and you have to be careful of the wieght of the rocks, but it seems to work really well. I just haven't tried it with maples, and wanted some feedback. thanks Carol
Hi, I have used rocks on my maples for years and it works great for them too. It's attractive (to me) and a gentle way to ease two branches away from each other, etc. Yes, you do have to get the weight right. Give it a try if you haven't already (since you wrote this post quite awhile ago).
Thanks Kaydye, I went ahead and did it through the summer. glad to hear I'm not alone on this Carol Ja
Hey folks! There may be more of us out there. I actually did something truly odd with mine. Directly in front of my front door was a Cornus stolonifera. Now I hate ripping out things 'just because,' but what I really wanted was a nice bonsai looking, horizontal branching, tidy tree. So my gardening companion and I, grinning at each other, tried an utterly wild process of pruning, wiring and hanging about a dozen big rocks off the branches. It was pretty bad for a year or so, especially in the winter when I was accused of having a "caveman christmas tree decoration display", but three years later I have a really nifty tree. Of course the pruning is non stop cause it's a cornus, and the stoloniforus rooting come up just everywhere and drive me nuts, - but it was a really unique project. These trees fall under the catagory of "you-can't-kill-it-with-an-axe" hardiness rating, I know cause thats what I do with the new shoots. I'd be a lot more gentle with something more fragile. This is a pretty low tech method,- but heck, if it works...
Okay, I'll come in with this now. It is not out of bounds to use the rocks to effectively lower a branch as a precursor so that it can be layered into the ground for propagation purposes. I've seen it done on Japanese Maples and none of us made fun of the rocks that were hanging on the trees, as we knew what the process was meant to yield as an end product. In view of Cornus, I've seen rocks placed near the ends of some branches on pendula just so that the end branches would cascade even more to give the tree more area for light to come in, give us more new growth in time and yield more flowers later. The aftereffects of the rockwork on various trees in Japan and elsewhere can yield some rather striking results. Jim
For me the trick is finding the exactly right weight of rock with the maples. I had a branch on a. palm. 'Shishigashira' that I did not want to prune off, but it was going to rub on the branch above it if left alone. I decided to hang a rock off the rather sturdy branch. It pulled the branch down just right, but later when I looked at it the branch had sunk a couple inches and I figured the rock was too heavy. Luckily I saw it before the branch broke off, which I thought it might have done if I didn't remove the rock. Anyway, I took the rock off and used wire to hold the branch in the new position and I think that's going to work. Gave me a scare, though. Kay Dye
We are too windy to use weights/rocks to position branches, but we have used wires and stakes to pull branches into position. We have even used bamboo as spreaders, and to straighten branches. The only danger is of rambunctious pets who can run into wires staked to the ground... you get the picture.
Like others have said, Japanese gardeners will tie rocks to branches, tie rope to branches and stakes in the ground, use bamboo and wooden splints all to reshape a tree. Like giant bonsai! My father showed me pictures of this when they went on bonsai tour of Japan back in the late 70s or early 80s. If you've never seen how they protect trees, especially huge kuromatsu (Japanese Black Pine), from snow damage in the winter pick up a book on Japanese gardening and you just might see a picture of men high up on ladders and such making a intricate rope "tents" around the trees. Possibly something similar can be used by those in snowy conditions to protect their maples this time of the season. Layne
