I don't think there's a thread "Maple bonsai", but some seem to have an interest in the matter, so... Acer campestre is a good candidate for bonsai, especially for beginners : it's widely available and can take many errors from a neophyte. What's more, Acer campestre is one of the few maples that can be reproduced by root cutting. Here is an example of mine, this strain of A. c. is a bit different from most of the field maples we can see here or in Britain, it has less divided lobes, but other strains just work the same. This one was a root planted in 2016, and I "designed" it so it has a kind of Chinese feel : Frankly, I just love it ;0)
Thanks. As I said, it's closer to the idea of a Chinese bonsai than a Japanese or Japanese-inspired bonsai. In Japan, this style of exposed roots ("neagari") was popular in the first half of the 20th century, but is not very frequent any longer, except perhaps for azalea.
Can I ask Alain about the exposed roots, (nebari). Do you keep yours under a lot of protection from hot Summer sun ? I have friends who are going back to the old ways of covering roots in their gardens (maples), due to the increasing hot temperatures we are getting every year here in Southern England. Now you can't get more exposed roots than your Acer campestre, so do you cover, give a lot of shade, or spray regularly? D
Not really. Like other trees, I put them in the shade when it gets too hot, that's all. Once established, the roots are like multiple trunks to a single one. It's more important to protect them for heavy frosts, like other potted trees. Here's another one (July 11th, 2020), an Acer monspessulanum, that I sold just before budbreak. The only protection I gave it was to put some mulch about 2 cm above the soil in winter. Since it's a mediterranean species, I only made sure that it didn't lack water, but was almost in full sun all through the summer : A much more "classical" design, but I needed the money and I thought someone else could give it another life, another design. I know he's repotted it, but I haven't had news from it since it's been in his care.
@AlainK thanks for that info Alain. It must have been sad to see it go. But needs must as they say. D
Not really : it's like when you see your children leave home. They're entitled to a life of their own. You've done your best, then you can't them in a cage for the rest of their life. And a tree is not a child.
That is stunning I don’t know about maples very much aside from native ones we have in BC Canada — So does your 5 yr old in your post - does it get fall foliage color like a maple does in Canada’s forests? Then at some time in the spring - it sprouts out new bright green foliage - and the cycle continues If you have a fall and winter photo of this same plant, I would be interested to view it.
I checked and I realized that I don't have one. But like all Acer campestre, the leaves are yellow, like this one, another "clone" : The leaves of Acer monspessulanum are also yellow in autumn.
Thats amazing — QUESTION - do you apply a solution of moss to make the trunk « grow » Moss Or does it happen naturally ?
To me the only solution is natural solution, most of the time. ;-) And in this case, it's only growing a tree in a pot with almost no fertilizer or anything else, for... years..
'Orange Dream' in June, and today : The "nebari" (the base of the trunk) sucks, but it can be corrected, either by grafting roots on the left, or by air-layering it about 2-3 cm above the soil.
That is stunning — I have a QUESTION - and to put this in context, I do not fully understand the science of autumn foliage change as we experience in the wild in Canada (this time of year) — so my curiosity is expanded when I see a special bonsai changing color - such as your Orange Dream. Is it aware of changing seasonal light because it lives on your outdoor patio part (or all of?) the year? What happens with indoor (glass house etc) bonsai deciduous plants - do they change naturally or ...? Orange Dream is such an apt name - thank you for your photos.
Acer Campestre and Acer Monspessulanum are both not widely available in the Americas, especially non-grafted. Do you have any other suggestions?
Are you looking for these? If so, what form (mature specimen, seedling, bonsai)? I haven't met anyone with indoor deciduous bonsai. Thats kind of a no no. My trees i keep in my greenhouse takes a little longer to change color. Only by a week or two than the outside trees. The temp isn't controlled and not a lot of direct sunlight. @AlainK, you have some really nice pots.
"Indoor bonsai" are often trees or shrubs that are tropical or semi-tropical, and in their natural habitat, they cans stay outside all-year long, like Ficus microcarpa, one of the most commonly sold "indoor bonsai" in temperate countries. In some areas like the warmer parts of the EU or the US, they can be kept in an unheated greenhouse. But as LoverOfMaples wrote, deciduous trees of our temperate zones can't live long indoors.
Maybe you guys should try it with A. laevigatum. I wonder if A. laurinum would survive as an indoor bonsai.
One of the problems with Acer laevigatum or laurinum is that the leaves are quite long. If bonsai techniques can help reduce them a little, can they be reduced enough to design a bonsai that looks like a "real" tree ? I don't know. Another problem is that I think their native habitat is much southern, which means more sun light in winter : indoors, won't they develop elongated branches ?
