by Zach Smith | Oct 5, 2019 | Chinese Elm, Elms, Maples, Pruning, Styling, Wiring
I write and talk about it frequently. Making bonsai is, aside from the obvious horticultural and design aspects, mostly about time. Trees may grow fast, but they only grow so fast. With that said, making the best use of the growth cycles of our trees is critical if we’re going to get where we want to be. So we start off with a seedling or rooted cutting or nursery stock or collected material. The basic steps from any of those options to “finished” bonsai are: 1) find or develop a trunk line; 2) select, wire and position a branch structure; and 3) develop good ramification and leaf-size reduction to establish the right proportions in your design. You’ve seen this Boxelder before. I had a mostly complete trunk line right from the start (decent movement and taper). So I out only needed to complete steps two and three. Here most of the branches are wired and positioned. I have a shoot in the apex you can’t see, that will be my leader.
A little time and continued fast growth now has given me the leader I need. More wiring and positioning. This tree will be ramifying and will likely reach a more or less “finished” shape in 2020 (it’ll go into a bonsai pot in spring; I can finish out the work from there).
This Boxelder will not reach a “finished” design next year, nor will it go into a bonsai pot. This is a longer-term project, because I have to build most of the trunk.
Here are some of the details that you’ll need to have in mind when you set out building trunks that have good movement, taper and proportions.
Notice the new shoot that’s going to be my choice for continuing the trunk line. It just so happens that it emerges in a perfect location relative to the leader that I was able to chop the trunk to (you’ll often find yourself just chopping to a stump; in this case I was able to chop to a reasonably thick low branch that worked nicely).
Why is that small shoot in just the right spot? I’ve found that when building taper, chopping a trunk (or branch) usually works best if you don’t exceed two or three basal diameters from the previous transition point. Visually, this is ideal. So when I make this next cut, I’m maintaining a good sense of proportion. (To further illustrate this principle, if you measure the base of this tree at the soil and then measure three of those lengths from the soil, voila, you’ll be at the trunk chop I made when I lifted the tree.)
Here’s another example of the trunk-building concept, in this case a Zelkova. I’ve got plenty of shoots to choose from for my next chop. But which is best?
Once again, when you examine this Zelkova trunk you see plenty of shoots to choose from for your new leader. But which is best? Once again, if you apply the principle noted above you can come up with an answer that works great. With this tree, there’s a good base and a nice curve near the base, but after that the trunk gets straight and non-tapering. Visually, this won’t work nearly as well as just chopping and building the trunk the right way. So measure the base of the tree, then take three of those diameters up the tree and you’ll end up with the middle of the three shoots that have arrows pointing to them. This will work very well. It’s worth noting that you could also take the lowest of the shoots to chop to. Are both choices equally good? I’d say so. But I’m pretty confident I’ll go to that second one next spring.
And finally, to round out our “time is everything in bonsai” blog for today, here’s that ready-made Chinese elm grove I showed you earlier in the season. I’ll have this forest in a bonsai pot come spring, and hopefully by summer it will be well on its way to a presentable state come Fall 2020. Let me know what you think of today’s notes. Have they been helpful to you? I hope so.
by Zach Smith | Sep 21, 2019 | Care, Maples, Pruning, Styling
That Boxelder I lifted last month did so well I thought I’d lift another one. Might as well have two to play with next year. For this specimen, my plan is somewhat different as I want to build the trunk from the ground up. In this blog post, I’ll show you what I have in mind. It’s the sort of technique you’re likely to practice many times in the course of your bonsai journey.
When you chop a trunk low down, you often will be looking for adventitious buds to emerge from the chopped trunk. It’s from those that you choose a new leader. In the case of this Boxelder, I had a low branch that will give me something of a head start. It also happens to have a bud, at an obvious node, that will work perfectly with my plan.
The branch I chopped to is obviously a good deal smaller than the trunk, so it’s vital that I thicken up its base where it emerges from the trunk. Again, this is a technique you’ll use many times and it’s critical to get it right.
I encourage everyone to take up drawing when they get into bonsai. It’s one of the best tools I know to plan out a tree. Notice in this case how I have “drawn through” the existing leader to illustrate both the thickening of the base, along with the eventual trunk line I’ll get when I repeatedly cut back the leaders. This is to show you both where this tree is along with where it’s going.
This is how I envision the final appearance of this tree. If I take each step the right way, and patiently grow out the leaders while positioning branches as they emerge, I should end up with an outstanding bonsai with great taper and movement. Let me know what you think of this project in the making. Do you use drawings or photos to help you style your trees?
by Zach Smith | Sep 8, 2019 | Care, Ficus, Maples, Oaks, Styling, Wiring
I love working with unusual species, and making bonsai that defy the normally accepted rules for design. Here are a few examples of current projects.
First off is a Red oak, Quercus nuttallii, that I collected in East Texas a couple of years ago. (East Texas lies at the extreme western end of the range for the species). This is another example of a tree that decided to only bud low on the trunk. I let it get strong last year, and this year chopped the trunk way back. It’s nothing to write home about at present, but I have a leader I let grow that was cut back hard earlier this season. My original thought was to just grow it out. However …
Considering how big the leaves of a Red oak are, it struck me that making a shohin bonsai out of this specimen will absolutely fly in the face of bonsai orthodoxy. Imagine a tree only 8-10 inches tall, with pretty big oak leaves. That’s got to be something pretty cool, if I can pull it off. the base of this one is 2.5″ across, so it’ll taper pretty dramatically when all is said and done. I’m thinking it’ll make a nice statement.
I’ve blogged before about edible fig, Ficus carica. I made this one from a cutting a couple of years ago, and it’s now grown into a decent shape. The base is up to 1″ at the soil, and as you can see it produced a good bit of fruit this year. I may pot it next year, if I think it’s ready.
Edible fig is one of those species you can’t make much headway wiring. It’s best to just prune them to shape – with the understanding, of course, that they decide which branches to keep and which to shed.
I’m posting this Boxelder (Ash-leaf maple), Acer negundo, with trepidation. I know, it’s a terrible species for bonsai and I don’t hesitate to share my disdain for them. At the same time, what’s bonsai without a challenge? So I lifted this one in August(!), and defied it to live. Naturally it did. Had it been a prize anything else, it would have audibly croaked as I lifted it from the ground. But not Boxelder!
If you’re going into bonsai no man’s land, you have to go all the way. So I wired and pruned this survivor. Now I ignore it till either the wire bites in or next year, whichever comes first.
Let me know what you think of all this.
by Zach Smith | May 26, 2019 | Care, Maples, Pruning, Styling, Wiring
You may remember my tall Swamp maple, Acer rubrum ‘drummondii,’ from last fall. It’s been on death watch since I brought it home in 2017. Well, it’s not dead yet nor is it dying. I don’t yet see any signs of deterioration that have plagued my attempts to collect large specimens over the years. So we’ve got forward motion.
I showed you this snapshot from early March.
Quite a difference over the past couple of months! I’m very pleased with how this tree looks. To be sure, it’s overgrown by about 25%, but in order to properly develop the branch structure of this tree I’ve had to let it run a bit. I need all of the branches to be thicker. Branches are typically thickened by letting them run and pruning them back. With maples (and most other deciduous species), you have to strike a balance between allowing a branch to run and keeping your internodes close together. With this tree, I have worked hard to maintain relatively short internodes, so that when I prune back the branches pretty hard I’ll get the ramification close in to the trunk. That’s the way to properly develop this bonsai.
I continue to be pleasantly surprised by this Swamp maple. Assuming nothing bad happens, I’ll update you later in the growing season.
by Zach Smith | Mar 3, 2019 | Bald Cypress, Care, Collecting, Maples, Oaks, Potting, Pruning, Styling, Wiring
I started working on this Bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, last year. The idea was to get a branch set going, and to select and position a new leader to continue the trunk to a final apex. This photo was taken on 12/28/18. Nice fall color, but the tree had grown itself into a mess while I paid attention to other trees.
With the tree already pushing buds and shoots, I have no time to lose in updating the wiring. If you haven’t experienced it before, wiring a Bald cypress when the buds are just on it is a very tricky proposition! You can’t help but knock off some of the tender buds. The good news is, there are so many just a little care leaves most intact.
The first order of business was to make the year two trunk chop to the new leader. I carved it smooth, ensuring that I had a nice angle on either side where the new leader will ultimately blend in.
You will also notice that in addition to wiring additional shoots to add to the design, I’ve also pruned them in fairly hard. Why? For now, it’s very important to allow the strength of this tree to concentrate in the leader. It needs to thicken at its base just as quickly as possible, in order to make the tapering transition blend in perfectly. I don’t want an obviously abrupt change of diameter in the trunk at this point. While it wouldn’t be obvious during the growing season, in winter you’d be able to clearly see it and it just wouldn’t look right.
As the season unfolds, I’ll have to pay special attention to the upper branches. Why? With BC, it’s all about getting tall as fast as possible. So the branches in the upper part of the tree will dominate all of the rest, unless I keep that from happening. So that means “cooling off” the growth near the apex.
This Water oak, Quercus nigra, came up as a volunteer on my property quite a number of years ago. I chopped it in the ground a couple of times, and It rewarded me by putting on a nice trunk with great movement and taper. I lifted it on 2/25/19. How about those radial roots? The trunk base is 2.5″, and it’s 19″ to the current tip of the trunk.
Assuming good recovery, I plan to add this specimen to the Bonsai South Collection as Water Oak #9. More to come on this one.
We’ve been following the story of this Swamp maple, Acer rubrum ‘Drummondii,’ for going on three years now. I’ve been waiting for signs of deterioration, but so far it seems to have survived collection. Here it is, leafing out nicely for the 2019 season. This should be the make or break year.
Yesterday I moved the tree to a new pot, a terrific piece by Lary Howard, which I think better suits it. I continued the plan of not disturbing the native soil at the center of the root mass. I also repositioned the tree in the pot; you may recall that originally there was a smaller secondary trunk on the right of the main trunk, which did not survive. So the repositioning was necessary.
Now for the real question about this tree: considering how tall it is, namely 28″ (trunk base is 1.5″ at the soil), does it qualify as a literati style bonsai? It’s way too tall to fit the normal trunk diameter to height guidelines, so the only thing left to consider is whether or not it can be considered as a literati. I really like the tree, tallness and all. The branches will be kept fairly sparse, and well in toward the trunk, as this is the only way it can really work to inspire an impression of age. If I let the branches grow out too much, it’s just going to not look right.
I’d love to hear what you think of it, and of course the other trees in this blog, so leave me a comment below.
by Zach Smith | Jan 6, 2019 | Care, Collecting, Elms, Maples, Potting, Privet, Styling, Water Elm, Wiring
While we were out collecting Bald cypress yesterday, I happened across this Swamp maple, Acer rubrum ‘Drummondii.’ I don’t often collected Swamp maples, because they don’t seem to last in good health longer than a couple of years, but when I saw the fluting of this trunk I figured it was worth the risk. Swamp maples generally don’t have tap roots in the wild, so they’re super easy to lift. I just sawed around the tree 6-8″ from the trunk and pulled.
As I did with the last one of these I collected, I did not remove the native soil from the root zone. All I did was put it into a nursery container and surround it with coarse mix. I sealed the trunk chop, of course. And now I wait.
Last week I had a reader express an interest in Chinese privet, Ligustrum sinense. I had a specimen I’d lifted a few years ago but had been relegated to a lonely corner. As I studied it, I decided there was a really nice trunk line I could cut to. So here it is, chopped and ready for a pot. Notice the fibrous roots! This is the way privet always grows. They are super rooters.
There’s never any issue with going straight to a bonsai pot with a privet. I had this lovely Chuck Iker piece all empty and waiting, so in the tree went. I sealed the chops, of course.
I’ll be able to grow the entire structure of this bonsai to be in 2019. Stay tuned for updates when I get some shoots.
FYI, the trunk base on this specimen is 1.5″, and it’s 8″ to the top. It won’t be a Bonsai South Collection tree, but I’m confident it’ll find a good home sooner rather than later.
I collected this Water-elm, Planera aquatica, back in July. Also not destined for the collection, it’s nonetheless a very nice specimen with great trunk character. I love the interplay between the trunks. Come spring, I’ll slip-pot it into a nice bonsai container and post it for sale.
The base is 4″ across, with each trunk 1.5″ at the base. Height is 16″.
