Greetings,

I'm fairly new to Bonsai and just received 10 Amur Maples (Acer Ginnala).
I'm planning on using about 6 or 7 in a Forest Group.

These trees are all roughly the same height and I want to give some
semblance of height differential when I set up the forest grouping.

Here's My issue:

How do I trim the Apex of a tree to reduce a tree in height and still leave
the apex full of foliage? Do I simply use concave cutters to trim above the
knuckle of a fairly busy pair of branches? Should I wire other branches
upward to give the illusion that the Apex is full? Or is there a completely
different way to trim for height and still leave a full looking apex?

Your help is appreciated,

Alexander Fraser
(Zone 4a)

>
> How do I trim the Apex of a tree to reduce a tree in height and still leave
> the apex full of foliage? Do I simply use concave cutters to trim above the
> knuckle of a fairly busy pair of branches? Should I wire other branches
> upward to give the illusion that the Apex is full? Or is there a completely
> different way to trim for height and still leave a full looking apex?

Don't worry about it. Since you can only do this (repot,
trim, etc.) safely in the spring, the trees will sprout new
tops. Just select a branch at the appropriate new height,
wire the branch upright, and the trees will do the rest --
eventually.

Jim Lewis - jklewis [at] nettally.com - This economy is a wholly
owned subsidiary of the environment. - Gaylord Nelson

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