by Zach Smith | Aug 13, 2016 | Bald Cypress, Care, Styling, Wiring
I’m sure you all remember this Bald Cypress, Taxodium Distichum, which I defoliated on July 14th. You were kind enough to help me pick the new front of the tree. It’s surprising to many folks that established BC can be defoliated in summer, but the fact is it not only does no harm to the tree, it actually produces multiple benefits. For one, you get another round of styling work done. After defoliation, you have the opportunity to “see inside” the tree and make some styling decisions. Second, you avoid the inevitable “tired” foliage that BC bonsai tend to get in the August-September timeframe. They grow so vigorously that it’s common for some of the interior foliage to suffer and turn brown, then black. This goes away with the defoliation and does not return. Finally, the trees are much more likely to produce a nice fall foliage color, the beautiful bronze you may have seen before, as a result of the defoliation.
Two weeks later, you can see the new foliage appearing. As a general rule, all of the thicker branches on a BC will rebud in various spots along the length of the branch. With the smaller ones, it’s an iffy proposition. Sometimes they die, sometimes now. But they’re easily replaced with fast-growing shoots, so it’s not a significant issue.
Here’s a shot from today (8/20/16). The foliage volume is coming along. I did a shearing of new shoots that were pointing straight up or were too long, and removed shoots that didn’t belong. All of this is in preparation for showing the tree at our local club fall show in November. I’m in hopes of having fall color to show.
I know a lot of you are looking for bald cypress stock, and we should have a lot more next spring. As always, I can’t recommend BC more highly. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a species better suited to bonsai.
I’d love to hear any comments you may have.
by Zach Smith | Aug 6, 2016 | Care, Dogwood, Potting, Pruning, Styling, Wiring
I posted a blog on this Roughleaf dogwood,
Cornus drummondii, this past Thursday. The tree was collected in January of this year, and after a slow start really took off. As I mentioned Thursday, the tree has a lot going for it in terms of character. Given that plus the fact that the tree has recovered so well and quickly, I decided that today I would go ahead and do the initial styling on it. One thing I wanted to avoid was allowing the new branches to get too stiff to bend in 2017.
This view is from the back of the tree. I wanted to illustrate the design principle of making your decisions beginning with things you are very sure of, then moving on through to the things you aren’t so sure of. In this case, there’s a long and straight branch emerging at a sharp angle from the main trunk that, for reasons I can’t explain, I left on the tree. Clearly this branch has to either be removed completely or reduced greatly in length. I was able to cut to a new shoot down the branch, so I did that to get started on the “editing” of the tree.
Here you can see that I’ve shortened the offending branch. It’s not likely to play a part in the final design, but I left part of it on for now (you can always cut more off of the material you’re working on; putting something back on that you just cut off doesn’t work at all).
You may recall from Thursday my impression that I would be cutting to the branch shown here moving off to the left at a good angle, as my primary trunk line. As I studied the tree this morning, I changed my mind. The reason for this has to do with how the tree emerges from the soil. While that particular trunk line could be made to work, I have in mind a round pot for this tree and based on this I felt the tree should terminate in a more upright position. Now, if down the road I change my mind (or the tree’s new owner does so) there won’t be any problem in restyling the tree. But for now, I decided to go with the upright trunk line.
In this photo I’ve cut back the old leader – which was going to happen regardless.
Here I’ve used a wooden block to move the tree into its ultimate potting angle. This will help me as I choose and position branches.
The main trunk gets chopped back to the where the new leader emerges from it.
After much editing of shoots that won’t be part of the final design. You can see the bonsai starting to really take shape. Isn’t the trunk character terrific?
Here I’ve wired all of the branches and the new leader, and positioned them.
I slip-potted the tree into this nice Byron Myrick round, to the greatest extent I could, in order to prevent damage to the roots. I did have to trim some to fit the tree in the right spot in the pot, but overall they got “bruised” to the minimum possible degree.
I really like the way this Dogwood bonsai turned out. By doing the initial styling and potting this year, the tree can get a head-start on next year’s development. All that’s left at this point is to thicken up and develop the crown of the tree, and pinch and prune the branching to create ramification. Roughleaf dogwood is much easier to develop into a well-ramified specimen than its cousin the Flowering dogwood. Don’t get me wrong, I love both species, but each has its own features.
If you’re interested in native species as bonsai, this tree is available at our Miscellaneous Bonsai page. It ships in September.
by Zach Smith | Aug 4, 2016 | Care, Dogwood, Styling
I have written on more than one occasion about the principle of benign neglect as it pertains to bonsai. Because bonsai is a hands-on pastime, the beginner often becomes convinced that creating and maintaining their trees is almost constant work. In fact, aside from daily watering and checking for any pest or disease issues, bonsai is a lot less doing than you might think.
I wrote a blog about the species Roughleaf dogwood, Cornus drummondii, earlier this year. I’ve worked with dogwoods on a limited basis over the past 25+ years; this occasion has really opened my eyes to a fine native species for bonsai.
I collected this specimen on the same day as the one in my blog post. I think you can readily see the potential – great old bark on the trunk, nice taper and movement, and there’s even a bonus natural shari thrown in. This tree, along with the other one that had been growing nearby, apparently had suffered the fate of many trees growing alongside a highway. The occasional weed control project, perhaps, with bush knife or some tractor-mounted horror. Maybe someone parking too close and scraping the lower trunk. It’s not hard to imagine, though you can’t be sure exactly what happened. As a bonsai artist, all we can say is “thanks.” So much great material comes from the good “un-intentions” of others.
This photo is from May 8th, by the way.
It took a good while before the growth kicked in on this specimen. Here we are two months later, and I’m finally getting some shoot extension. Collecting was successful; now we’re getting somewhere.
And lastly, today’s appearance. The roots are firm and the growth is rampant. Because dogwood wood really gets stiff once it hardens off, the tree needs an initial styling soon. Fortunately, with a good set of roots the tree won’t mind, even at this time of year.
This is another example of (mostly) benign neglect. I’ve fed this tree and watered it. Not a single leaf has been trimmed or pinched. I’ve moved it on the bench less than two feet from where I first set it. The only active thing I’ve done is to stabilize the trunk (see the photo above) using a native American pottery shard wedged against the edge of the pot. And that … is it!
The moral of the story is, your trees don’t love your attention near as much as you love giving them attention. To borrow the timeless Japanese principle, less is usually more. As you continue on your bonsai journey, this principle will get easier to apply.
Final note: I’ve included some detailed comments in the captions on the first photo above, to give you an idea of my thought process in planning the design of this tree. To be sure, there’s often more than one potential design in a tree. You as the artist get to make the final call on the raw material you start out with. For those trees I go ahead and design before posting, I try to find the best expression of the tree I can. Balance and harmony, in a mature representation of a tree in nature, are the desired end-result. This takes a good trunk line, taper and movement; well-placed branches; and finally, diligent pruning and pinching to produce foliage in scale.
by Zach Smith | Jul 31, 2016 | American Elm, Care, Chinese Elm, Elms, Pruning, Styling, Water Elm, Wiring
There’s nothing like developing a bonsai. Sure, we all have or want “finished” trees in our collection for sheer viewing pleasure, but no destination is fun without the journey to get there.
We’re well into the depths of summer now, and my trees have put on a lot of spring and early summer growth. For material newly in development, it’s time to finish up the first phase of their journey and get them ready for completion of year one. This is a combination of techniques, involving unwiring and rewiring and trimming. These won’t all be done at the same time, even on a given tree. You’ll find that your branches will develop at different rates. You’re likely to remove the wire from your new leader before any of your branches, since that’s where the strongest growth is almost certain to be. And as the weeks roll on, you’ll remove wire successively until it’s all off – at which point it’s time to put wire back on most of those branches.
Here’s one of the big Water-elms I’ve been showing you. From trunk buds this April, here we are with tremendous leader and branch growth in less than three months. At this point I’ve removed all of the wire from the branches; a new round or wiring is coming soon. The wire was removed from the new leader a few weeks ago; it’s been trimmed a couple of times now and I’ve applied new wire to get the shape I want.
And after a good trimming. When you’re building your branches, you want to create the taper that mimics the taper of the trunk by growing and cutting back in stages. Now, these branches are a bit long even though they’ve been trimmed back pretty hard. With water-elm I know this will work fine. In the next year I’ll have much thicker branches, and they’ll have nice taper.
Size really doesn’t matter when it comes to developing bonsai. Even in a small tree, you go through the same stages. Now, there is one significant difference to be aware of when working with small material in development. Though the process of creating the crown of the tree is more or less the same, in the small bonsai it represents a much bigger part of the tree. This means you have to get it exactly right!
Here’s a small Chinese elm I’ve been working on this year. The trunk base is only 1″ near the soil and it’s less than 10″ to the trunk chop, meaning the finished height of this tree will be not more than about 12″. Contrast that with the Water-elm above, which will end up 30-32″ tall. Now, I will need to do a good job on that tree’s apex, so don’t misunderstand my point. It’s just that the small bonsai has to pack a lot into a very small space.
Here’s the next stage in this small bonsai, six weeks after the shot above. Notice how nicely the leader thickened up – so much so that the wire is no more. Notice that I’ve already got some ramification on the branches. Great progress!
One more thing to notice is that I cut the new leader a couple of internodes too long. This is to ensure I don’t have a problem with rebudding. I’ll get a new shoot in each of the leaf axils on the shortened leader. I plan to pick the lowest one, because that will ultimately produce the best tapering in the trunk. But I didn’t cut to the lowest node at this time because I didn’t want to risk the new leader drying out and dying.
This American elm is similar in size to the Chinese elm above. Here we are in early July, with a branch set wired and a new leader doing its thing. Doesn’t look like much at this stage, does it? Oh, it’s got a nice lower trunk, and you can see the potential. But it’s just an early stage bonsai in the making with a lot of miles left to go.
And four weeks later, here’s where we are. Nice growth in the leader, which will need to be even shorter than I’ve trimmed it once I get new buds. The wire has been removed. I don’t yet have any ramification in the branching, but that’s just a matter of time. For now, I need to continue to build the rest of the trunk of this tree and the apical branching.
Bonsai development is all about simple steps. As long as you do the right one at the right time, it’s pretty much like A-B-C.
by Zach Smith | Jul 30, 2016 | Care, Collecting, Oaks, Pruning, Sweetgum, Wiring
When I tell fellow bonsai enthusiasts that I’ve had good success collecting oaks in summer, they’re always surprised. And why not? We know that most species prefer to be collected during dormancy, meaning winter. I’ve written before about my own discovery in regard to collecting Sweetgums, namely, that they seem to prefer being lifted in May. But oaks? Who would think of collecting them in summer?
I like to experiment from time to time, testing what’s common knowledge as it were. I first tried my hand at collecting oaks last summer, and found that I had great success all the way into August. So I lifted this Water oak, Quercus nigra, today.
This is a very nice piece of material. The trunk base is 1.5″ and it’s 8.5″ to the chop. Nice taper, and I love the rough, dark bark near the base. I should know in a couple of weeks if it’s going to make it.
Okay, that’s a Water oak and I know already I can collect them in summer, along with Willow oak, Quercus phellos. No new knowledge there. But here’s the real experiment of the day. Can Live oak, Quercus Virginiana, be collected in summer? Now that would be something.
In October 2010 I gathered about 50 Live oak acorns. I planted them in a big tub, then ignored them except for watering and feeding as they sprouted and developed into seedlings. Two years ago I planted the roughly 25 that remained in my field growing bed, along with a handful of larger seedlings I’d acquired in a bonsai club auction. This is one of those larger seedlings, now grown to a trunk diameter of 1.5″. I like the gentle curve of the trunk, and I’m thinking it’ll make a decent broom-form bonsai in a few years. It’s got a good start already.
I went ahead and wired out the branches (positive thinking, eh?). I’ll need to chase them back to get the proportions right, but that’s for another time. For now, we’ll see if Live oaks can be lifted at this time of year. The truth is, I have no idea, but I’d sure like to know.
Have you ever worked with Live oak? My own experience is somewhat limited. I’d love to hear anything you’re willing to share.
