by Zach Smith | Apr 17, 2015 | Care
I love training bald cypresses to sell to collectors wanting their own specimen of the King of American Bonsai. For the most part, this work proceeds along a pretty routine path. I collect a tree, wait for it to bud out in early spring, watch the shoots extend, do the initial wiring, remove the wire when it starts binding, rewire if it’s not too late in the season, repeat the process into year two and see how far along I am vis a vis offering the tree for sale.
There’s one very reliable characteristic of bald cypress, and that is its apical dominance. The tree wants to get tall, meaning every single specimen wants to be 100 feet tall. Those we collect tend to be not more than 10-25 feet tall, so there’s plenty of genetic destiny in each one. As a result, almost every shoot that forms on a newly collected bald cypress will grow upwards, and this happens from shortly after emergence until it’s stopped either by nature or the hand of the bonsai artist. (Take a look at the newly collected specimens on the site; practically every shoot is reaching for the sky.)
The tree on the left, along with the others I’ve posted this year, was collected in February. It and another were directly potted into bonsai containers. Yet this one decided to grow in a decidedly different manner than all of the others I collected this year. With the exception of the branches in the upper reaches of the tree, which are dutifully growing skyward, the rest are more or less horizontal. And these are extending shoots, with plenty of growth potential.
The fact is, I haven’t a clue why this particular tree decided to grow this way. But I am very thankful, because I have a plan for this one I hope to pull off. I have the opportunity to study bald cypresses in nature in the course of my daily travels, and just today I noticed an interesting mature tree form I’m determined to mimic in a bonsai. Since this tree has been kind enough to grow horizontal branches for me, what better way to get started?
Now, I have confidence the extending shoots on this tree will make their move upward, so there’s likely wire in their future. But that’s okay. What this tree has given me, by the simple fact of growing as it has, is a glimpse into its future. I know what I saw on my travels earlier today; I can now see that tree form in this specimen. Whether I can get there or not is a question to be answered over the next couple of years.
The trunk base of this specimen is 2.75″ above the root crown, and it’s 22″ to the chop. Finished height should be about 26″. The pot is by Chuck Iker.
by Zach Smith | Apr 12, 2015 | American Elm, Care, Elms, Wiring
I found this American elm, Ulmus Americana, growing as a volunteer on my property. I dug it this winter and potted it directly into this beautiful Paul Katich oval. It responded as expected – American elms are very easy to collect – by throwing buds right on time this spring. Unfortunately, it failed to bud all the way up the trunk and the buds that appeared were not exactly in strategic locations as you can see in this first photo. So what to do?
We all know the art of bonsai is about designing trees. But let’s face it, for the most part we work best when the classic “stair step” branch pattern can be identified and brought to fruition. Take another look at the tree to the left; most of the stairs are just not there.
This is where we have to think outside the box. First of all, the classic shape of American elm is definitely not along the lines of “first branch – second branch – back branch” and so on. In fact, it’s described as “vase-shaped.” American elm trunks tend to fork fairly low, with two or three major upright sub-trunks which divide further, and so on until you reach the smallest branches. So considering the specimen at left, can we make something like this happen?
Here’s what about 10 minutes of work brought about. Contrast this bonsai-in-training with the messy trunk plus shoots above. You can see exactly where this specimen is heading, even though the new growth is very juvenile.
This tree will not end up with the classic vase shape of the American elm, but it will be a nice broom-form specimen. Not a bad way to handle questionable material.
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by Zach Smith | Apr 3, 2015 | Care, Oaks, Potting, Soil, ZPC
You may remember this Willow oak, Quercus phellos, from past posts. I collected it in Winter 2011, and it responded very well to its new home. After just four years, it had put on branches of decent thickness and more importantly produced a nice new apex that I let run in order to continue the smooth tapering of the trunk.
Last year I thought I had lost the tree in the brutal winter of 2014, but it surprised (and pleased) me when it came out very late and grew as strong as always. By rights, last year the tree should have either been repotted in a nursery container or into its first bonsai pot. But the late budburst took me past the ideal potting season and so I left it alone.
I couldn’t let it go past this year without working the root zone. I happened to have a nice Byron Myrick oval that previously held a water-elm (victim of Winter 2014), so I figured there was no reason not to make a real bonsai out of this fine tree.
I cut the tree back during winter. The tapering transition in the apex is fine; the lower branches needing chasing back. But how did the roots look?
Full up, I’d say. I wasn’t too surprised to see the mass of roots that had completely filled the nursery pot. What’s more, they were extremely dense at the soil surface. But that’s what a good root hook is for. With a little elbow grease, I had everything teased out and trimmed in about 15 minutes. Better than that, I got a chance to see the surface rootage I’d buried all those years ago.
Now that’s a nice mass of roots! And check out the flaring at the base.
Perhaps the most difficult part of growing bonsai is we don’t have any way to directly gauge what’s happening underground from day to day. It’s easy to see wilting leaves or fungal spots. It’s easy to see most pests. But underground is the great unknown. So we prepare our soil using time-tested principles, and ensure the soil remains properly moist.
Time to pot the tree. As I’d done with my large hawthorn a few weeks ago, I put a layer of pea gravel in the bottom of the pot for drainage, then a layer of horticultural charcoal on top of that, then in went the tree with my standard screened bonsai mix.
You may be thinking the new apex is too long, and you’re right. I need to shorten it by about half to continue the tapering process; but I plan to work it back slowly to ensure against dieback.
As you might have guessed, this is the nicest willow oak bonsai I’ve ever owned.
Finally, here’s a close-up of the nebari. I usually forget how the surface rootage looks on any tree I collect after time has passed. So it’s always nice to see a good set of roots re-emerge. And what character!
This tree has a 4″ trunk base above the root crown and is 12″ to the original chop. The finished height will be about 16″. I anticipate it’ll take another four or five years to bring this specimen to show-able condition.
I seldom run across larger willow oaks to collect, but I am growing a few specimens in the ground (along with live oaks and water oaks). I hope to have some pre-bonsai material available in two or three years.
by Zach Smith | Apr 2, 2015 | Care, Hawthorn, Wiring
Well, the time has come. Spring budburst has more or less passed, and while quite a few of my trees remain at the budding stage and others are just pushing – this is generally species-dependent – others need to be wired.
I had posted this hawthorn when I first collected and potted it as a bare trunk. Look at the amazing growth in just a month’s time. The shoots have reached the stage where they need to be “cooled off” and brought into the right position before they get too stiff. There are also too many of them, so along with wiring it was time for some editing.
This is one characteristic of bonsai I believe is often overlooked, namely, that we create a complete tree form with relatively few branches – certainly far fewer than trees in the wild typically have. Yet you’ll notice that quite a few bonsai have so many branches that it’s hard to see the miniature tree amongst them all. There’s an old principle that says less is more. Nowhere is this truer, I think, than in the wonderful world of bonsai.
This is where I ended up about 20 minutes later. I have the beginnings of a branch set, which is all I need at present. The trunk is too long, but it can’t be chopped again until next winter. In the meantime, I need to encourage a new leader on the right-hand side of the trunk. I have a couple of candidates, so I’ll let them run for a while and then select one this summer. I cut back the strong shoot on the left-hand side of the trunk, and will keep it under control so it doesn’t dominate the upper part of the tree. Once I’m ready to select the new leader, I’ll remove it completely.
I had thought this was a green hawthorn when I collected it, based on the appearance of the bark, but now that the leaves are out I know it’s a Mayhaw.
You can’t see it in these photos, but the nebari on this tree is extraordinary. I may even keep the tree for myself because of it. Time will tell.
by Zach Smith | Mar 29, 2015 | Bald Cypress, Care, Chinese Elm, Elms, Wiring
I love when my trees begin to bud in the very early spring, especially the new arrivals, but I’m just awestruck when spring really kicks in. Shoots start extending, and you get a glimpse of the health of each and every one of your bonsai and pre-bonsai.
The photo of this tree in the March 17 post was taken a mere 12 days ago. Is this not amazing? And the growth is just beginning. Now, bald cypress is one of the strongest growers in the bonsai world. To be sure, they miniaturize in container culture, but this doesn’t stop them from budding up and down the trunk just as if they has no restrictions at all.
I’ll be wiring this one in another week or two, removing that wire in another three or four, and going into a second round of training this summer. By that time I’ll have a specimen which only needs refinement.
Remember this Chinese elm I posted for sale on February 28th? Well, here’s what a few week’s worth of spring weather will do:
Aren’t Chinese elms wonderful? Even if you end up with an “S” curve specimen, there’s hope. You just have to dedicate yourself to overcoming its inherent design flaw, but the process of doing so gives you the opportunity to work with what is truly one of the very best bonsai species for beginners. Drop me an email if you need some advice.
