Hi,

It could be a few maples that you are referring too; it could be a native florida maple...Acer Barbatum or Acer Saccharum var. floridanum (I may have mispelled a few of those names!). Could also be a suger maple. If its any of these trees you can use them as bonsai but the results will not be the same as a trident. Its much harder with both of these species to get really small foliage. For instance, the natural size of a trident maple leaf is 2-3 inches, in bonsai one could reduce to a 1/2 t0 3/4 inch size with time. With those native species you may have, they will reduce a bit but nothing to the effect of a trident.

Either species will make good meduim to large, or large bonsai. Not too good of an idea for shohin due to the size of the foliage in relation to the height/size of the tree/trunk/pot.

If nothing else, its good practice and you cannot go wrong with growing these. It can also be very helpful to sharpen collecting skills of your native trees, and more specifically of decidious native trees.

Hope this helps,

Matthew Ouwinga

You also might have a swamp maple --red maple (Acer rubrum) which is an extremely common tree. They can make reasonable bonsai, but have very "leggy" growth that can never really be tamed. Larger bonsai can be pretty nice with this tree--trunk larger than 3 inches in diameter and more than 24 inches tall work pretty well.

Acer rubrum can be collected pretty easily, as their roots can be reduced up to 90-95 percent at collection in early spring before leaf buds break.

I have a beautiful old Silver Maple in my yard that keeps retaining water. My neighbor talked me into cutting off one of the large branches that was overhanging his fence and the area where the cut is on the trunk has recessed. I noticed water acbeepulation that didn't seem to drain out all summer long. I have a landscaper wbeepcomes to mow the grass and he said he's never seen anything like it. The water seems to be gone now that fall has set in. Any ideas?
Also, I had an over abundance of flying seed pods this year. I couldn't keep up with the clean up. Is this cyclicle?

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Shawn

Homes for sale in Jacksonville, FL

Here is a link that might be useful: Homes for sale in Jacksonville, FL

Wrong forum. Go to Tree or Maple Forum.
And please don't resurrect OLD OLD Threads....

First:
A 'common' maple (rubrum, barbatum saccharum to name a few maples) can grow in small pot but do not have the small foilage to make a presentable bonsai.

Second (to greenman28):
This is a bonsai form, the question was if a common maple would make a good bonsai tree, this is the correct form.

What is wrong with resurrecting old threads, some of us have been on this form for 4 years or better and remember when this was orginaly posted.

Bill, look up:
Posted by shawny212 New York (My Page) on Tue, Jan 13, 09 at 3:33 -
"I have a beautiful old Silver Maple in my yard that keeps retaining water. My neighbor talked me into cutting off one of the large branches that was overhanging his fence and the area where the cut is on the trunk has recessed. I noticed water acbeepulation that didn't seem to drain out all summer long. I have a landscaper wbeepcomes to mow the grass and he said he's never seen anything like it. The water seems to be gone now that fall has set in. Any ideas? Also, I had an over abundance of flying seed pods this year. I couldn't keep up with the clean up. Is this cyclicle?"

There is no mention of common maples, bonsai, or otherwise.

Resurrecting OLD Threads is bad form in most every corner of the Internet...not just this Forum, I assure you. Secondly, the Original Poster never even replied to this Thread. Chances are, he or she isn't around anymore, whether or not you remember when this was originally posted. Thirdly, the most recent reply has nothing to do with the original question, or bonsai -- it is a maple maintenance question, as far as I can tell. Fourthly, the person who asked the most recent question would be better served asking the question in a NEW Thread in the PROPER Forum.

I hope that offers some clarification as to why bumping a long-dead Thread is counter-productive.

Josh

I see where the confusion came from. I directed my post to the original post, about common maples and bonsai. Your post was vague in that it does not state whom you were commenting too. I now understand, sorry about that confusion.

As for old posts, these posts are not only for the original poster but, in addition, for other interested people to learn from. So adding on to an old post is fair game in my book and I will continue to do so as I feel fit; I assure, others will do the same.
What I see that your saying is that it is better to have ten or more threads of the same topic than it is to have one? I do not agree what that logic for this type of discussion. Most of and including this thread, in this form, are timeless. The question and answers do not change with the passage of time. So, answering now or five years from now do not change anything, nor does it change the previous answers or posts. If we were talking about the stock market or a time dependent discussion, then yes, it would be better to have ten or more threads on the same topic, as these are time dependent.

I have a post, about four years old, about air layering a calamondin. I added to it after a few months and then after a year. When I air layer a calamondin again, which I have, I will add to it to produce a better, more educating thread.
I am rambling on here. I will leave it at that.