We bought this great 2.5 story Dutch colonial in the Bergen County of NJ. If you are going to live in NJ it's gotta be in Bergen. It was original 1930's everything. After a near total rehab a few years ago it's better than its former original glory. We enjoy this house and location more than any we have owned.

The house faces north and there is a big lace leaf Japanese maple that has been neglected for many years. It could easily be a good candidate to be pruned to look like a bonsai. I don't have the talent to do that. I have been told that to buy a tree like that would cost > $3k by local nurseries.

Need help. Anybody good at this type of thing?

http://www.thepruningschool.com/Articles/maples.htm

http://www.pacifichorticulture.org/articles/revealing-the-essence-of-the-tree-aesthetic-pruning-of-japanese-maples/

http://on.aol.ca/video/how-to-prune-a-japanese-maple-35462152

Here are a few links on pruning it, I wouldn't pay 3 grand for a tree personally, my opinion is to prune it yourself, just decide how you want it to look and do it slowly so you don't make drastic changes.

Nice Thanks Chivas

Yes, take it slow and don't remove too much in any one year.  Best trimmed when dormant - sap is running now so your window of opportunity is fading fast.

I also use loppers more than a pruning saw for anything medium sized diameter.  But you have to watch for splitting and tearing when you cut.  Use sharp tools!

Good luck, Rich!

Pics of the bonsai candidate??

Enjoy the tree!  Don't make it into less than it is!

Suzi

Rich, if you ever decide to trim it to look like a bonsai, make sure it has no leaves on it, before out of dormancy is the best time to trim  Japanese Maples. With slow growing trees you need to be very careful how you trim it, otherwise it will take you years to correct a simple mistake that could be easily prevented. Make a skeletal sketch of the tree and then re-creating what you want it to look like while without leaves. Then mark the ones that you think you should eliminate.
-another option: I would find a local Bonsai club and ask their opinion as well, they would be glad to come see your precious tree and help you decide how you want it to look.
Let us know how it goes...

Bass has a video in Arabic doing some bonsai instruction :)

RichinNJ-

From April 25th -27th, the Mid-Atlantic Bonsai Societies will be having their annual show at the Ramada Inn, East Hanover NJ.  The show will have many fine examples of finished bonsai and also have many seminars showing the training, and pruning of bonsai.  You might be able to apply some of these techniques when pruning your tree.  There will be plenty of vendors selling tools and instructional books.  You can also do an online search for photos of Japanese Maples that were pruned to Japanese aesthetics.

Personally, I would do a lot of reading about, and a lot of looking at many bonsai trees before grabbing a pruning saw.  Once you cut wood, it's gone.  Also, bonsai are created to be viewed from only one vantage point and there is a formal front and a formal back to each tree.  Bonsai is not a 360 degree show.  No matter what, your tree will be a work-in-progress for years, but it can be fun, too.

Good luck with the project.


Frank

I love Japanese Maples! They look very nice and are hardy.
I have 4 of them growing in big winter-unprotected pots
for many years decorating my deck (spring thru fall).

We have two Japanese Maples in our front planters.  One must be about 25 years old.  It's pretty tall, but we prune it back to keep it in it's bounds.  The other one was recently put in by the previous owner.  It was small and had a tag on it.  $85.00  Waterfall Japanese Maple.  We couldn't make sense of where it was planted, so we dug it up in July and moved it.  We thought we killed it and worried for months.  YOU DON"T MOVE PLANTS MID SUMMER!  It went dormant on schedule, and you should see it now!  Gorgeous!!  Now I want to air layer it and see if I can put a couple elsewhere.  What a beauty!  It's very lacy and dainty and bright light green.  It's too dark to take photos now, but here are some on the web and mine is exactly like these.

Just not sure if they can be air layered.

Suzi

Rich, that's one of the things I do. PM me and I'll stop by.

Japanese maples normally don't need much pruning. When you say bonsai I presume you don't mean to dig it up, do you?

My personal experience with laceleaf maples is they tend to suffer some winter dieback, so IMO just cut out damaged/dead branches and clean up the twiggy stuff/overlapping branches in the center to open it up, that typically improves the structure and appearance.

$3k might be accurate, but it's mostly just in the tree's age not necessarily the quality of the tree, so don't feel overly invested in it.

This think looks like "It" from the Adam's Family.

I have around 200 Japanese Maples of around 60-70 cultivars. Most I had in pot culture for many years and have been slowly finding earth homes over the past year now that I have moved. I do work with some for a trained look, but I agree a bad pruning job will take many years to recover from. In fact  I am rehabilitating a tree presently. I saw a formerly beautiful Aka_Shigitatsu Sawa that had been butchered. It bothered me so much I talked to the nursery folks about proper pruning techniques. I was trying to be polite, but think he took offense.  He got smart and stated as he had destroyed the structure that if I could load the tree by myself (had to be at least a 45 Gal.) I could have it for I think was $60. The price on the tree was over $1000.  Well that Fool and his tree were soon parted. He under-estimated what a mad plant loving country boy could do. While he stood by his Bobcat with loader forks I backed my truck up to one of his mulch piles pulled the beast up and over into my truck.

J strudeldog,,,