by Zach Smith | Jan 5, 2019 | Bald Cypress, Care, Collecting, Potting
Bald cypress should be in every bonsai enthusiast’s collection. But even more, a collected Bald cypress bonsai should be in everyone’s collection. BC is one of our specialties at Bonsai South. Each year we do our best to find and lift really high quality raw material. Today Cathy and I made our first trip of the collecting season. Here are a few specimens we brought home.
I often like to show these trees after they’ve been cleaned up and made ready for pot or tub. Why? Because it helps to dispel one of the great myths about collecting deciduous trees, namely, that you have to get lots of roots and leave those radial roots really long in order for the tree to survive collecting. This is absolutely incorrect. I’ve been collecting trees for over 30 years now, and when I started out I went with the conventional wisdom and left lots of root. One big problem with this is, when it comes time for your tree to go into a bonsai container, you have to chop the roots again! Believe me, this is not something you want to do. So over time, I experimented with chopping roots to fit the eventual bonsai container, and guess what? They lived!
This specimen is a perfect example of how far to reduce that root zone when collecting. As I tell those who like to collect their own, don’t be afraid to chop!
It does take some time to remove the tangled grass roots and gumbo mud from these specimens, but in time they yield. For this size tree, a tub was the best container. The trunk base is 5.5″ across 5.5″ from the soil level, and it’s chopped at 28″. I’d estimate its age at 40-50 years. The buttressing/fluting is very impressive. I see a wonderful informal upright Bald cypress bonsai in four or five years.
I’m always excited to find specimens that naturally lend themselves to the flat-top style. If you study this style, you’ll find that the best looking specimens have tall, slender trunks. This one is chopped at the same height as the specimen above, 28″. But the trunk base is only 3.5″ about 4.5″ above what will be the soil level. It’s got a little trunk movement, which is good, and a really nice feature: a subtle twist to the trunk from the base up to about half the height. There’s also subtle fluting, which is nice to find in a specimen with this small a trunk.
Now this one is tucked into its pot. You can see the subtle twisting better in this photo.
And one more example from today. This one has a 5″ trunk 5″ from the soil, and it’s chopped at 25″. Another nice informal upright BC bonsai to be.
Let me know what you think of today’s haul. There will be more to come in the next several weeks.
by Zach Smith | Dec 28, 2018 | Bald Cypress, Care, Chinese Elm, Elms, Vines
Chinese elm, Ulmus parvifolia, is commonly called Lacebark elm. This common name was given due to the fact that the species exfoliates its bark annually, revealing a lovely underlayer with a nice orangey-salmonish color. I was cleaning up this specimen today and for the first time since I potted it the tree has shed some of its bark. That’s a milestone in this tree’s life as a bonsai, which began in 2014.
I’ve done some trimming on this tree, and will do a little more before spring. Chinese elms are among the first species to bud out each spring for me. Even though winter just began, I can’t wait for warmer weather!
I potted up this Trumpet vine, Campsis radicans, in 2017. Since that time I’ve just let it grow and recover from lifting. The trunk is nice, as you can see. Today I rubbed off the shaggy bark, leaving the smooth true bark of the species. It’ll put on another layer of shag in 2019, as it continues to grow.
The foliage is mostly off of the Cypresses, but this one is clinging to some pretty fronds. I thought it would be fun to share the image.
In another month or so, I’ll make the year two chop in the apex to continue the development of the tapering transition. When I do, I’ll post another blog on it. 2019 should be a good year in the life of this future bonsai.
by Zach Smith | Dec 22, 2018 | Bald Cypress, Care, Pruning
We’re getting close to Bald cypress collecting season for 2019, so I thought it would be a good time to take a look at a tree I’ve had on the bench for a couple of years.
This is a big boy. The trunk is 6″ across 6″ above the soil, and it’s 26″ to the chop. As you can see, the taper is just awesome and the basal flare and fluting are classic BC. This specimen will make a fine formal upright bonsai.
Never let anybody tell you there’s no work to be done on your bonsai in winter. There’s always stuff to be done, weather permitting of course. All I had going against me today was a cold morning.
The first order of business here was to clean the trunk with a stiff wire brush and trim off low shoots that won’t play any part in the design of the bonsai. BC do well with a good stiff brush cleaning, by the way. Don’t be afraid to go after them hard. You just have to be a bit careful working around the dormant shoots.
You may have already noticed the number one issue with this tree. It’s all of those thick upright shoots near the chop. I can’t use any of them but the one right in front. All those others have to go. I left them alone after collection just to get the tree’s root system established. But besides that, they just sap growth lower down in the tree. I need a branch structure. These shoots will suppress that effort, as the tree is trying to regain its height. Sorry, tree, can’t let that happen.
That’s better. Now I’m left with what is going to be my new leader, once I make the year two chop this coming spring (it’ll actually be a year three chop. but that’s okay).
Now, the tree will attempt to produce new buds and shoots high up, as it won’t like what I’ve done as that is not what it had in mind. I’ll rub those off as they appear. Low shoots will be allowed to run, as will the single leader I’ve chosen. And that’s how you do this part of the development work.
Here’s a right-side shot. The trunk will be chopped again this spring, down where the new leader emerges, and I’ll also make the angled cut down the trunk at the same time. That will enhance the taper in the new apex, and ultimately produce a nice tapering transition point.
A shot from the back. This is a really nice BC specimen. I love the base of this tree (there’s more spread below the soil surface; remember that I bury surface roots to protect them at the time of collection).
One final shot from the front. I don’t do anything more to this tree until I start to see buds in (maybe) March.
Let me know what you think. Leave a comment below.
by Zach Smith | Sep 4, 2018 | Bald Cypress, Care, Collecting, Styling
Taxodium distichum
Collect date: 1/20/18
Trunk base: 5″ (5″ above the soil)
Height to chop: 26″
Final height (est.): 36″
Estimated age: 50-65 years
Years in training: 1
Estimated release date: 4/15/22
Bald cypress #68
Video #1
by Zach Smith | Aug 4, 2018 | Bald Cypress, Care, Collecting, Elms, Water Elm
Today we got an earlier start so we could beat the heat. We also benefited from cloud cover during most of the lifting. The results would have been just as good, but it’s always nice when you don’t have to suffer so much.
Let’s start off with this clump-style specimen. Notice anything unusual about it? For you Japan-o-philes, you know the number four is considered bad luck there and so you won’t see any four-tree forests or four-trunk multi-trunk style bonsai in the Japanese shows (at least as far as I know).
Well, I pondered how to comply with this “rule,” but no matter which of these trunks I thought of eliminating, I lost more than I gained. I had to conclude that this tree needs its four trunks to look right.
It’s going to make a fine bonsai for someone who isn’t superstitious.
Trunk base 2.5″, height 20″ to the tip of the tallest trunk.
Here’s a specimen Cathy found. Isn’t that trunk movement awesome! The rootage is likewise awesome, but it’s buried to keep it from drying out.
My plan for this one is to slip-pot it into a beautiful Lary Howard pot I got in yesterday, this coming spring.
Trunk base 2.5″, 22″ to the tip of the apex.
Here’s a tree destined for the Bonsai South collection. It’s a truly lovely twin-trunk. The base is great, the taper perfect, and the trunk has really nice movement.
The trunk on this one is 2″ across at the soil, and it’s 18″ to the tip of the taller trunk.
And finally, the big “Hoss” of the day. The trunk on this one is 5″ across, and it’s 27″ to the chop. I’m thinking it’ll finish up around 36-40″ tall. Wonderful rootage, taper and movement. And the secondary leader will make for a different design than your normal informal upright.
Let me know what you think of these trees. Leave us a comment below.
by Zach Smith | Jul 11, 2018 | Bald Cypress, Crape myrtle, Flowering, Styling
We’ve been following along with the development of this Crape myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica, for a couple of months now. It’s a small specimen that I made from a venerable old Crape left to me by my friend Allen Gautreau. I love the trunk of this literati bonsai, and the Chuck Iker pot really complements the tree well.
Here’s something totally expected. Crapes are about the most eager thing to bloom I know of. In fact, even the cuttings I take will often bloom after they’re potted up. So I wasn’t at all surprised when I noticed flower buds forming on this tree. It’ll probably put on a few more flowers for the year, and after that I can focus on developing the branches.
Now for the unexpected. I collected this large Bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, back in February. It responded very well, throwing nice long shoots by April. So as per normal practice, I just fed and watered it and let it grow.
When summer starts to really set in, it’s common for BC foliage to start looking poorly. This is especially true if you use an automatic overhead watering system, like I do. The trees have to get enough water, but when the air circulation dies out the interior foliage suffers. For established specimens, this problem is remedied by defoliating. You’ve seen how I do this in a recent video. But I have never recommended, nor have I ever done, a defoliation on a tree in the first year after collection. The reason for this is pretty obvious: you don’t want to stress a tree any more than you have to. Better to leave the tree alone than to risk harming it.
But ….
Last week I decided to test my own rule on this tree, so I defoliated and did an initial wiring on it. That made me nervous! While I know the tree has already been producing roots, would it have enough to recover from the complete removal of foliage? Well, no better way to find out than to try it.
The other day I thought I noticed a bud or two. That looked promising. Today? All the branches you see have new buds on them, and there are also new trunk buds. So I’m pretty confident the tree has come through the experiment intact.
I plan to try this technique on other specimens in year one, so I can see if it helps or hurts the recovery and growth. I’ll let you know how it goes.
