Re: Trimming an Acer Palmatum dissectum [longish]
- To:
- Subject: Re: Trimming an Acer Palmatum dissectum [longish]
- From: M* T*
- Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 20:30:52 -0500
Ummm...Tim, the point really is that you can't prune a non-weeping Japanese
maple into a weeping form. Either it *is* a weeping form or it isn't.
Pruning it will NOT make it into a weeping form, whether you do it in
winter or summer or any time.
The amount of sun or shade the plant receives will not make a difference to
its basic habit...it is either weeping in form or it isn't.
Annapolis is not far from me, so the climate is very similar. In our area,
Japanese maples will tolerate considerable shade and they will also grow
quite well with partial sun, depending, again, on the actual cultivar and
its tolerance for sun or shade.
If you spent that much for a four foot plant, the nursery you bought it
from should at least be able to tell you the specific cultivar you have
purchased and what its ultimate form will be.
IMHO, you will make a terrible mistake trying to prune your plant to make
it a weeping form if it is not one naturally.
Bonsai starts with, generally, very young plants and over quite a period of
time, they are trained to the shape the grower desires. This is done by
root pruning, *judicious* pruning of branches and training branches with
wire and other means of gradually shaping the branch. It's not just a grab
your clippers and whack proposition.
If you are willing to replace the tree you have purchased if it dies, why
not just buy another one that is properly identified as being a weeping
form? That way, you'd have what you want and your present tree could be
allowed to grow as nature intended it.
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor: Gardening in Shade
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> From: Tim Chavez <timchavez@netscape.net>
> Date: Friday, March 19, 1999 4:43 PM
>
> Wow, that was a lot of responses quickly. However, I am now completely
> confused. Let me explain first, that I am very experienced in palnt and
tree
> identification. I know that if I take a leaf from mine [when they come
back]
> and put it next to that from a tree very much like it but with a weeping
form,
> they will look identical. Mine has a little more red, but spends the
morniong
> in the sun, where as most of those I saw at Annapolis were in full shade.
> Remember, they aren't a lot alike, they are INDISTINGUISHABLE to an
> experienced eye. That means they are probably the same, but not for
certain.
> My neighbor has 2 or 3 of the A.Palatums, and when I saw the dissectum I
was
> very intrigued, so I bought it. Yes it was expensive at $125.
> Now,...Should I trim it now while still dormant, or at the end of summer?
If I
> email you a digital photograph, will you mark on it and send it back with
> suggestions where you would trim it? Don't worry, I am not going to hand
off
> responsibility, I want to take the chance on my own. But I just don't
know
> much about tree trimming and the Bonsai instructions are intimidating to
say
> the least. Still, I am relaxed enough about it to just trim it and if I
kill
> it or ruin it I will get another one. Will anybody bite on advising me on
how
> to trim it?
>
> Tim Chavez
> Wichita, Kansas z 6,
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