Workshop on Japanese Maple 2

Profile

Artist	Suthin Sukosolvisit
Tree Name	Japanese Maple (Acer Palmatum)
Tree Origin	Japan
Tree Height	22"
Total years of Training	5 years

This 50 years old tree was found on a collecting trip to Florida nurseries in 1996. This Japanese maple had a severe rot on both sides of the trunk. Both lower branches came from the same area of the trunk and one must be selected for the first branch, but if the other one was cut right at the trunk there would be no continuous cambium connecting the lower live wood with the upper tree growth. Unless something was done to keep this lower trunk growing, otherewise the whole lower area would die. So, a shoot from the branch that would be removed was curved down into a circle so that it could be grafted both to the base of this branch and to the live cambium above the rotted part. The branch to be removed was on the right in this front view. The back view was chosen because the rotted part went below the soil line and its outline was straighter and less interesting then on the front. The next summer after the grafts had introduced a new right branch and a back branch from shoots off the grafts. Since there missed branching to the right between the lowest and the top of the trees, another shoot from the upper growth was curved down and grafted to the first jog to the right at the sam time the bridge graft was done in 1997.
The picture shows how the tree looks in November 2000.
The picture shows how the tree looks in Spring 2001.