It's a common occurrance. The odd branching is coming from the rootstock below where the Bloodgood scion is grafted. Remove it or it will remain a very strong energy sink & rob vitality from the scion.

Al

so i should remove the entire branch?
what would happen if i didn't?

Remove it or it will remain a very strong energy sink & rob vitality from the scion.
Al
or Cut all the green leafed branches back to the trunk - allow the red to grow back. In time it will slowly fill out.

That's what I said ........ so I probably should agree. ;o)

Al

good deal......thanks

while i'm at it, i have been wondering about propagation by cuttings, could i cut the green leaf part and set it in a glass of water and wait for it to root, or use a hormone and soil? if i did, and it worked, what would you call this? it's definitely a japanese map. right???

You have a (red) plant with it's own set of genes grafted to the (green) understock, also with it's own set of genes. The genes won't 'mix' or get 'diluted' with time - you'll always have two different plants growing as one (as long as both remain viable). The idea is to utilize the more desirable characteristics of the root stock to support the scion (red plant). In order for this arrangement to be successful, you need to suppress the above-ground vegetative growth of the root stock so it doesn't rob water and nutrients from the scion and leave it languishing while the root stock prospers.

Though not impossible, most Jap maples do not come easy from cuttings unless you have a mist set-up and controlled conditions. If you really want something like the (green) tree, start from seed & headaches will be minimal. You can also air-layer easily in late spring/early summer, but I wouldn't suggest your messing with that - you need to get rid of the branches supporting green growth asap. Judging by the picture, it's already forming an unsightly swelling at the graft union.

Al

o, ok, i understand that talpa, my dad was saying that they usually graft them with and underside tree, ididn't understand @ first.

cool, maybe the bloodgood will take back off w/ growth now, now that i get it, i can see how the green part was taking off with growth while the other really didn't do a whole lot, thank. I'm glad i was so bored i posted that the other day.

so what is the bottom half anyway, like a simple japanese maple er sumtn?