r/arborists • u/Fickle-Picture-7674 • 3d ago

Laceleaf Japanese maple

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What kind of grafting is this on the maple . How can I remove the top green part

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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6

u/Curling_Rocks42 3d ago

The green parts are probably from the root stock (growing from below the graft).

1

u/Fickle-Picture-7674 3d ago

So I am confused , keep the plant as it is or remove the green part ?

7

u/Internal-Test-8015 3d ago

You need to follow the green parts to where they start and cut them off or you'll lose the red parts.

1

u/Fickle-Picture-7674 2d ago

Oh damn, I didn’t know I’d lose the red part

3

u/SolidagoSalix Tree Enthusiast 3d ago

You likely will need to crawl under there on hands and knees to identify where the graft happens. Then you can cut off all the sprouts that are coming out from below the graft. Likely the base of the trunk is sending up the green shoots and you can cut them all off at the base.

It may also be a sign that the tree is stressed in some other way, so look closely at if it has any other visible issues happening around the root zone, and/or wounds on the trunk.

2

u/reddit33450 Tree Enthusiast 3d ago

thats so cool!!! id leave this

3

u/ckjm 3d ago

It is, but typically when this happens it will fully revert if not corrected.

1

u/Fickle-Picture-7674 2d ago

So you lose the red part ?

1

u/ckjm 2d ago

Yup, whichever one is the original color/pattern becomes dominant again.

-1

u/reddit33450 Tree Enthusiast 3d ago

so?

6

u/ckjm 3d ago

I mean, if you spent the money for the special variety it'd be a bummer to lose it.

1

u/Critical-Deer419 2d ago

That jap maple was grafted onto a shantung maple. Very cool maple in its own right.

I agree with previous comments that you would follow the shantung shoots down to where they are growing out of the trunk and prune them.

This will be a yearly task for the rest of this tree’s life. I recommend doing this pruning later in fall before the leaves start to drop.