Trident Maple Forest [Ryceman3]

[Ryceman3]

Looking forward to the cooler months ahead when I cut these guys back and get a good look at what is happening, it's pretty hard to get a grasp of what is going on in there at the moment, lots of growth (and hopefully some trunk thickening along with the height/density). I think it's looking the goods at the moment, plenty of sun!

[melbrackstone]

Wow, that certainly is looking healthy!

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

progressing nicely R3.

[shibui]

Just a tip Ryceman: Outside trees in group tend to have a little more root room, access to more light and more foliage than the inner trees. That all adds up to more growth and thickening - just what you don't want for the outer trees. Keep an eye on the relative trunk thickness and trim any that show a tendency to overtake the larger, central trees.

[Ryceman3]

Just a tip Ryceman: Outside trees in group tend to have a little more root room, access to more light and more foliage than the inner trees. That all adds up to more growth and thickening - just what you don't want for the outer trees. Keep an eye on the relative trunk thickness and trim any that show a tendency to overtake the larger, central trees.

Noted and thanks shibui. I had a look this morning and you are correct, the outer trees do seem to be gaining weight a bit quicker than those on the interior (from what I can tell!). Not too concerned just yet as they were pretty skinny to begin with so if anything they are just catching up with the others, but I will be more watchful from now on ... might even give them a bit of a trim back in the coming weeks if required.

Cheers for your comments too Mel & KCAR, much appreciated.

[Ryceman3]

Repot time!
I received replacements for my 'rogues' from shibui as promised ( ) and so got to work on this forest group yesterday. I think the pics probably tell the story pretty well so I'll just let them do the talking, and save me the typing.

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I would've liked a bit more time to ponder my efforts but the wedding we had been invited to probably wouldn't like us turning up late due to my need to consider my trident forest a bit longer. I won't be reassessing today because the weather is MISERABLE!
In any case, I had a look back at where it was 12 months ago and I think we're heading down the right track. I need to fossick around for a bit of moss I think, that seems to lift plantings like this but the blackbirds destroyed pretty much all of what I had in this pot over autumn so I need to start again.
Let me know what you reckon!!?!

[melbrackstone]

Looking good Ryceman!

[MJL]

Hey Ryceman3,

I love this thread - thanks for starting it.

I think your Trident Maple forest is progressing really well - nice and dense and I love the way you are keeping the trees shorter and under control. I can learn from that! I like the clean lines of your oval pot too.

Your post resonates because it parallels where I am at with a Japanese maple forest that I have under development and also a Chinese Elm forest at a similar stage.

I am going to be joining these two forest Japanese Maple together into one pot viewtopic.php?f=104&t=25517 and to benbonsai's advice, I now have some more mature trees to add to it when I re-pot in early spring - this will help me build a time bridge in the 'age' story of the forest...

and

Here's my young Chinese Elm forest (that will soon get a clip) and that will also receive a similar number of trees to be added to it in spring when I repot ....making it all denser.

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to which I will add some of these in spring

2016 Seedlings)Chimese Elm 2.jpg

(Apologies for the spelling of that attach file ... )

Of interest ... all of the Chinese Elms and all of the Japanese Maples (with the exception of the old one on the middle of the forest) ... are all seedlings that self seed from trees in my courtyard at home. Lucky.

Your Trident progression and the comments of others are helping me understand my progression too.


Thanks again ... it's a feral day here in Melbourne, so good to be on the forum ... wine at my side.

Cheers

[Ryceman3]

Looking good Ryceman!

Cheers Mel

Your post resonates because it parallels where I am at with a Japanese maple forest that I have under development and also a Chinese Elm forest at a similar stage.

Man, I think there is enough work in this forest planting with tridents. A JM forest (to me anyway) is a whole different level of commitment so I commend you for that! I think the trident is a much more forgiving maple than the Japanese. I wish you well on your forest exploits and look forward to seeing how you reconfigure this one.

I have a chinese elm "mini-forest" too ... only 3 trees in it at the moment so hardly a forest but I have others I might bring in, it is on the back burner right now but I probably should think about it soon as the repotting window is about to open!

Thanks for your feedback/comments. I had a quick re-look at my work this morning and (as ever) I think there are a few places where I can tweak/improve/cut back a bit more etc... My main goal for this growing season is to get a bit more volume on some of the bigger trees and hold back a few others (through pruning/pinching etc.) to try and get some differentiation in trunk thickness and height. Last season was more about getting everything to bulk up a bit, obviously that needs to continue but I now want some trees to bulk up more than others. We'll see how it plays out in the months to come.

[melbrackstone]

I joined BIMER club last month, here in Brisbane, and their handbook says you can root prune Chinese Elms year round! How about that, eh? The BSQ handbook says Swampies can be root pruned year round. I guess we're getting spoilt about not needing repotting windows for that here. (I tested it out and root pruned my big Chinese Elm last month, and all of a sudden it's really cold here in Brissie...Doesn't appear to have missed a beat though!

Looking forward to seeing this and your Chinese Elm forest progress, it's helping me to stay inspired! Now I must go and root prune my Tridents!

[shibui]

and all of a sudden it's really cold here in Brissie...

-2 down here and winter has just started. Snow on the nearby hills over the weekend.

It is good to see that some clubs are starting to recommend extended root pruning periods Many are so conservative they won't recommend anything new
I've found that most bonsai work can be done quite safely outside the older accepted periods but I have not done much root work on Ch elms outside normal winter/spring period. Your comment has just given me the push to do some trials down here (after the ice thaws)

[melbrackstone]

Really cold means 5° for around two or three hours around dawn....

I've been root pruning tridents all through late Summer and all of Autumn, they don't miss a beat. (Mind you, these are the one, two and three year old seedlings I bought from you over the past two years.)

Today, a "Qld Cold" day, I did two of my group plantings....and then clipped the leaves off, which I hadn't bothered doing through the warmer months...

Will see how they go.

[Ryceman3]

Just an update on the growth as we head into Spring. I did manage to scrape together a bit of moss and all trees have kickstarted nicely after winter, a cut back is in order - when I get to it I'll update the thread - hopefully in the next few days! ... maybe today!?!

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[Watto]

Good progression and thanks for the update.
Tridents are a bugger in the spring with their leaves hanging down, but it doesn't take them long to spark up.

[Ryceman3]

Good progression and thanks for the update.
Tridents are a bugger in the spring with their leaves hanging down, but it doesn't take them long to spark up.

They are a force to be reckoned with when they get going. Cheers Watto!