This arakawa has already had one haircut this spring, and has continued to grow denser. In order to keep the internodes short, I am continuing to cut back any extension growth back to the first (or second) node.
Before work
Additionally, I removed one of each pair of leaves in the crown, and outer, stronger shoots.
After work
Finally, I weakened the entrance side of the thread graft that was applied in March this year.
Weakening the graft on the entrance side
It is nearly ready to separate, but I’d like to see the cambium fuse just a bit more at the exit side:
Scuffing up the union on the exit side.
The apex area, while thinned out, looks a bit high above the rest of the foliage. I am slowly allowing the tree to grow taller and wider, so it may look a bit disassociated for now, but I am trying to keep it from getting too congested.
Additionally, the graft will be shortened when it is separated. Stay tuned for more updates!
I have been studying bonsai since 1994, in an ever-increasing obsessive fashion. In our last 5 years prior to moving from Iowa to Alabama pursuing a career in the foodservice industry, my bonsai collection was limited to a few varieties that could survive brutal winters outside, or winters under dim light in the dank basement of our humble duplex...my wife puts up with a lot. Including the trailer hitch I put on our brown 1983 Chrysler New Yorker to pull a U-Haul full of trees to Nashville for a 3-month stop along the career path that led us to Alabama. 12 years later, we no longer have the New Yorker; and not a single one of those trees remain on my bench, having given the last holdout to a new club member this summer. I prefer collecting native trees and buying the classical species used in Japan, feeding organic, and reading everything I can get my hands on.
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2 thoughts on “‘Arakawa’ Japanese Maple early Summer pruning”
Nebari Bonsai 
Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.
This is something I am present attempting, so very informative! Thanks Brian…