Japanese Maple (Acer Palmatum) 'Monrovia' 2.0 - UPDATE

 This excerpt is from the latest entry to the Photo/History page for JM 'Monrovia' 2.0; follow link to see full history for this little tree.

I had resolved not to touch the Japanese Maple until it was dormant, this winter. Then I watched a YouTube video, by a professional grower, on overwintering for Acers & it changed my mind on the subject. The advice given was NOT to wait until the tree is dormant to prune &/or re-pot, as was my plan for the 'Monrovia'.

 It makes sense..given that the tree is basically asleep, it will have no natural defenses to protect it from bacteria in the soil infecting & retarding the regrowth of feeder roots or larger roots that might be pruned or completely removed. He also surmised that the trauma could interfere with the plants natural circadian rhythms, "waking it up" prematurely to respond to any intervention..his advice was to re-pot in fall or wait until next spring, in keeping with the cultivar's natural growth pattern.

The 'Monrovia' was overdue for a look-see,underground, at how the tree had fared over the last several months, since the "chop" & complete re-invigoration & rebirth of this specimen & coupled with the need to re-pot nearly every tree in my collection, I went ahead & "did the deed", yesterday. 

The pruning & repot went smoothly; like many of the trees I've repotted over the last month, the new root growth was sparse (due to soil compaction), but I did some major surgery on a couple of large roots & removed what was left of the tap root, which is no longer needed. 

The pruning allowed me to fit him into a bonsai training tray, where he will remain now for the foreseeable future & I hope continue to amaze me with his super-powers of rejuvenation & restoration.