Joining,Merging Japanese Maple tree

Hi

Is there a way to have two different colour japanese maple tree half RED half YELLOW split top down?Can you merge them when young or plant them close together and keep on trimming in the middle so you have one colour each side?
Many thanks in advance

 

This kind of practice has been tried and in some cases proved possible. As far as my experience goes. Rose budding/grafting is perhaps the most practical. This comprises a bud, 'scion' being taken from one rose plant and grafted, inserted under the skin, of another.

Fruit trees can be grafted using one of the forms of grafting. Here a portion of the tree , btanch is cut and shaped to fit a correspondingly prepared receptive. The point of the join, graft is prtected by binding and protecting with a suitable grafting wax, or some modern day substitute.

I doubt very much if some kind of frankenstein graft could take place.

 

I am sure it is possible . They is a variety of Acer one of the coral bark variety's that has another variety of acer grafted onto it, it has yellow and reddish / pink stems but I can't remember the name.

 

Perki my friend. I tend to think we are at cross purposes here. Please describe what you have in mind.

 

Thanks for the replies people mutch appreciated.
Basically all I wanted to achieve was couple trees next to each other that grows to each side meeting in the middle, If I plant them very close to each other and keep on trimming the middle section of both trees so they can grow up wards and to one side each will it work ?

 

I don't see why you shouldn't graft a different coloured Acer onto another Acer or graft two different coloured shoots onto one root stock. It will take some years to get the effect you are hoping for,
Personally I'd rather have two complete trees.

 

Ths for the reply , its mostly space , do you think I could split a 2saplings top down and put them together ?

 

Hi @Gleison - they would probably die because you are causing such extreme damage to both. The way people are suggesting above is to get one of the plants eg a red leafed one, which is good and robustly growing. Then cut some vigorous young bendy shoots from the yellow leafed one, and join (graft) them onto a few shoots on ONE SIDE of the red one (snip the ends off the red shoots, so that you can join the inner layers of the two types and bind them together - there are Youtube videos). I would use the snipped off red shoots to do the same thing in reverse on the yellow leafed plant. Then wait, and hope the grafts take. Eventually, if they grow, you can start snipping back the dominant side to even up the growth with the newly grafted stuff. You need to keep the main stem and rootstock still growing strongly to encourage this to happen. That's why I don't recommend your idea of splitting down the middle.

 

Thats amazing and very good advice thank you , I probably will try them all :-)

 

Buy two small trees, cut the branches off one side on each tree during the winter and plant them side by side.
You would need to find two varieties of similar vigour for it to work.

I dont think grafting is a good option for amateurs.

 

If you split a tree vertically along the trunk including the roots and planted the two separated halves then they would survive and grow.

Examples of these exist in nature where lightning has struck and split a tree.

Some ancient trees have massive portions of wood rotted away from their trunks yet they still live and grow.

As long as a live vein containing the cambium layer exists, which transports water and minerals up to the branches and leaves, then the tree will live.

Here is how I would go about grafting two different halves of maples:

(0) The two maples must be in the same family of plants. This is a requirement of grafting.
The growth rate of the two maples must be very similar otherwise the graft will not look good.

If you grow maples from the seed of a single tree then the growth genetics will be very similar and the genetic variation will give the different coloured leaves.

Do grafting procedures around March time, just before bud break.

When grafting, try to keep the cuts clean so wear some latex gloves.

(1) The two tree trunks must have near identical diameter of trunks - this is so you can align the cambium layers to help form the graft union;

(2) Choose trunks which are up to 10mm in diameter. Use a bonsai branch splitter tool to split the trunks. A knife might do the same job but the blade will follow the grain and may not give a straight cut;

(3) Match up each half of the trunks carefully so that the cambium layer aligns at least on one side (two sides is better).

(4) Bind the join up and down the trunk with strips of polythene (cut from a plastic bag) or strips of clingfilm - this prevents dehydration and dirt ingress. Then bind tightly with string or elastic bands.

(5) Plant the tree in a pot and keep it in a place with dappled sun away from strong winds.