by Zach Smith | Nov 17, 2019 | Dogwood, Pruning, Styling, Wiring
I recently acquired this Roughleaf dogwood, Cornus drummondii, from a local collector. The great trunk base, taper and movement were what drew me to the tree. The styling is on its way, but there’s always more to do. So today I set out to make a few minor adjustments in advance of Spring 2020.
Beginning at the bottom, of course, the number one left-hand branch and the first back branch were ideal to wire together. Why not the number one right-hand branch along with the left-hand branch? Read on and you’ll find out below.
So the trick with both of these branches is in their positioning. They both start out fine, but since dogwoods tend to produce long arrow-straight branches, you have to introduce some movement into them. Also, both branches needed pulling down a bit, which I’ve done here. Subtle changes, but very important.
Here’s why I left that lowest right-hand branch out of the equation in that wiring job. Notice the slender shoot emerging to the left of the thicker branch? It’s actually positioned much more advantageously than the thicker one; therefore my goal for 2020 will be to remove the thicker one altogether, assuming the slim one survives winter and pushes on next year. I’ll have the opportunity to wire it and introduce movement from the start, and once it thickens up it’s going to be in just the right spot.
Another obvious problem with this tree is the very thick branch on the left side up near where the crown begins. Ideally I’d just remove it and hope for a new bud at the base. However, this is not the time of year for this sort of work. Without the strong growth of spring through early summer, there’s a pretty good chance I won’t get a bud there at all. So I’ll likely make this move in the coming year. For now, though, I trimmed it back pretty hard.
The last thing I can do today is to trim back the crown. It was a little heavy toward the right, affecting the balance of the tree, so with some judicious trimming I think I’ve succeeded for the most part in restoring the balance. I’ll need to do more next year; I’ll accomplish that by allowing the branch moving up and toward the left, where the main trunk line veers off to the right, to run and thicken.
I’d love to hear what you think of this Roughleaf dogwood. Also, I expect to have some pre-bonsai stock available next summer, so if you’d like a nice dogwood specimen let me know.
by Zach Smith | Oct 13, 2019 | Care, Elms, Pruning, Styling, Water Elm, Wiring
There are some tried and true bonsai design principles. The reason they’re tried and true is because they conform to fundamental design principles that are not strictly endemic to bonsai. Balance, proportion, perspective, positive and negative spaces, all of these are valid across the visual arts. So if we can learn and apply them to our bonsai, it’s hard to go wrong. This is a small Water-elm specimen with a trunk base of about 1″. It will, once designed, make a nice smaller bonsai not more than 12″ tall. You can see from this photo that the trunk tapers, and this automatically produces perspective. Now we have to strive for proportion and balance, and positive and negative spaces.
First I cut away all of the extra branches. The best bonsai are those that use the fewest branches possible to execute the design. For a small tree such as this one, the main body of the trunk will have only four or five branches. More would not make it better. So with the attitude of this tree slanting toward the right of the viewer, I know my first branch needs to be on the left. After that I need back and right branches, and so on until I reach the leader. You can see that I’ve trimmed away everything that does not fit with that plan.
The rest is wiring, positioning and trimming to shape, and that doesn’t take long at all. I have branches that, once they develop, will fill out the body of the tree. I have a leader emerging at the stub of the trunk, and this part (along with the lower branches, in time) I can develop using the grow and clip method. So with just a little study and then execution, I have created perspective, proportion, balance, and positive and negative spaces on this specimen. All I need to do next year is to move it to a bonsai pot and continue trimming to shape.
Here’s another specimen. It’s similar but different, as they say. There’s good trunk taper and movement, and I have plenty of branches to choose from. The first step is to visually determine where I want branches, then cut away the ones that I don’t need.
Some quick snipping, and I’m down to the bare bones which is all I need.
And now I have another bonsai in the making that has very good styling. This tree will be ready for a bonsai pot around next May or June. Let me know what you think. Has this been helpful? For those of you who are already planning your 2020 bonsai learning events, we will once again be conducting one on one workshops for both beginners as well as more advanced enthusiasts, starting in April. I’ll be announcing the schedule early next year, but if you’re interested feel free to shoot me an email and I’ll put you on the list.
by Zach Smith | Oct 12, 2019 | Care, Elms, Styling, Water Elm, Wiring
I love forest and group plantings. They come in several different forms: actual “forests” of multiple specimens of trees, rafts, multi-trunk groups, and so-called clump-style. It’s hard to beat a well-executed bonsai forest. In this year’s Water-elm collecting effort, we intentionally sought out multi-trunk specimens. I knew that in our collecting area they’d be easy to find and of outstanding quality. Here’s one example of a raft-style specimen, featuring seven individual trunks with great movement and proportions. The trunks range up to 1/2″ thick, and the overall height will be about 14″.
Here’s another raft, a very cool specimen with two larger trunks and three smaller ones. In this case the larger trunks have about 1″ thickness each, and overall the planting will be about 14″ tall.
And last but not least, a nice triple-trunk with (again) good trunk movement and proportions. The largest trunk here is about 3/4″, and the overall height will be about 12″.
Now for something different. From time to time I run across a specimen that’s very upright, almost formal upright. Here’s one such case. The base is about 2.5″, and it’ll end up being roughly 24″ tall when I’m done. You can see the slight movement of the trunk, and the taper is of course outstanding as I was able to chop to a smaller upright to continue the trunk line. You may notice the surface root that looks like it got gnawed on. I suspect that’s just what happened. It makes for a nice feature. Fall is a good time to do some wiring on many species. Water-elms are well-suited to it.
The first step is to cut away all of the branches that aren’t going to be part of the design. Things are clearing up already!
We go from the bottom up, as always.
And here’s what I ended up with, in short order. You may wonder if there’s any issue with trimming a tree at this stage of the growing season. I’ve always had good luck. The tree has already started storing up food for winter, and will continue to do so. There may be a little additional growth in the next few weeks, but I don’t need a big push to ensure the health of the tree. I’d love to know what you think about today’s specimens. Do you grow forest and group bonsai?
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 28, 2019 | Blueberry, Care, Crape myrtle, Flowering, Styling, Vines
Though the holidays are not yet upon us, it’s not too soon to start thinking of 2020. A lot of the work we do now will have an impact on how our trees develop next year. Today I looked at a few flowering and/or fruiting specimens that will make great progress in 2020. This Crape myrtle was grown from a cutting made a few years ago. It’s a small specimen, but nonetheless it’s developing a nice classic Crape myrtle shape. I’ve been helping it along with some wiring, and added a little today. This one should make a nice starter bonsai this coming year.
Here’s a starter size Muscadine I lifted earlier in the season. The base is very nice, and it has a low leader than I’ll continue to let run to thicken. This is about a two- to three-year project to a bonsai pot. For now, there’s no real benefit to wiring or trunk-chopping. For vines, it’s generally best to trunk-chop in the spring when you can expect strong growth and healing.
I have grown to love Huckleberries. Not only do they flower in a pot, they fruit as well; I even ate some berries off a specimen earlier this year. This one was collected in Winter 2019. I think the tight twin-trunk configuration is pretty cool. I’ve let it grow all year with little interference; today I want to take the next development step.
So I carved down to the respective leaders on the two trunks, then put a little wire on the tree to establish a basic shape. This one is a larger specimen, having a 2″ trunk base. I anticipate a finished height of about 16″ when all is said and done.
And finally, one more Huckleberry I wired and shaped earlier in the season. This one doesn’t need any more work today, but I wanted to show you what can be done at this stage of the process. Huckleberries (blueberries) are good bonsai subjects. They do root slowly, however, so you have to take this into account. The branches also can be brittle, so some extra care is needed when you wire and shape them (you’ll inevitably crack a branch here and there). By the third year in a pot, they get really lush with growth and that’s when you can expect fruiting to begin. Blueberries also like acid soil, so remember to keep some soil acidifier handy. Let me know what you think of these specimens.
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?
