by Zach Smith | May 9, 2016 | Bald Cypress, Care, Pruning, Styling, Wiring
We’ve been following the development of this bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, since last year when I first collected and direct-potted it. BC grow so quickly that it’s very easy to develop them completely in a bonsai pot, provided of course you begin with a suitable trunk. In the case of this specimen, I had a fine buttress and great taper to work with. The tree was chopped at 24″, which meant I’d be able to complete the design at a height of about 30″. Considering the basal trunk diameter of 3″ 3″ above the soil surface, this gives an ideal proportion for a bald cypress bonsai. They look best when you can produce a convincing impression of height (this is for the standard upright styles; certainly you could grow BC in most any style if the material lent itself).
In this photo you can see a couple of things. One, the apical dominance that defines bald cypress is fully on display. There are countless shoots that have emerged and are growing straight up, having extended in excess of a foot in length. Making a bonsai out of a piece of material that behaves this way is a challenge, since the branches all want to grow upward in order for the tree to get very tall. But as bonsai artists this is what we do all the time anyway: except for bushes and shrubs, every tree wants to get taller until it reaches its predetermined height. So we fight against this to create a small tree. In time and with root restriction, this tendency declines; however, it won’t ever go away completely.
The second thing you may have noticed about this tree is that the two lowest branches did not survive winter. This is not an uncommon thing for the smallest of BC branches. With apical dominance in full force, the tree didn’t feel the need to hang onto those lower branches. But they’re easily replaced, and with a little care this year should come through Winter 2017 just fine.
Here I’ve removed the two dead lower branches and wired two new branches on the right-hand side of the tree. I’ve also removed a number of the superfluous shoots pointing straight up. I had created a pretty complete design in the lower part of this tree last year, so my chore for today was to re-establish it. That involved mostly removing unwanted growth.
Now the rest of the unwanted shoots are taken off. I’ve also added some wire to the lowest left branch to bring it lower and enhance the appearance of height in the tree.
And finally I’ve wired a few smaller shoots in the apex of the tree and clipped the new leader. Notice how well the tapering transition is coming along. This multi-step, very reliable process is critical to making your BC (or any tree) look right. You don’t want to take any shortcuts.
In my experience with bald cypress, in order to find a specimen with a significant buttressing root base the trunk diameter near the soil will have to be 3″ or more. In fact, the cutoff point seems to be 3″ for reasons I don’t understand. In this case of this specimen, the base is 3″ in diameter but there’s a really nice, full buttress – in fact, the best I’ve ever seen. It’s a rare find.
This tree is available at our Bald Cypress Bonsai page.
by Zach Smith | Apr 3, 2016 | Bald Cypress, Care, Potting, Pruning, Soil, Styling, Water Elm
I posted this fall shot of my ‘Root Around Cypress Knee’ Water-elm, Planera aquatica. The tree had been in its pot for a couple of years. Because I had not been able to give it a lot of room during the first potting, I didn’t want to wait another year to cut back the roots and give the tree fresh soil. Plus I wanted to get an idea of the condition of the knee, which is not going to last more than another season or two. This knee is composed of sapwood. While bald cypress heartwood is virtually indestructible, the sapwood is very light and rots easily. This is especially true if the wood remains in contact with water. In the case of this tree, there was a smaller knee emerging from the left-hand side of the trunk base which rotted away last year. So that left me with the main knee.
Here’s a shot of the tree from the rear, after I pulled it from the pot. You can see there were plenty of roots. You can also see the very nice nebari this tree has. This is good news for the time when that knee isn’t with me any longer. It’ll make for a good, stable looking surface root structure.
In this shot I’ve already teased out and eliminated a lot of the roots, especially finer surface roots. This exposed the lower part of the knee and allowed me to judge its integrity. There’s softness going on, and because the knee has a cut surface on the bottom its ability to absorb moisture just cannot be thwarted. Cypress wood is pretty much like a sponge. This is why when collecting the species you have to seal the top chop. Water is sucked up through the sapwood from the severed tap and lateral roots, and it’ll evaporate right through the sapwood at the top chop and dry the tree out.
Another angle on the nebari embracing the knee.
Now the roots are all trimmed and the tree is ready to go back in its pot.
The final result. I’ve raised the tree somewhat in the pot, exposing the fine nebari it possesses. Even once the knee is gone, this is going to be a fine water-elm bonsai.
The trunk base is 2.5″ in diameter and it’s 21″ tall. The pot is a beautiful rounded-corner rectangle by Byron Myrick.
by Zach Smith | Feb 27, 2016 | Bald Cypress, Care, Potting
Today officially closed the Winter 2016 collecting season. I needed a few more bald cypresses – it looks like being a banner year for interest in the species – and this time of year is right at the end of viability for collecting them. In fact, most of the ones I brought home had already budded out (same as last year, and all of those survived).
Here are most the trees I harvested today, still in their muck and roots from the swamp. I always run a hand down the trunk of each tree I consider, in order to gauge how good the basal flare is. For the most part, you have to collect trees with trunks at least 4″ in diameter to get a good buttressing root base. That proved to be the case today as well.
How about this for a buttressing root? This is going to make quite an impressive bonsai five to ten years down the road. Flat-top or conical shape? I don’t think it really matters; either way is going to look great.
Another nice flaring root base. I left a couple of branches on this tree since they had buds starting to open. That should help me gauge how well the tree is coming through the collecting process over the next few weeks.
This may be my favorite from today’s crop. I really like the base on this tree, and the movement of the trunk is terrific.
I should know in a few weeks if I was successful with these specimens. Fingers crossed.
Each of these has a trunk that’s 4″ 4″ above the soil surface, and each is about 24-25″ to the chop.
by Zach Smith | Feb 21, 2016 | Bald Cypress, Care, Styling, Wiring, ZPC
As with most bonsai in development, timing is critical as you move from new collect to recovered specimen and on to initial design steps. With bald cypress, timing is perhaps more critical than with most species since it grows so vigorously once it recovers from collecting.
I collected this specimen in February of 2015. It has such an impressive buttress, with really deep fluting, that I had to keep it for myself (allowing me to let go of its predecessor to a good home). As with all such large cypresses, I left it alone throughout the 2015 growing season so it could get really strong. It began budding two weeks ago, so I knew it was going to soon need its year two development work.
One decision I was compelled to make with this tree right off the bat was my choice of fronts. You can see that I potted it in this tub with an assumption – not a bad one at that. But this left me with something of a dilemma. The strongest leader on this tree emerges from the right-hand side of the trunk. Though this may not be an issue many years down the road, it may not look right once I end up re-chopping for taper.
I turned the tree a bit in order to get the new leader into a better spot. Does this adversely affect the appearance of the buttress? I actually like the way the tree looks from this angle. The trunk seems to have a bit more movement. For now, anyway, I’m going to go with this front. Even if I ultimately change it back, I don’t think it’ll cause too much trouble.
Time to make the tapering chop. I’ve tried different ways, but the trunk splitter is simply the best. You can grip the wood at the right angle, bite into it with the force you need, then peel off chunks of wood by levering with the tool.
This work took less than five minutes. What’s important to note here is that I’ve cut roughly half-way across the initial straight chop. You can’t make an angled cut to the new leader as you would with most species. Bald cypress is so apically dominant that when it calluses over you can end up with a nasty reverse taper that’s hard to correct. By leaving a “shelf” of wood, the rolling callus is forced to roll over this wood and is thereby kept from swelling overmuch.
After the tapering chop. I did a little fine caving with a knife to smooth the edges where the cambium lay. Once the exposed wood dries, which will take most of this year, I can come back and do some carving in the chopped area with my Dremel®. There’s no rush on this.
The final shot for today. I’ve shortened the new leader, wired level a couple of unruly branches and sealed the carved area. That’s all I need to do for a good while.
In case you’re curious, the trunk on this cypress is 6″ across 6″ above the soil surface. The surface rootage, once it’s exposed, will measure about 14″ across. The tree is 26″ to the original chop. The taper is amazing. I believe this tree will end up about 36-40″ in height when done.
I’d love to hear any comments you might have about this tree. I think in four or five years it’ll be a show-stopper.
by Zach Smith | Feb 20, 2016 | Bald Cypress, Care, Hawthorn, Potting, Yaupon
I’ve felt for some time now that spring would be coming early this year. Turns out I was right. I had bald cypresses budding a couple of weeks ago, which isn’t surprising for trees “remembering” where they came from south of here, but yesterday I noticed that most of my newly collected hawthorns are budding – including my parsley haws, which is very exciting.
Today was the first of two weekend collecting trips left for the 2016 winter season, the last being next week. The season has been shortened by at least two weeks if not more. But I have to say I’m not sorry to see spring getting here. Each year I like winter less and less.
A new bonsai friend who has some property was kind enough to let me collect some material today. I was pleasantly surprised to find a couple of nice yaupons, Ilex vomitoria. The one at left features three trunks that have really nicely interplay and movement. With a little luck, I should be able to build the branch structures of these trunks in a single growing season. The important thing is going to be to wire the new growth before it hardens off; yaupon branches get very stiff quickly and they’re arrow-straight, so if you don’t get some movement into them early in the game it’s not going to happen. Why not just use thick wire to bend them? Because the branches also snap easily.
This specimen has a 3″ trunk base, with the tallest trunk being 13″ to the chop. The pot is a nice Byron Myrick oval.
This yaupon is very cool. The two trunks hug each other so tightly that the smaller one is literally “embraced” by the larger one.
The trunk is 1.5″ in diameter at the base, and the taller one is 13.5″ to the chop. The pot is another Byron Myrick piece.
I’m really looking forward to styling this tree. Stay tuned for updates.
This was my prize of the day. I’ve never worked with American holly, Ilex opaca, before. Apart from the incredibly sharp spines on the leaves, which can easily deter you, most of the specimens I see don’t have a lot of trunk character. This one is just a show-stopper.
I have no idea whether or how well American holly backbuds, but I’m going to find out soon. Assuming it cooperates with a new leader and some branches, I should have a nice showable tree in three or four years.
The trunk base is 3″ above the root crown, and it’s chopped at 14″. It’s potted in a vintage Richard Robertson oval.
I’d love to hear what you think of these hollies. Leave me a comment below.
by Zach Smith | Feb 14, 2016 | Bald Cypress, Care, Potting, Pruning, Styling, Wiring
Some of you may recall this bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, last reported on in February of 2015. I had previously potted it in this awesome Chuck Iker round, and it was time to do some serious styling. This was the result.
Then I encountered a problem during the 2015 growing season. For reasons unknown, the tree was stricken with chlorosis. In order to bring this condition under control, I removed the tree from its bonsai pot and put it into a large growing tub. Then I treated it with Ironite® and left it alone to grow for the remainder of the season.
The tree began budding a couple of weeks ago, so I knew I was going to have to get to work on it soon. Today was the day. As you can see, it really grew wild last year – mostly in the crown, of course, as the apical dominance of bald cypress is tough to overcome. My job, of course, is to get it back in control during 2016 and force the growth lower in the tree.
Here’s a closeup of my challenge. Notice all the strong growth going straight up. Also notice that my new leader is thickening very well, but needs to be simplified. There are way too many shoots in the apex of this tree.
Where do you begin working in your tree? From bottom to top, top to bottom or all over the place? I usually work my way from bottom to top, but the best advice I can give is to work from known to unsure to unknown. What I mean by this is, when you look at a tree with the intent of styling it to your design, some things you’ll be absolutely sure of, some things you’ll be unsure of and some things can be categorized as unknown – or put another way, “What the heck am I going to do about that?”
In this photo, I’ve done almost all of the trimming and shaping needed in the parts of the tree below the crown. In this case, I didn’t face any real unknowns. The apex, however, was a different story. I had a couple of good choices for where to take the leader, and after some deliberation finally settled on what I felt was the right one.
I could have brought the apex back toward an upright configuration, but in the end I felt that wouldn’t produce enough drama in the trunk line. In this case, continuing the leader toward the right-hand side gives me that extra something. I’m in hopes that as the tree develops, it’ll take on the appearance of a maturing bald cypress in transition from the more rounded broom-form toward the ultimate flattened top we often see.
If the tree grows well this year, meaning no further issues with chlorosis, I plan to put it back in the nice round shown above. This may need to wait till next year, however. When growing bonsai, the first consideration must always be the health of the tree.
Let me know what you think of this specimen.
