I don't have any experience with Japanese maples but common sense would say to wait until the maple itself decides its seeds are ripe. i.e. when they start to fall naturally. I have grown other trees from seed which I have just collected up off the ground. Why make things harder?

I don't know what specific cultivar it is. ==>>> again ... it doesnt matter.. a tree is a tree ... the trick here... is that it is grafted on a standard .. as it looks to my eye.. that that 12 inch trunk.. is different than that above ... thought i cant tell with that 90 degree bend in the trunk ... if so.. if you remove everything above.. .you will lose the pretty cut leaf dwarf maple above .... any time that that part sprouts.. it should be removed.. if i am right.. and it is a different plant .... now.. again.. what is you goal.. other than to butcher up some plants.. lol ... i know bonsai type peeps who might steal that plant in the night for the cool weathered.. damaged trunk ... and looking at the last pic.. in full glory.. its not an apparent problem ... so.. basically.. let me suggest you are thinking about trying to fix.. what is not a problem ... i call that... loving a plant to death ... and dont get me wrong ... i also have the inclination.. to help it heal better.. but from the pix.. i just dont know how you go about that... without removing a lot of good stuff.. and simply opening more gaping wounds ... if i were standing there.. maybe we could dream up some course of action.. but based on the pix.. i say.. forget about it ... this thing MIGHT collapse in the next 100 years .. due to the problems you think you see .. so be it when it happens ... IMHO .. if you have a real inkling to prune your brains out.. and feel like driving to MI .... i can find you some real trees that need some work .... lol .. a few are on the verge of me having to pay for it.... and i wont care if you destroy them.. lol ... by the time you are done.. you will be planting things.. just so you can go prune your own stuff ..... have a great day ... ken

CEF, Molly is adorable! I want to kiss her snout. She sounds like quite the little rascal. Love it. You definitely are a busy one, I am so impressed with all this building of things. Are you self-taught? I wish I knew how to do some of that. Kitchen cabinets! Awesome. Our kitchen is original (not a good thing, 1973) and I'd love new cabinets. Reworked, recycled, whatever! Just different, pretty and CLEAN. I planned to paint ours when we moved in last year-- bought all the supplies, watched some videos... just never did it. I underestimated how long EVERYTHING would take. Every room had wallpaper and I figured I'd take a weekend or two before we moved our stuff in and get that out quick. HA!! It took 2 months, just to get it all down. And half the walls still have spackle. It's been 13 months and we have two rooms done. Two! Whatever. I'll get to it. I am a hairstylist and only work Fridays and Saturdays (til the kids are both in school anyway) so it's difficult to take time off. I do it now and then though and if I'd known about this plant swap sooner, I probably would have. Is there a website I can bookmark so I will know early next year? Our rancher is brick. I'll post a pic of it when we bought it, with the row of yews. I couldn't wait to get them out but now that they are finally, I'm a little overwhelmed at how much work it is to get that area in order, long before plants will even be concerned. Right now the dirt is all turned over and weeds are everywhere-- I pulled up all that I could see last week (almost a full day of weeding!) and then we had that crazy rain and few days later, weeds everywhere again. I posted about it on the soil forum but nobody responded so today I went out there with my pump sprayer full of vinegar and covered every square inch. I know that can kill the stuff I want as well but there's nothing out there but weeds so I figured I'd give it a go. Edge out a bigger bed tomorrow with my new edger (SO EXCITED) and then maybe mix in some topsoil and turn it over before mulching. I may not plant anything this year after all. Use containers so I can make sure the soil is good first, move things around for a bit til I get a feel. Who knows. I want to paint the shutters too, not liking this green. Medium-darkish taupe maybe? With just a hint of green/blue? Leaning more toward the brown, less the grey. I'm off to research fertilizers for my new maple, and perhaps my Mikawa Yatsubusa, if it's not dead yet. I know Al has some good stuff on here about it, found another member recommending him when I was google searching a few minutes ago ; ) oh and p.s.- you mentioned liking the weathered look, have you considered making raised beds out of pallets? Saw something on pinterest about that and it looked great, plus they are usually free somewhere.

Still no buds/activity on the laceleaf maple, which was bought at a real nursury and was looking great in the fall after I put it in. I'm holding out hope but it is almost May and I'm surprised there are still no buds. Other maples in my yard and sidewalk out front are doing great. The sugar maples along our street rapidly bloomed this week. My bloodgood maple is fully leafed out, which tells me it is pretty hearty, considering I moved it 3 times since I bought it at Home Depot last year. It is only 3 feet tall though, so I suppose moving it didn't hurt it as much as a big tree, plus I didn't take apart the root ball any of the moves, esp. the last one, when my hardscape contractor moved it with his Bobcat machine. Anyone else in zone 7a have laceleaf maples that are not blooming yet? I hope this sucker isn't dead.