by Zach Smith | Mar 21, 2020 | Care, Oaks, Styling, Wiring
This is a Water oak, Quercus nigra, that I lifted last year. It budded a bit high, but I decided to accept the challenge of making a nice bonsai from it. I love working with oaks, and you’ll see more of them in the coming weeks including several for sale.
This shot is from last October. Oaks grow quickly, even in a pot, so you can make a lot of progress in short order.
Here’s the same tree, earlier this month. I had worked the leader last year, and in this photo you can see it’s been cut back again for the next round of development. But my plan is to get it into a bonsai pot now, because I can complete the design in a bonsai pot and save time that way.
I think this Byron Myrick rectangle suits the tree nicely. I get a masculine vibe from it.
Oaks are among the last species on my benches to bud out in spring, but they’re well worth the wait. They also tend to ramify easily, as you can see in this photo. The only problem with this tree is that my first and second branches are on the “wrong” sides of the tree. But it’s common for trees not to give us the branch positioning exactly where we want it, so that’s where our creativity is vital.
This tree, pretty much from inception, was not destined to fit the informal upright mold. The first branch was just too high on the trunk. So with that understood, I think the best simple solution is to go with the so-called broom-form structure. This tree will make a great specimen of that style, which incidentally is the most common for all deciduous trees. To change the style of this tree will take some wire and bending.
And here’s the beginning of my solution. If you compare this photo with the one above, notice how the foliage masses on the first two branches are now less far apart visually. This is a technique you can use to change the appearance of your trees, namely, using the positions of the foliage masses rather than the branch emergence points to make the visual design work. In this case, I’ve brought more balance to the tree. Let me know what you think of this Water oak. I’m excited to see it develop this year, and I’ll post updates as the growing season progresses.
by Zach Smith | Mar 14, 2020 | Care, Maples, Pruning, Styling, Wiring
I’ve blogged about this Swamp maple before, most recently last fall. The plan at the time was in finding the right leader so that I could chop the trunk and start the serious design work. With the explosion of growth now on the tree, it’s time to take this next step. Now, I’ve written before about the difficulties I’ve experienced in keeping collected Swamp maples alive past two years. Recent experience in maintaining a central root mass without any washing seems to have completely changed this equation. I don’t have enough examples yet to be sure, but I’ve got several on the bench now to test the theory. But back to this tree. As with my first experiment, it should be all right to start styling in year two. Doing this the first time caused no problems at all.
Here I’ve begun making the trunk chop. I always work from the bottom to the top of the angle cut, using my trunk splitter to cut and then lever off sections of wood.
Note 1: I don’t attempt to chop at the bottom-most point of the angle cut; it’s common to do some damage during the rough-cut part of this work, so I leave myself some room to carve below and make things neat.
Note 2: What you see here is what you will almost always see when you angle-chop a trunk – some obvious signs of decay (the work of the microbes that do it, as evidenced by the discolored wood).
Here I’ve taken off most of the rest of the excess wood. Note that dark spot right in the middle of the trunk. This is not what I wanted to see; it denotes microbial activity and may run all the way to the soil. Will this kill the tree or cause permanent damage? Only time will tell.
I’ve finished the work on the angle cut now. It’s always best to carve your angle cuts as smoothly as you can, especially at the edges where the active cambium is. This will help prevent microbial attack.
This part was more fun. I’ve done some basic wiring of branches that could be positioned now. The lowest shoot on the right is too tender to wire now – they pop off very easily when brand new. So I need to wait until it hardens off. However … I also need to keep a close watch on how quickly it extends. While I need this shoot to be strong and to thicken up in order to produce the right proportions in relation to the trunk, if it extends too fast I’ll end up with my first node too far from the trunk. I need to keep an eye on this shoot, and be prepared to pinch the central leader out to keep this from happening. When the new buds extend from this pinch-point, I can let them run farther. When doing this, the second round of growth doesn’t typically overextend the internodal length. Let me know what you think of today’s work.
by Zach Smith | Mar 12, 2020 | Care, Crape myrtle, Flowering, Pruning, Styling, Wiring
I acquired this Pocomoke crape myrtle from a grower a few years ago. It was overgrown, so my first job was to chop it back so I could start planning a design. This is a photo of the tree from last August.
The buds are starting to swell, so it’s time to get busy making a bonsai out of this piece of raw material. If I don’t act fast, I’ll have a mountain of shoots and foliage to contend with in no time.
Almost all of the development work you’ll do on your bonsai consists of reducing the breadth, volume and profile of your tree. Also the maintenance work. They’re always wanting to grow out on you. So here I started by dramatically reducing that branch on the right side of the tree.
Here’s a good illustration of the principle I noted above. In removing most of the low left-hand branch, I’ve brought the profile of the tree even further in. Compare this photo with the first one. The proportions of your bonsai are vital to believability. It’s very common for our trees to “get away” from us, meaning they become too broad in their silhouettes. This tends to make them look younger and less mature, and less like a real tree in nature. In the worst cases, your tree will end up looking like a shrub in a pot! It’s the sort of thing that can sneak up on you over time, so it’s always good to ask yourself the question: Will this tree look better if I just reduce its profile and open it up? You may be surprised at how often the answer is yes.
Less is always more. There were too many shoots in the upper part of the tree. I’ve removed most of them along that upright knob that didn’t add anything worthwhile to the design.
Here I’ve wrapped things up for today by wiring and shaping the branches. When you compare this image with the first (or second) one above, you can see how much improved this Pocomoke is. All it needs now is the right pot. (I do need to go ahead and remove most of the root mass and get it in a bonsai pot. The design can be completed over time, and the restricted space of the bonsai pot will finish the miniaturization process. One more thing to note: that low left-hand branch needs to continue from where it’s been pruned in a downward and then horizontal sweep to the left. That will really add to the design by complementing the movement of the branch on the left-hand side that’s directly above it.) Let me know what you think of today’s work.
by Zach Smith | Mar 7, 2020 | Care, Elms, Flowering, Hawthorn, Maples, Potting, Styling, Water Elm, Wiring
Spring is gathering speed now, and most everything on my benches (beech and most oaks are usually last) is coming into leaf. Water-elms also lag, so I took the opportunity today to pot up a couple of small ones. This is another of the trees that came home last summer. Nice smaller specimen, 1″ trunk and destined to finish at 12″. As with small bonsai in general (and you should take this as a hard and fast rule), your tree will consist of fewer than a dozen primary branches in total. This includes the branches in the crown. So here you see I’ve made a design with only four branches (so far). There will be two to four max in the crown. And that’s it!
I think this Chuck Iker round is going to go perfectly with this tree. The root system was very good, considering the tree has only been on the bench for a few months’ worth of growth (last summer/fall).
And another small Water-elm, trunk base slightly larger than 1″ and again it’ll finish at 12″. Here I’ve got five primary branches along with the leader, so again a simple structure. (If you crowd your branching too much in a small tree, there’s no way to avoid the “shrub” effect. That’s not bonsai. Less is more.)
Another nice Chuck Iker round helps to make this tree.
Fun with Swamp maples continues. I collected a handful of nice ones this year, my goal being to see how well they hold up over the next few years. I’ve been encouraged by the last two I brought home. By keeping an intact root mass and avoiding completely cleaning the roots, it appears they don’t become susceptible to trunk rot. If this does prove to be the key to success, then you’ll see more specimens over the next few years. They really do have some nice characteristics, so I’m excited. Today I wired a single branch on this very tall specimen (18″ trunk with a 1.5″ base; I had one I blogged about the past couple of years that went on to a client; I’m trying to duplicate that design). Why wire one branch? It should help redirect energy elsewhere, especially to the many trunk buds you can’t yet see. I’ll need this branch in my design, and I don’t want it getting too thick too fast. I’ll also be pruning it later in the season, to activate the buds that appear at the nodes on the branch.
Finally, this Parsley hawthorn came out of my ground growing area earlier in the year. It’s exploding with growth, as you can see. That includes some shoots on the recumbent trunk that will make upright trunks to go along with the four I currently have. So I’ll let them grow without restraint for some time, possibly even all season. I do want variety in the trunk thicknesses, but I can control that as this tree develops. You’ve probably noticed that one of the two largest trunks leans a bit too much, making the design less harmonious than it can be. I’ll notch this trunk a little later in spring, bringing it more upright.
by Zach Smith | Mar 1, 2020 | Care, Elms, Pruning, Styling, Water Elm
We collected this very large Water-elm in 2018. The trunk base is 4″, and the upper trunk chop is at 29″. Last year it grew out strong, and I was able to wire the basic branch design. By the end of the growing season, the tapering transition at the upper trunk chop had thickened to roughly a third of the thickness of the trunk at the chop. I was able to achieve this despite directionally pruning the leader twice, in order to ensure continuity of the tapering.
Today’s goal is to carve down both the upper and lower trunk chops. If you grow very large bonsai, you will inevitably have to perform this task. It may seem a bit daunting the first time you do it, but you’ll be surprised at how quickly and how well it goes.
Here’s a closer look at the upper chop. You can see how well the leader thickened. I’ll continue this process during the growing season. My goal will be to double the thickness of the base of the leader.
My first task was to directionally prune the leader. As you’re building the apex of your tree, you’ll perform this task multiple times. The goal is to achieve movement and taper. Can you see three directional changes in my leader?
Here’s a closer look at my carving challenge. Notice here a key to my ultimate success in carving down this chop and making the whole thing both look right and work horticurturally: the branch growing below the leader on the opposite side of the tree.
Every trunk chop you ever make is going to create dead wood; it’s just unavoidable. But that’s all right, because the tree will produce callus tissue to heal the wound and, to one degree or another, seal off the live wood from the dead wood. With that said, it sometimes happens that the entire side of a tree will die due to a chop that is not followed by buds around the perimeter of the trunk. In this case, I have a branch perfectly positioned for what I’m about to do.
I used a root/trunk splitter to begin this work, followed by my knob cutter to bite away the bulk of the wood. You can easily see here both the living wood and the dead wood I’ll have to manage in the years to come. But that low branch will make all the difference, and sooner rather than later.
The treatment of choice for this chop, later on this season, will be lime sulfur followed by PC Petrifier. But that’s not for now. I need the living sapwood you see to actually dry out before hitting it with lime sulfur. In the meantime, I’ll just seal up the chop to protect it.
The chop is sealed with Kiyonal, my preferred product. Some of you may prefer the putty type, or another product altogether. As long as it works for you, that’s what you should use.
Here’s a shot of where we are at this point. Compare this photo with the first one, and you can see how much progress I’ve made in creating trunk taper at the apex of this Water-elm. Carving works wonders!
Here’ s my next carving chore. Notice in this case, just as with the first, I have a branch growing at the base of the chop. Once again, I couldn’t have asked for a better response from the tree.
Same technique as before, knob cutters to bite away the wood I didn’t need, then I used hand carving tools to smooth everything out. And lastly Kiyonal to seal it.
I did a little more strategic pruning, and that’s it for today! Doesn’t the trunk look much better now? It tapers nicely from base to apex, and the trunk movement is outstanding. Also, with the trunk chops carved down I can expect to create a very natural appearance as this tree develops.
I’ll post an update later in the season. This tree will be ready for a bonsai pot in Spring 2021.
Let me know if you found this helpful.
by Zach Smith | Feb 29, 2020 | Care, Elms, Potting, Styling, Water Elm, Wiring
I’ve had the bonsai forest bug for a while now. I’ve always loved good forests, but only made a limited number. In the past year, I’ve really ramped up the assembly line. During this past summer’s Water-elm collecting season I intentionally set about to harvest some smaller trees with great character, so I could make a few unique forest bonsai from them. This trio was among them. Previously I wired and shaped the individual trees, and now that they’re starting to come out it’s the perfect time to bring them together. In any forest planting, the whole needs to exceed the sum of the parts. Let’s see if I can make this happen.
Because I had potted the two larger trees together with the intention of their roots growing together (that’s what you want in a forest), they were placed in this fine Byron Myrick tray in more or less the same position they started out. I think this is going to work well.
Though it’s sometimes hard to look beyond the focal tree or trees, at the end of every forest plan it’s the smallest tree(s) that makes the composition work. Why? Because part of the illusion of bonsai is a sense of depth in the planting. With individual trees, this is achieved by making sure there are open spaces in the tree’s structure that allow you to see from front to back. With group plantings, small trees placed toward the rear create this illusion due to the forced perspective it accomplishes. Now, with that said you have to ask yourself this question about this specific placement of the smallest tree – does it work, and is it harmonious? The answer is a very obvious no. Why is that? The two focal trees are growing in a pattern that suggests what you’d see in nature – that is, they have grown somewhat apart from one another to ensure they get the sunshine they need. That makes sense, and with the two focal trees there’s balance and harmony in their trunk lines taken together visually. But that small tree in the back? It’s growing right toward the middle tree, and that’s a disruption of the harmony achieved with the main trees.
Doesn’t this make all the difference in the world! All I had to do was turn the smallest tree so its trunk movement became harmonious with that of the two larger trees. So simple; so game-changing.
Here’s the forest after securing everything and filling the tray with soil.
Fed, mossed, watered. This is exactly what I was thinking last summer when we were searching for smaller Water-elms. I hope you like this forest as much as I do. The trees should continue to push new growth, and by the time another 4-6 weeks pass I should be doing the first trim on it. Just to give you an idea of size, the larger trees have trunks about 1″ thick; the overall height of the finished forest will be about 12″. I plan on posting this forest for sale in about a month, so stay tuned if you’re interested.
