Crotch angle smotch angle. Its a japanese maple not a huge white ash which has to overhang your bedroom while holding up tons of wood and snow for 50 years. In your opinion the tree has too many of its leaves up near the top? Is there an issue with shade? Do the pruning like whaas said. Remove no more than 1/4 of the branches in any year.

..... no reason to think your plant or any part of it is doomed. It has built-in mechanisms that will ensure the separate stems will find their way to adequate light if there is adequate light to be found. A pyramid has 3 line segments that terminate at a common point. Think of your plant as a pyramid that's standing on its point. The longer the line segments/stems are, the greater the amount of space they can potentially occupy, ensuring that each leaf gets a full light load. Keep in mind that you can guide the direction your stems/trunks grow by pruning back to a leaf that grows off the stem on the side you want the stem to turn to. Pruned as shown, the new branch in the leaf axil (crotch) will grow to the right. Move the pruning cut down one leaf and the branch that WILL form in the leaf axilo will grow to the left. Al

Thank you for the reply, Matt. Maybe I should have spent the extra money to get the next size up. All of the 10" containers only had one or two stems growing out of the soil. When you say "pick out the stringy ones"... do you think I'll be able to separate some for repotting in another pot, or will I just have to cut them back? If I can separate them with some roots would the next step be as simple as replanting them in another smaller pot of soil? Thanks again!

I've inherited a FLF and not sure what to do. It has about 12 'trunks' or maybe they are called stems, in one pot. Hi, Jil. Either term is appropriate. I've started to make cuttings of some of the smaller ones. What should I do with the remaining? I'm not cracking wise when I say, "Whatever you want to do with them". Among your options are more cuttings, leave them as part of a multi-tree/trunk/stem composition, air-layer them, remove and discard. They look flexible enough that you could braid or plait several for one planting, too ...... not sure what you're up for? Also, it looks like it really needs to be repotted but not sure if I should re-pot all the trunks or...? I think it's pretty much a plant one - plant all kind of a situation. Let me know what you decide and I'll help if you need it. And, the diameter of these stems/trunks are not very large at all. Ken's right in suggesting lack of light has been a tong term limitation for the planting, but that can be resolved by positioning it in a better spot indoors, and even growing it outdoors in summer. Thank you so much for your replies and answers to so many of these questions. You're welcome. I've been reading the forums but haven't found an answer yet to this type of issue. No doubt we'll be able to figure out something that works for you. What do you have in mind, insofar as what you want the planting(s) to look like eventually? Al