by Zach Smith | Jan 18, 2016 | Care, Hornbeam
I’ve never grown Korean hornbeam, Carpinus coreana, as bonsai. I bought a few small specimens last winter and planted them out so they could thicken up in the ground and provide me with stock plants for cuttings. This past summer was pretty hard on them. One died and the other three struggled. I’m not sure if they didn’t care for our excessive heat down here in the Deep South, or if they simply weren’t well-enough established to make it through with robust good health. Regardless, the season ended with three left and I’ll be watching them closely this year to see how they like it in my landscape.
Here’s where it gets weird. Today I’m out strolling in the growing field and I stop to take a close look at these small Korean hornbeams. What do I see? Buds swelling and a couple unfurling! Now, I’m used to Chinese elms emerging early in the season, but early means late February or early March. It’s just what they do. But having no experience with Korean hornbeams, I can’t explain why they’re wanting to break dormancy now. Our weather has been pretty cool since Christmas, with a number of light freezes and highs ranging mostly into the 60s. We got one day late last week with the high around 70. I’m not willing to believe that’s enough to make most species start to move sap. Oh, the Japanese magnolias are blooming and the Louisiana irises are pushing, but that’s their programming. I saw some out-of-season leafing of landscape trees back in the Thanksgiving-Christmas interlude, thanks to unseasonably warm weather. But these Korean hornbeams were not budding then; this has happened in the past week or so.
So I’ll ask my readers: if you grow Korean hornbeam, what’s your experience with them breaking dormancy? Do they emerge sooner than other species? Or is this out of character for them?
by Zach Smith | Dec 12, 2015 | Care, Hornbeam, Pruning, Wiring
We’ve done pretty well this year with our fall color, including this nice little American hornbeam, Carpinus Caroliniana. The yellow and salmon-colored leaves make a nice contrast with the greenish-gray, smooth bark.
As with other of my deciduous trees, this one was ready for a final trimming and shaping for the winter dormancy period.
Here’s the final result. I’m very pleased with this hornbeam bonsai after just one year of training. Next year the crown will finish filling out and the ramification will really kick in.
If you’d like to give yourself a hornbeam bonsai for Christmas, this one can ship to arrive in time. It’s available now on our Hornbeam Bonsai sale page.
by Zach Smith | Nov 24, 2015 | Care, Hornbeam, Potting, Pruning
I think this is a significant American hornbeam (Carpinus Caroliniana) bonsai in training. With a trunk base measuring 6″ near the soil surface and a projected final height of 30-32″, great nebari and taper, and characteristic muscular trunk, what’s not to like about this tree? Nothing, really. But there’s a lot of work that needs doing as this bonsai enters the next stage of its development – it was dug in Winter 2010, got an initial wiring once new shoots had formed that same year, then was initially potted three years ago. During this time I worked on building the tapering transition in the apex, grow-and-chop by grow-and-chop.
This tree needs repotting next spring. It could have been repotted this past spring but I had other, more pressing chores. (Hornbeam roots very vigorously, so I generally recommend repotting every second year.)
Before I pull the tree from its pot, however, there are some significant chores that need doing. If you look closely at the upper trunk area, the tapering transition is not at all bad except for what looks like a “shoulder” where the original chop was made. This basically needs to be carved down to make the transition look better.
Here’s a closeup of the area I’ll be carving in the apex. It began as a straight chop when the tree was first collected. Once the new leader had grown strong enough, I made an angled cut. Once the healing began, I did some initial carving of the wood inside the rolling callus. That was four years ago.
Now I need to undertake the next carving project in this area. By angling the cut downward and taking off the “shoulder” on the left-hand side that makes the tapering look awkward, I should get the appearance I want. It’ll take several years to heal the way I need it to, but that’s not a problem. Time is always on the side of a maturing bonsai.
Here’s another carving project whose time has come. When the tree was originally collected, there was a second trunk emerging from the spot you see in the photo (it was hollow inside and destined to die, and certainly of no use to my design plan). I cut it back, but was careful not to make the cut too close to the trunk in order to prevent dieback down the trunk on that side. I was blessed with a bud beneath it, in a great spot for a primary branch and available to feed the roots on that side. I’ve worked on that branch since and refrained from carving the old trunk stump so as not to risk its health. Spring 2016 will be the time to take it back with my Dremel®.
As with any tree, there are always minor problems that eventually bother you enough that you decide to correct them. In the case of this tree, I have a thick branch in the crown of the tree and a bit of reverse taper in one of the apical curves. I think both of these problems can be solved without overly dramatic cutting; but I’ll make these decisions next spring while everything else in happening.
And finally, just to complete the record, a shot of the tree from the back. I’m very pleased with this hornbeam specimen; it’s truly one of the finest pieces I’ve worked on in my bonsai career.
Let me know what you think of this tree. I’d love to hear from you.
by Zach Smith | Jun 27, 2015 | Care, Hornbeam, Potting, Wiring
I collected this nice little American hornbeam, Carpinus Caroliniana, this past winter. I liked the movement of the trunk and taper, so I knew I could make a nice believable bonsai out of it.
All of the growth of the shoots you see here came from a bare trunk. Some of them are two feet long. Knowing hornbeam the way I know the species, there’s strength below the surface.
You may be wondering if it’s wise to be potting this tree in late June. To be sure, we’ve had unseasonably hot weather this month. But the thing is, American hornbeam never stops growing during the growing season. This may seem odd, especially since hornbeam is an understory tree. But I grow mine in full sun, and they don’t seem to mind.
After cutting off the trunk stub, I began working in the bottom of the tree. This one had a very good set of shoots in just the right places. I really love it when a tree designs itself.
More wiring and positioning of branches. It’s starting to look like something now.
Now all of the branches are wired and trimmed to the proper silhouette. I’ve selected the new leader and wired it into position. Very nice little tree!
As I expected, the tree had gobs of roots. Like most collected deciduous trees, you typically only get the major supporting roots when you lift them from the wild. There just aren’t any fibrous roots near the trunk. But again, hornbeam doesn’t care. It sprouts roots from the cut ends of the supporting roots very reliably, and they grow like mad all through the season. In this photo you can see some of the big fat white ends of the growing root tips. This is with temperatures in the 90’s, mind you.
Finally, the tree is potted into this nice Paul Katich oval. I think it’s a good match. The trunk base is 1.5″, and the height to the tip of the new leader is 10.5″. I’ll start getting good ramification next year. In about three years this will be a showable bonsai.
This tree is available for sale at our Hornbeam Bonsai page.
by Zach Smith | Feb 7, 2015 | Care, Hornbeam, Potting
Yesterday was my first collecting trip of 2015 for American hornbeam, Carpinus caroliniana. If you’ve been following my blog posts for a while, you know American hornbeam is right at the top of my list for best bonsai species. It’s easy to collect, the survival rate is high, it roots very well in a pot, and it’s fast to train as it grows all season long. You do have to be selective when choosing specimens to harvest. Most tend to be untapering, though when they’re old enough they all present the desirable “muscling” of the trunk. But with persistence you can find what you’re looking for, if you’re inclined to collect your own.
For those who prefer their material already collected and ready to train or maintain, here’s an idea of what’s coming in spring. This specimen has a 3″ trunk diameter 4″ above the soil surface and is 22″ to the chop. The muscling of the trunk is amazing! I think this will make a tall, masculine bonsai in a couple of years. (For those of you who like shorter specimens, yes, the trunk can be chopped again below the curve. In this case I figured we can always take more off, but it’s a lengthier process to put back on.)
I was fortunate to find several of similar quality yesterday. Look for them to start showing up for sale around May.
Finally, on very rare occasions you can collect a ready-made bonsai from the wild. I’ve had this occur in far less than 1% of all the trees I’ve collected. Yesterday I came across this specimen. Nice twin trunk with branching and sub-branching, pretty much styled by nature, ready for a bonsai pot. All I had to do was cut to the appropriate leader on the larger trunk and trim back the silhouette.
By the way, how big do you think this tree is? I’ll update with the answer tomorrow. (Answer: 3/4″ trunk diameter by 13″ tall.)
And now, all that’s left is to wait till April to see if these trees came through the harvest.
by Zach Smith | Feb 5, 2015 | Care, Elms, Hornbeam, Potting, Wiring
The technique of creating bonsai comes down to one basic principle: making a series of decisions that guide a living tree or shrub toward becoming a miniaturized version of its normal self. This may seem obvious when you think about it, but often we have this vision of a bonsai in mind in the face of the reality of a piece of material that looks nothing like what you want it to be. In other words it looks like Point A, not Point B.
“Okay,” you may be thinking, “so how do I go about making good decisions?” This depends, of course, on where your bonsai or pre-bonsai is in its development. For example, let’s say you have a shrub you bought from a nursery or box store. It’s got lots of branches – more than you need, which is very good – and a good tapering trunk line. In such a case, your decisions come down to the following:
- Choosing the front
- Selecting the branches
- Wiring the branches (and the trunk, if it needs shaping)
- Moving the branches to the appropriate positions
- Potting the tree (if it’s the right time)
Now all you have to do is make these decisions good ones!
I know that sounds a little simplistic, but learning sound technique is a repetition of the process of making good decisions on material in varying states of development. As you practice bonsai you get better at making these decisions.
So, for the decision pathway described above here’s a good example. This blackgum was a much taller sapling that had branching up and down the trunk. In the lower half of this sapling was a bonsai-in-the-making. The decisions I made were as follows:
- Cut the tree down to a side branch suitable for a new apex that continued the tapering from soil to crown; make sure there is a suitable set of branches
- Find the front of the tree; often this is driven by where the branches appear on the trunk
- Wire the side branch I cut to and direct it upward to make the new apex
- Wire and position the branches, then trim to the appropriate shape – the planned style is a basic upright broom-form
- Pot the tree in a suitably-sized bonsai pot
The result is quite good, don’t you think? This bonsai-in-training looks just like a tree in winter.
Here’s a very different tree with a very different decision pathway. In 2013 it went from a nursery container to a bonsai pot. As collected, it had some mature branches that were kept for the design. I had chopped the trunk and directed a new leader for the eventual apex. Once in the bonsai pot, I let it grow well into summer. In this photo, the tree is clearly overgrown. But … that decision was the correct one for the tree at this stage of its development.
What was next for this tree? I actually had a couple of options: one, cut the tree back hard and encourage budding toward the interior; or two, let it grow out again through October. In this case, either option would work equally well. This was a mature bonsai in the making, with a trunk the size it needed to be, all the trunk character it needed, and a branch set and apex well on their way to refinement. There was no rush, in other words, nothing that had to be done at this point.
If you build a large collection, you’ll find your decisions beginning to span the collection. That complicates things, of course, but it also mitigates the temptation to overwork a small number of trees.
Here’s a tree you’ve seen before. Nice natural raft, collected and put in a big training pot and then left to grow for a couple of years with literally no attention other than feeding and watering. When the time came, what was the decision pathway?
- Pot the tree in an appropriate bonsai pot
- Select the trunks suitable for the raft; do any preliminary trimming necessary
- Wire the trunks and any branches needing shaping
- Thoroughly trim, meaning work each new trunk to the proper shape; do any additional trimming or rough carving needed
- And finally, make sure the trunks as a group exhibit the proper balance and interplay
Here’s the tree following execution of Decisions 1 and 2. Notice how each decision – each step – brings the tree closer to the desired outcome for the specific work session. Now, you can only do so much in any single session. No, let me rephrase that: you should only do so much in any single session. Newcomers to bonsai tend to be so excited over their first tree that they want to work it to masterpiece status in one go – and I mean trees that are literally seedlings with barely any branches to speak of. This is a normal and natural desire. I think we all share it. But it’s got to be overcome. Very few species will tolerate much overworking, and most end up poorer in quality when the misplaced enthusiasm ends.
Here we are following Decisions 3 and 4. The trunks are wired and shaped. Everything that doesn’t look like a bonsai has been trimmed away. The trunks have a good interplay and the overall shape of the bonsai is appropriate.
And that was the end of the session for this tree at that time. I next left it alone to grow out for a while.
What sort of decision making process do you use when you work on your trees? Do you wing it, or actually plan step by step? If you’d like to share your approach, just leave a comment below.
