Japanese Maple
This spring I acquired my first Japanese Maple. After ten years of bonsai, what took so long? Well I suppose it was a combination of finally having safe overwintering conditions and, more importantly, finding a good one that I couldn’t refuse.
It originally came in a lovely textured unglazed John Pitt oval. Great for a larch, but maybe not for this maple. I wanted something a little more flamboyant, so I planted it in a pale blue glazed custom made pot by local potter Geoff Lloyd. Geoff has only been making pots for a couple of years but he is making serious progress. I own several of his pots and he even made me a large custom slab which I will be planting a larch forest on in a couple of weeks.
If you need a bespoke pot and want to support your local artisan, shoot me an email and I will put you in contact with Geoff.
Besides the repot, only minor work was done. Some branches were wired, pruned, and the moss was brushed from the nebari after killing it with vinegar.
Fellow Ontarians are probably wondering “how the hell is that thing already almost in full leaf?” Everything else around here won’t start moving for at least another two or three weeks. Well, you may have guessed that this tree came from southern Pennsylvania.
Looks great, congratulations! Maples are the best, and surprisingly resilient even in the cold.
April 10, 2014 at 8:51 am
Beautiful tree, one day I will get brave enough to try a Japanese Maple. I have safe winter storage, but I understand they can be difficult.
I like the idea of supporting local talent, when I have a tree worthy of such a nice pot, I’ll be in touch.
April 10, 2014 at 1:33 pm
Aaron, nice to see it leafing out…
April 10, 2014 at 6:16 pm
Very nice planting height. The pot helps to show off the colour of the maple and draws more attention to the texture of the tree. That aqua-blue is one of my favourite colours!
April 10, 2014 at 7:20 pm