Japanese Maple Leafing Out.

Deshojo First Wiring

Time to perform a first wiring of this Acer Palmatum ‘Deshojo’.  The above picture was taken in the summer when I was allowing it some free growth.  Being the middle of winter, it’s without leaf and I finally decided to make decisions about styling.

Last year I repotted it into this shallow pot and tried to pinch buds to promote ramification although I’ve never been convinced by size of the tree.  I had to decide whether to keep it tall and use the thick right hand branch as a low branch, or cut it down a bit and go for an informal broom with a double trunk apex.  Some virtual editing helped me decide:

 

So before and after (from above, facing viewer):

I’m going to ease up on the fertiliser and try to keep new shoots short.  Looking forward to getting into a smaller pot sometime in the future.

 

 

Deshojo Maple Trim

Before

After a period of free growth on selected branches, it was time for a trim for this tree.  I’m happy with the tree that is beginning to emerge.  I plan to wire for the first time after leaf drop.

After

Japanese Maple Partial Defoliation

I’ve been planning to  defoliate this maple for a while now but as usual never got round to it.  It was briefly critiqued by Peter Warren earlier in the year and he’d pointed out that there was a problem with the direction of the tree.  I had assumed the tree was going to the viewer’s right due to the thickest branches and lowest branch being that side.  It was potted last year with this in mind, slightly to the left.  However, the trunk does the opposite and so the result is a bit of confusion for the viewer and a lack of overall harmony.  I can’t do much about the trunk so I’m going to try and increase girth of branches going in the same direction (the viewer’s left) so that eventually they will be more dominant and produce more foliage.  The branching on the right will be kept shorter.  The left side hasn’t been that vigorous, very small internodes produced and no extension in some places.  I decided to investigate the root mass and lift it out of the pot incase of any pest problem but none was evident.  It was pot bound though so I’ve decided just as a temporary measure to wire it into a slightly bigger plastic container with a thin layer of new soil on the bottom and around.  Hopefully this will help the tree through the winter until, all being well, I can root prune in spring so that it sits deeper into the green ceramic pot.

 

Loving Maples in the Spring

May 2015

One of my red leaved Japanese Maples (Acer Palmatum ‘Deshojo’).  Glorious bright red leaves.

 

 

Maple flowers

Discovered these on my very large Japanese Maple on training. I assume they are flowers? This is wiring project sometime this year. Perhaps after defoliation or later in autumn.