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Maple (Dissectum)
http://weetrees.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=17164		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  Koren [ 27 Nov 2017, 18:34 ]
Post subject:  Maple (Dissectum)
I know dissectum aren't meant to be great for bonsai, but this came up for sale on Ebay and I thought it looked nice. It's quite big too which will hopefully help with the dissected leaves. I had to put in a bid, and got it for £25 which I think is a bargain. Grateful for any thoughts on plan of attack for it. The seller said it was probably due for a repot. It's ****in heavy so would be nice to get it into a smaller pot if I can? Maybe time to try out perlite?

Image

Full album: https://imgur.com/a/z3mj3

360° view https://youtu.be/1NTkAdMKTQ4 ( I know it can be hard to get a feel for the shape of things from stills)
Author:  Gary Jones [ 28 Nov 2017, 00:31 ]
Post subject:  Re: Maple (Dissectum)
If it were mine I'd weed it now and reduce all the long extensions back. In spring time I'd repot into something smaller and with better soil. then I'd give it standard maple care next year whilst I made up my mind if there were any major changes I wanted to do. Sorry not that inspirational but buys you time. If I had a thought it would be that I'd want secondary branching off the lowest branch a bit closer in - it's a tad long and straight IMO.
Author:  Koren [ 28 Nov 2017, 10:47 ]
Post subject:  Re: Maple (Dissectum)
Gary Jones wrote:
If it were mine I'd weed it now and reduce all the long extensions back. In spring time I'd repot into something smaller and with better soil. then I'd give it standard maple care next year whilst I made up my mind if there were any major changes I wanted to do. Sorry not that inspirational but buys you time. If I had a thought it would be that I'd want secondary branching off the lowest branch a bit closer in - it's a tad long and straight IMO.


Thanks, sounds like a good plan. Reckon I can get away with repotting and cutting back that long lower branch at the same time?
Author:  Gary Jones [ 28 Nov 2017, 16:19 ]
Post subject:  Re: Maple (Dissectum)
Now's a good time to cut back maples if you want to go down that route with this one, although it is getting a bit late so I'd do it very soon if you are going to do it. Spring is a good time to repot.
Author:  MattS [ 29 Nov 2017, 07:55 ]
Post subject:  Re: Maple (Dissectum)
I think when repotting it would be worth seeing what the nebari is like as it might impact future plans.
Author:  Koren [ 29 Nov 2017, 10:07 ]
Post subject:  Re: Maple (Dissectum)
Gary Jones wrote:
Now's a good time to cut back maples if you want to go down that route with this one, although it is getting a bit late so I'd do it very soon if you are going to do it. Spring is a good time to repot.


I've heard about cutting back maples just after leaf drop, and did so with my crappy one last year which worked well. This one dropped leaves a good few weeks ago though, is that still going to be ok? Yes, sorry, meant spring for repotting, I didn't make that clear :oops:

MattS wrote:
I think when repotting it would be worth seeing what the nebari is like as it might impact future plans.


Yeah, especially if there's a hidden graft or anything.
Author:  Gary Jones [ 29 Nov 2017, 10:26 ]
Post subject:  Re: Maple (Dissectum)
Maples are notorious for bleeding in the growing season so fall is a good time as the sap flow is reversed. If it's too late and the tree is fully dormant you risk a bit of die back so maybe allow a bit of extra space for that. All said I've not done a major chop on a maple (lots of minor ones with no problems) so this is mostly theory on my part. Personally I think if you chop it back just a little longer than you might want it'll probably shoot out all over that branch in the spring and you'll have the job of choosing which shoots to keep.
Author:  Koren [ 29 Nov 2017, 11:32 ]
Post subject:  Re: Maple (Dissectum)
Gary Jones wrote:
Maples are notorious for bleeding in the growing season so fall is a good time as the sap flow is reversed. If it's too late and the tree is fully dormant you risk a bit of die back so maybe allow a bit of extra space for that. All said I've not done a major chop on a maple (lots of minor ones with no problems) so this is mostly theory on my part. Personally I think if you chop it back just a little longer than you might want it'll probably shoot out all over that branch in the spring and you'll have the job of choosing which shoots to keep.



Cool, thanks, I'll get chopping then. I might try to layer off a couple of sections (next year, so won't cut bigger branches too much) - seems a waste to throw away branches that are that thick!
Author:  Gary Jones [ 18 Oct 2018, 23:51 ]
Post subject:  Re: Maple (Dissectum)
Just came here from the other thread. Any updates on this?
Author:  richardb [ 19 Oct 2018, 08:51 ]
Post subject:  Re: Maple (Dissectum)
Sorry to go against the grain. Personally I wouldn't chop off anything at this time. I have worked on 4 old garden maples with 3 to 4 inch trunks and I would expect that when you get into the pot there will be some very heavy roots which will need to be cut away/ back. If you leave this work till next spring you will then have a healthy upper canopy to help force the new finer root growth. This may take at least a year but personally I would rather have the root structure looking good first. Then when this is established if you chop off any large limbs you will get plenty of new budding as gary said above. Also as above if you cut off large limbs at this point you will get die back which happens more on these larger trees compared to smaller bonsai. JMO. Good luck
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