🍁 Japanese Maple Project, #2216
Bought locally for $30, great nebari, short internodes and foliage.
Beni-Kawa or Coral Bark Japanese Maple Tree? (Acer palmatum ‘Sango-Kaku)?
Great opportunity to air layer and propagate by cuttings before a low trunk chop in early summer 2023. <Confirm: trunk chop maple recommended between late winter to early spring—dormant>.
Experimented with grafting (1:5 success).
Many bad attempts at rooting cuttings. May have success this spring using zip lock bags for humidity, under the bench with only 1 hr of sun; sandy peat, reduce to 2 leaves and trimmed foliage, hormones.
Air layer success rate: 75% using sphagnum moss, partial sphagnum peat, hint of manure, moist but wrung to damp, cut away 1.5D bark, hormone, translucent plastic wrap, covered with black wrap, tourniquet wiring below air layering.
Five still in progress, but will end in the next few weeks with a triumphant trunk chop. I learned a lot, more successful than expected. Will hope they all survive the potting, and will select leaders and seek advice on how to shape and prune for Shohin or smaller.
☠️☠️☠️☠️ Four died on the vine (branch) as greedy ends to a serial AL. Leaves changed color to autumn as a sign.
Goal: (1) Trunk Chop for Shohin, (2) many air layerings for early Shohin, (3) few air layered Mame, (4) cuttings for many starter trees
Japanese Maple Project—air layer to trunk chop—end of May 2023
For heavier pruning, such as for shaping and stimulating new growth, it's best to trim your Japanese Maple in the summer or winter. As with most trees, winter is generally the best time to modify branch structure, while summer to very early fall is best reserved for thinning out the branches of a tree.