Mid-summer can be a great time to work on deciduous bonsai. If you have 2 or 3 months left in the growing season it’s not too late.
Strong plants like Trident Maple may be reimagined with a hard pruning at this time. Regrowth is strong, callus development is good in the heat, and disease pressure is low.
Where I live the growing season Iong. But even here we don’t cut deciduous past early August when expecting regrowth. The work in this post was done in mid-July. (Fall pruning is different in that we do not expect a regrowth.)
Our Trident canvas. First we defoliated the tree. Then we identified areas that might be removed. (Ramon “replaces” a branch that was cut before we got out the camera.)
This tree is a regular mess. Taper issues. Too many branches in the same area. And strong shoots everywhere, especially on top, where we don’t want it.
The big cut midway up the tree that closed over long ago is not the worst of the taper issues. Tridents often smooth over a fast taper over time without major planning. The long section above that without any taper is more of a concern.
Adam takes a saw to a thick top branch. The finger to the right holds the offending branch.
Large unsealed cut on top is the result of Adam’s efforts. A new leader now jogs to the left. The tree has straight sections that we cannot change at this point. But at least now they are of different lengths—before, the top and bottom sections were about the same.
Midway through the pruning. Several large cuts have been made in the middle, reducing the branches flowing into the open space to the left. A couple extensions will be left on the bottom to thicken those branches.
Evan tackles the large shoots growing off the top to help bring the tree’s energy low, where the branches could use thickening. This was Evan’s graduation class! 8 sessions. (Come back for 9, like Vivian the cat! Actually she must be on her 200th.)
Here’s where we stopped. There are still bar branches to remove and large extensions to cut in fall. If you squint there’s a bonsai in there. But making it pretty was not the goal. Cutting too much off at once will just make it bolt with long internodes. The extension on top will be left only until fall. If left for a year or two we could lose the taper we have gained. We’ll repot it at this new front and perhaps grow it hair bigger to smooth over the remaining issues.