AusBonsai

These have bounced back with a handfull of "Rustica Plus" around each base they have really responded well These 2 are the largest of the fusing bases with 2 of the layers dead from the heat the others appear to be doing well although the roots cant be seen at this time .From now on all of these trunks will be selectively pinched and shaped for the next couple of seasons to produce some unique trainers , fun and games for many tomorrows too come .

Cheers .Alpineart

When is the best time to defoliate and cut back a trident maple?

Hi bonborn , mate i dont have a shedule for trimming or defoliation . These were severely sun burnt so to me that as good as a defol' trimming takes place when required and that can be any time during the growing season . Plenty of food , water and sunshine makes them re-grow and when the branches are at the desired length or thickness they get a trim .

All of these different grow beds have different stock in them from fusing trunks , to aged trunk stripped bare , to new 1-2 year old developing trunks being treated differently but at the end of the day the results are very good all round .I dont actually defoliate these tridents as none are at the stage of development which would require the process .

Mother nature did a good job although i was extremely worried thinking the sun burn had done too much damage but with a light trim on some to a complete strip the have responded well .

Cheers Alpineart

When is the best time to defoliate and cut back a trident maple?

Prune tridents any time except when they are just budding. I find they 'bleed' at that time but ok any other time of year.

Defoliate after the leaves have hardened off - around Nov? Oct? (depends on location and year) through to late summer but early enough for new leaves to grow. I think it is probably too late now.

First, ask why you want to defoliate. I think it is counter productive for trees that are developing. If you want the tree to grow and thicken keep the leaves on. They are the source of food and energy for the tree and make it grow. Only defoliate trees in the final stages of development to slow growth and possibly promote ramification and shorter internodes. Defoliation is not a magic bullet, it is just one of the tools used to develop bonsai and should be used with discretion.

shibui wrote:

When is the best time to defoliate and cut back a trident maple?

Prune tridents any time except when they are just budding. I find they 'bleed' at that time but ok any other time of year.

Defoliate after the leaves have hardened off - around Nov? Oct? (depends on location and year) through to late summer but early enough for new leaves to grow. I think it is probably too late now.

First, ask why you want to defoliate. I think it is counter productive for trees that are developing. If you want the tree to grow and thicken keep the leaves on. They are the source of food and energy for the tree and make it grow. Only defoliate trees in the final stages of development to slow growth and possibly promote ramification and shorter internodes. Defoliation is not a magic bullet, it is just one of the tools used to develop bonsai and should be used with discretion.

I thought by defoliating i could encourage some new growth elsewhere. I got a trident maple from the Saturday market and it feels very leggy to me. The branches are too long with leaves on the newer side of the branch.

I got a trident maple from the Saturday market and it feels very leggy to me. The branches are too long with leaves on the newer side of the branch.

Not exactly sure what you mean here but I think proper pruning will give you far better budding than defoliation and will push more energy into the new area as well. Just my

shibui wrote:

I got a trident maple from the Saturday market and it feels very leggy to me. The branches are too long with leaves on the newer side of the branch.

Not exactly sure what you mean here but I think proper pruning will give you far better budding than defoliation and will push more energy into the new area as well. Just my

So is this the time to prune ?

Down here I would avoid pruning now. Not enough growing season left for the new shoots to mature before leaf drop. No problem with tridents getting leggy they respond very well to pruning so I would wait and prune after leaf drop so that new buds will set and open in spring.
I would encourage any new owners to repot new trees in winter/ spring to check the roots but more important get the tree into a mix you know and understand so you can water properly next summer.

bonborn wrote:I got a trident maple from the Saturday market and it feels very leggy to me.

It would depend on how well the tree is developed bonbon. If the branches are developed and thick enough you can shorten them. If they need to thicken though, let them grow. You can wire the length you need and let the end keep growing. they will grow upwards but you can cut them later on.

Hi bonborn , mate there is some good advice being given here . The reason i hack and chop these tridents is they are in the ground and the root mass on these is around 300 - 400mm plus so the power is there to regrow new shoots . If potted as some of my stock is they wont and dont react as vigourous as ground growing material .Don't worry there is a few dead trunks in the garden but i dare say the trunks were cook or sunburnt , so the damage was done before i trimmed them back .

Cheers Alpine

These were dug up to make way for the new steps , thought i had better do something with them . They were originally fork branch layers from a couple of years ago . Last year i put a layer of each fork unfortunately the slaters made a mess of 2 of them but only mildy damaged the roots on the other 2 . A bit of a hack and chop and this is the result of todays effort.

Cheers Alpineart

good to see you posting here again alpine.

I know a few unfair and uneducated comments from other members have annoyed you in recent times.

good to see you back. Ive been quite lately as well but that because works kept me too busy at present and ive done nothing . Time is running out to lift grow beds, repot bonsai . Must do next week hopefully . Some of these are coming along alpine . How much girth have you been getting now in some of your grown tridents , I gotta start lifting some crabapples to hopefully sell cheap as they are giving me the whatifs and planting banksia out instead I still plan to get around to seeing you soon .

Hi Brian , mate too busy getting on with life after a long time in recovery . Pushing the bounderies of common sense lately , now its time to work on my hobby as the passion has faded .

Hi Matthew, mate i have finished re-potting pines and cedars a couple of months ago , now i need to get my act together and concentrate on digging and re-potting decidious .These have performed well as far as the base callous goes and good roots , plenty of top foliage but very little girth on the rest of the material .

I still have more retaining walls to lay for the new grow beds unfortunately digging of the stock needs to start happening . I've not been kind to me lately so I'm having an unsheduled break, too much too soon .

Cheers Guys .Alpine

alpineart wrote: now its time to work on my hobby as the passion has faded .


Cheers Guys .Alpine

This is kinda sad considering how infectious your enthusiasm is for noobs like myself. KUTGW Alp.