Michael T : Trident Maple

[Michael T]

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Species name: Acer buergerianum (Trident Maple)
Original height of stock: 60 cm
Source: Home grown
Cost: Zero

Grown from a cutting about 6 - 7 years ago. Haven't done much to it all these years except to keep pruning the branches back as they tend to grow long very quickly as you can see from the photos.

[Michael T]

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The plant has dropped its leaves as it is winter and temperatures are below zero during the night. I have not pruned it yet, but will do it sometime in july or august before it bleeds.

[Michael T]

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The plant was pruned at the end of winter. So far (still early spring) there isn't any movement. Hope to see some movement within 2 weeks' time.

[Michael T]

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This trident maple has shown some remarkable growth in the 3rd month of spring. It is one of the few plants that will shoot well in the colder weather. I shall be styling it in a couple of days and hopefully there are enough branches in the right places.

[Michael T]

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This trident maple has grown quite a bit, sending long canes of growth. I shall try to style it next week before it drops its leaves and the branches become too stiff to wire.

[Michael T]

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With lots of branches to choose from, I was able to come up with the style in the photo. Did some drastic pruning at the back of the stem. Hope it will grow well in autumn and harden up before winter is upon us.

[Michael T]

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This is the final outcome of the plant. It was repotted at the end of August 2014. As I am writing on the 20th of September, there are not too many new shoots from the plant. This is because I have pruned the roots to put it into the bonsai pot and this retarded the shoot formation. Secondly the spring this year is much colder having many night temperatures below zero. Some of the new shoots were burnt by the spring frosts. I think that it will start to grow well after the cold nights are over. However, today the 23rd of September, I noticed more new reddish-brown shoots growing out. The days are getting warmer but it will not be covered with leaves before the end of the competition in a week's time. Canberra and the cold inland areas unlike all the warmer states will always have the disadvantage of slower growth especially coming out of winter. However the future I have planned for this plant is allow it to bush out more each year and then pruning back to keep it in shape. After about 2 years later, it will have ramified sufficiently to produce a very handsome plant.

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