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Do I trim these long shoots on my Japanese Maple?
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Posted by moccasinlanding z8B AL (My Page) on Thu, Dec 1, 11 at 0:28
| We have a short fat round Japanese maple purchased from a nursery about 3 years ago. It had been tip pruned to make it bushy, and I've been trying to correct that to let it resume a natural layered look.
But this summer the tree did something very strange, in my estimation, by having about 8 or 10 3-foot or more long SHOOTS grow way beyond the rest of the tree.
I really cannot tell what species or variety of acer palmatum I have here, to figure out how tall it will ever get. So I am really perplexed about these long shoots.
Do I leave them? Or do I prune them back to a proportional length where a bud is located? And do I wait for spring or at least the dead of winter to do this?
Here is a photo in which you can see some of the long shoots. It looks like a fishing pole sticking out the window, doesn't it?
Is that normal? Does it indicate that the tree needs something? Or that the root system finally settled down into the proper depth to get regular water?
Any help with keeping this little well loved tree happy is much appreciated. |
Follow-Up Postings:
Looking at shots in the Portland Japanese Garden
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| ......looking at the shots of the lovely Japanese maples in the Portland garden, I've just about decided to leave the little tree alone with its choice to send out shoots. Perhaps it is one of the beauties that have a gorgeous umbrella look with a short trunk and spastic limb shapes. At least for this winter, pending advice otherwise, I will do NO CUTTING. But should anyone wish to comment on what is advisable in the future, please go right ahead. |
RE: Do I trim these long shoots on my Japanese Maple?
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Hmm,you're at least the 4th person to have this happen here in recent weeks....just wish some of my maples would grow a bit more ha.
It's not uncommon when conditions are favourable for maples to throw out vigorous shoots.It's certainly not a sign of ill health,quite the opposite.With some cultivars of maple it is undesirable to keep the vigorous growth,but I think with your maple it boils down to personal taste.The branches however may not necessarily keep their drooping stance and may grow more upright with time.I'm guessing the trees you have seen are what are referred to as 'dissectums'...their inherent deformities cause their leaves to be heavily dissected and their branches generally droop and twist more.Your maple is not one of these.
Please note that if your tree is grafted and these shoots are coming from below the graft(you'll see a join very low down on the trunk)they should be removed. |
RE: Do I trim these long shoots on my Japanese Maple?
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| As mentioned, it is not at all an uncommon situation for some selections of JM's to produce long, whippy, midseason growth, typically clad with juvenile foliage. These can be pruned back to maintain a more uniform overall shape and size to the tree or you can let them be. Eventually, the rest of the growth will fill out to match and the shoots will revert to mature foliage. As with the rootstock growth mentioned above, nonvariegated shoots - often much more robust and lengthy - on variegated cultivars of JM should also be removed. |
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