Wayne,
I have a very similar trident. I really like the markings on the bark of your tree. It really gives the apearance of age with the lichen. Have you considered to start pulling some of the larger limbs down. It will open the tree up more and begin the training of the lower branches. I decided not to use wire on my tree but rather tie downs. I then let the limbs grow long for a couple of years and thicken. You have a nice tree.

Dan

Wayne,
I have a very similar trident. I really like the markings on the bark of your tree. It really gives the apearance of age with the lichen. Have you considered to start pulling some of the larger limbs down.

That's exactly what I intend to do.  I got this one yesterday @ about 3 so all I've had time to do was to take the pictures you see.  Its in my truck now, so if its not raining at lunch I'll be able to do that work then.

My only question is how to deal w/ the branch where it meets the trunk.  Looking at some huge maples and oaks around here, the low branches come off perpendicular to the trunk ...w/ no discernible upward movement.  When I bend this tree's branches down, there is a gentle rise before it levels off.

I figure I need to deal with this now or forever wish I'd gotten it right to begin with (and then not have the heart to lose the branch).  Should I notch the branch?  Top or bottom?  Is there a technique I'm missing?  If i allow unrestrained growth of those branches will the additional growth help to alleviate the appearance that the branch rises before it levels out (like how you have to exaggerate bends when you're styling whips)?

Nice tree Wayne! I'm with rockm on this. I'd prune every branch back hard(within a centimeter or two) of the trunk and start from there. It sounds drastic but my understanding of tridents is that they're not far behind Ficus(real trees) in growth rate and back budding.

Andy

In addition to whats been said I would also choose an upper branch to be the new apex.  This will add the little bit of taper that the tree needs.


Tom

I agree with john, I didn't want to be the only one to say it but now that it's been said...

So in that first pic, if it were mine, i would cut it back to that first branch on the right and regrow the top.  Let the new leader grow and thicken up then chop again and keep doing so until you reach the desired effect.  I would think that you should have the trunk finished in the next two growing seasons as long as its healthy. 

Also, if you don't want to throw away the top you can always layer it but this would set back your time frame.


Tom

You cannot pull those lower branches down enough to be convincing in that position with wire. Notching them won't really give them any better appearance.

Mark, thanks for your take on it.  I guess I knew what you (generally, not specifically ...though it *IS* to be expected from you) were going to tell me those branches would always be bent and it would never really look the way I wanted it to.  And to chop it back hard.  I have a few questions about the angles that low branches should come off the trunk on old maples ...but I'll get to that when I have time to take some pictures of some trees around me.  Again, thanks for your honesty.  (Rereading it sounds like I'm being smart***-ish.  Not my intent.  I will probably end up doing what you suggest.)

All that said I have a couple Tridents I should have cut down years ago:)

John, I appreciate you taking the time to put this video together.  Sounds like you have a very pleasant work area w/ a bird singing in the background and everything (or is it one of those annoying audobon clocks?).  Just because I have this new piece of stock doesn't mean that I like it the way it is.  I'm not attached to it so I'm certainly open to suggestions/discussion.  Are you suggesting, if I choose to chop it, that I chop to allow the 1st branch on the right to form the rest of the trunk/apex?

...I didn't want to be the only one to say it but now that it's been said...

I purposefully didn't say much about the tree because I wanted to see what others would say.  Discuss.  Don't hold back.  Please be civil (and I have no reason to suspect YOU wouldn't be), but I posted this one for discussion.

I think I would definitely layer it instead of just tossing away the top. It looks fairly thick, and as you know you can start out the layered tree with really great nebari. Unless you just have a bunch of this size tree waiting around in the ground for you to work on, I would regret not trying to get another tree out of it.

I'm torn about that, but in the end I'll only be set back 6 months.  The lure of having another tree isn't as enticing as having a really nice tree.  Again though, its only 6 months (if I hurry).

Wayne, with a trident, there is no necessity to even leave a branch. When you chop the trunk to a bare stump, you will have new buds pop all over the remaining trunk. If you air layer (I had good success in the past with cutting a groove and driving in a large wire or a deep carving will work too), it should sprout below the layer in the same way.

If you chop it, I'd still try to root the piece you chopped off, as it is a shame to give it up so easily.

Also: If you chop it, leave some extra length and chop it straight across. The tree will provide plenty of buds to choose from, but somehow if you chop at an angle, it will bud at the low end of the cut and not at the top, necessitating another chop later on.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing what you do with this one.

Chris