The small Japanese maple below has proved to be quite vigorous. In an effort to slow the tree down and produce shorter internodes, this past year I pinched spring growth, applied very little fertilizer, and fully defoliated the leaves and cut back the branches in spring. Here’s the result. Japanese maple Overall there are lots […]
Japanese maple
Follow-up – defoliating a shohin Japanese maple
I fully defoliated a shohin Japanese maple about six weeks ago. Here’s what the tree looked like after removing all of the leaves. Shohin Japanese maple – April 30 After a week, small buds started to appear along the branches. May 10 – new buds appear Tiny back buds The first new leaves waited almost […]
Defoliating a shohin Japanese maple
I started working on a shohin Japanese maple about a year and a half ago. Here’s what it looked like at the end of 2016. Shohin Japanese maple The first order of business was repotting. I found the tree didn’t have a lot of roots so I was expecting it to grow slowly. And as […]
Pinching spring buds on Japanese maple
Spring is a busy time for keeping after refined Japanese maples. In order to keep internodes short, I pinch new shoots as soon as they emerge. Shohin Japanese maple – 6.5″ tall, 13″ wide Because the buds open at different times, I check this tree daily to see if there are new shoots to pinch. […]
Japanese maple bonsai – working from a sub-optimal starting point
This past winter, I received a number of Japanese maples with good roots but no movement or taper whatsoever. I wasn’t sure what to do with them, so I considered my options. I figured I could: give them away develop them for landscape material destroy them, or make a big cut and start from scratch […]
