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OK, here is one of my projects. An acer which sprouted in our garden 2 years ago. I have allowed it to grow in the place it sprouted. This spring I nipped the growing tips out, shaped the trunc to a nice wavy movement and removed all but 3 branches.

Have removed it to progressions, no problem

Great material, good to see you've not put it in an pot, or the trunk would not get any thicker. The leaves need to be reduced and also the movement can be improved, but good to see your work! You've done a great job

Hi leatherback!

This is very cool! I luv that you included a sketch of the form you are working toward...it is so helpful for us *Newbies*. Is this what is known as the *leaning* form? I'm not at all familiar with the name of the tree...would you mind sharing a little about it, please? Oh, and thanks for sharing your process.

I look forward to seeing more of your works in progress.

Leslie

Hi Youri,

Thanks for bumping to the right topic.

What do you mean with the movement can be improved? What is your sugegstion? The leaves should be reduced. I think however that that would be achieved easier when I start training the tree. The leaves are actually already half that of a normal tree.

Leslie: This is the 'normal' Acer in eg the Netherlands. It is a very quick grower, and a strong surviver. The first 3 years this tree settles in rooting. After that, the tree starts shooting and may add almost a meter in height per year.

This tree is just adorable! It looks like you're well on your way to getting the shape you want. Nice job!

leatherback wrote: Hi Youri,

Thanks for bumping to the right topic.

What do you mean with the movement can be improved? What is your sugegstion? The leaves should be reduced. I think however that that would be achieved easier when I start training the tree. The leaves are actually already half that of a normal tree.

Leslie: This is the 'normal' Acer in eg the Netherlands. It is a very quick grower, and a strong surviver. The first 3 years this tree settles in rooting. After that, the tree starts shooting and may add almost a meter in height per year.

I mean the second bending there is a big bend, I would reduce that one a bit, it looks more natural then, in my opinion

Allover it is a great tree that will be even more great in the future, but then as bonsai

OK, the Acer survived my tampering with it. In the end I completely removed the spring growth, and had two new small branches sprout out. I was hoping to minimize scar forming. The scars seem to be healing quite well




The complete tree will be allowed to grow out completely from every bud in spring, and I will probably around early summer once more remove most of the branches. I hope to have a lot of very small scars which are grown over quite easily. The scars may later add to the weathered lok I hope. But the end of next summer I hope to have a trunk I want on this one (I am aiming for 1 inch / 2-3cm, it is now only 1cm, a good 1/3 inch). The plant itself is not positioned on a tile, to stilumate surface root formation. It is well established, and small buds have appeared all over the plant. I think in spring I will see a flush of 15 or more banches, which hopefully will add girth to the trunk, and by being all along the trunc, also taper.

So, let me get this straight...The more often you cut off the branches, the thicker the trunk will become? How many times can this be done to a tree after each new growth spurt? :huh:

Leslie wrote: So, let me get this straight...The more often you cut off the branches, the thicker the trunk will become? How many times can this be done to a tree after each new growth spurt? :huh:

Hey Leslie,

Hm.. I hues I was a bit quick in my comment.

Cutting of branches is NOT going to get your trunk thicker. Branch growth, and foliage growth will thicken the trunk. Basically, the bark on the tree will grow outward, creating a thin l;ayer of wood on the inside whenever your tree is growing. Effectively all the time the tree get's taller, and creates more biomass, the trunk needs to grow in order to provide more fluids from the roots to the leaves. Slowly the old veigns die and new are created on the outside of the old ones. THat is how the trunk grows. Layer after layer of growth.

The BEST way to get your trunk thick is by letting it grow unlimited. However, that means the plant gets tall as wel. So before you have 2" trunk, you may have a 10' tall plant. So you need to cut it down, leaving a 1 1.5" scar. So I decided to not let it just grow, but remove all new growth at the end of the growing season. During the season I will let all branches go wild; only removing growing points whenever a clear leader is formed in the top of the canopy, forcing side-branching lower down. Effectively, the little plant may have 10, 15 side branches each over a foot long. That will require the trunk to really fatten up, to support a fairly large canopy. That way you have a lot of smaller scars, which heal over more easily. The trunk thickening will be much strong but so will the scarring.

Ohhhhhhhh.....Okay! I get it now! Whew!...there's so much to learn and remember, it makes my brain hurt! :pinch:
I wish there was a way I could *save* specific information like this.

Thank you Jelle, for explaining it so well.