My next door neighbor is moving and she has a 3-3 1/2' Red Maple and it is
not growing nor doing anything, in fact It has only one red leaf on it at the
present. It seems to be dying, question.. If we dug it up and cropped it back
to where the live leaf is, and trimmed the roots, might it then grow as a
Bonsai?
Zone 9 North of Houston

I presume by red maple, you mean Japanese maple, Acer palmatum. Is anyone in
your area growing this species successfully? I suspect it cannot grow iwell n
your climate. This is not the time to try to put it in a bonsai pot. If you
want to try saving it, prune it lightly and replant it in the shade, in good,
slightly acid garden soil, with a lot of peat moss or compost mixed in. Keep it
well watered. If it lives, keep it in the nursery bed for a couple more years,
pruning as instructed in the bonsai books. Then if it is vigorous, you can
consider growing it as a bonsai.


Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

My next door neighbor is moving and she has a 3-3 1/2' Red Maple and it is
not growing nor doing anything, in fact It has only one red leaf on it at the
present. It seems to be dying, question.. If we dug it up and cropped it back
to where the live leaf is, and trimmed the roots, might it then grow as a
Bonsai?
Zone 9 North of Houston
=================
Iris Cohen wrote:
I presume by red maple, you mean Japanese maple, Acer palmatum. Is anyone in your
area growing this species successfully? I suspect it cannot grow well n your
climate. This is not the time to try to put it in a bonsai pot. If you want to try
saving it, prune it lightly and replant it in the shade, in good,
slightly acid garden soil, with a lot of peat moss or compost mixed in. Keep it
well watered. If it lives, keep it in the nursery bed for a couple more years,
pruning as instructed in the bonsai books. Then if it is vigorous, you can
consider growing it as a bonsai.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
==========================
Gee, Iris, I would have guessed that by red maple that she meant red maple
(Acer rubrum). Red maple, also called red swamp maple, is native to these parts
and, thus quite hardy. It is rather coarse in branching and less exciting for
bonsai than the Acer palmatums, but it is quite serviceable as a bonsai. The best
use I've seen for them as bonsai was in forest plantings.
Acer rubrum is also one of the few trees which can be counted upon (usually)
to produce some fall color in the foliage. Most other deciduous trees in the Gulf
coast area just go brown then bare.
Alan Walker, Lake Charles, LA, USA
http://LCBSBonsai.org http://bonsai-bci.com

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