名媛直播

Hi guys, I would love to have your input if that's alright.
I got this Japanese maple the other day. It's about 25cm high. I'm going to give it a better pot and better soil very soon. The trunk already got a bit of a bark but I want it to get thicker before I start thinking about shaping it up, cropping etc… So I guess I need to let it grow more, at least for another year. My question was, what about the general maintenance while growing? Would removing some of the upper parts help developing the trunk? Pruning the upper branches? Is it alright to start bending the trunk a little before the "real" work starts?





Same goes for this Lawson Cypress (about 15cm high). It was a hot mess of a bush so I trimmed it quite a bit, to see what's inside and give it space to breathe for a start. Is there any work to do at all if I want the trunk to develop a bit more?





Thank you for any advice!! (those are practice-learning-trees for me)

Excellent questions. And answers may be highly disputed between different "schools"

If you are going to put a lot of effort in growing trunk, spoend some time on the roots too. By spreading the roots and making them run freely away from the trunk, without crossing other roots, you create a nice rootspread, important in the image of an old tree. Note that this is a risky endeavour if done at the wrong time of year. The stage where this maple is now, is almost ideal (I would have done it earlier), as the deman on the roots is low (Low leaf mass) and the plant is now pushing new growth. So.. I would wash the japanese maple roots and plant is in a wider, shallow container (Or even betetr, in the garden) for the roots to develop. (More on growing nebari: )

The trunk will need some shape later on. You can get that by wiring & bending the trunk when the plant is young (Be carefull to exaggerate the cruves: As the trunk thickens, the effect will be less and less). Then you can let side-branches gro out. The ones on top you keep shorter than the ones below, to enhance tapering. At some point you remove thick branches and let thouse wounds heal; continuin untill you like the trunk. OR.. You let the plant grow freely, and cut back to a stump, repeating several times. (Read all about it: )

Hope it helps.

Oh, I didn't notice that someone had replied until now. Thank you leatherback! That's very helpful. It's kind of what I was thinking too, and comforts me towards that line and time course of work. Will do so! Thank you!