Hi,

I'm hoping to get a little advise regarding a tree that self seeded in a pot on my balcony (actually about 30 of them self seeded and germinated, but this one was leading the pack).

I think it's a maple of some description, with a leaf shape that's almost identical to the one on the Canadian flag. It had grown to about 1 metre, but I cut it back to about 6 inches with the intention of throwing it away with the others when clearing up. This one had a nice curve on the trunk (it grew around a bag of compost!), and a few days after I cut it back there were a couple of shoots starting to grow from the trunk. I reckoned it might be worth trying to make a bonsai out of it, so repotted it. Sadly, in the process, I broke off one of the new shoots. The remaining shoot is thriving.

It was shaping up to be great with the two opposite shoots growing up. I'm wondering if there's any way to encourage a new shoot/branch from the side I broke the one on? Should I cut off the thriving shoot in the hope that the little tree starts over? I had to cut about half of the main root off when I repotted it, so don't want to shock it any more than necessary. It's been pretty resilient so far and I want to give it a shot! I've included a photo of its present condition!

Thanks for any and all advice!

I'm based in the British Isles, with regard to climate. I've just read that stripping it back to a bare stump in spring will encourage new buds on the trunk. Is it too late in the season to do this now?

You have allready cut it back to a bare stump not long ago. I would not do it again until the tree was fully recovered.

I would not be suppriced if you get a few more branches this summer and many next year. Depending on your care of Course.

Thanks for the quick reply! I was hoping that some more shoots off the main trunk might develop, but wasn't sure if the tree might be pushing all its resources into that one shoot, which is showing good growth and more buds.

at this point, let it push any where.