An American Beech With Potential

by | Feb 3, 2021 | Beech, Care, Most Recent, Pruning, Styling, Wiring

an american beech with potential

the bonsai files

Sneak Peek

I seldom collect American beech, despite their natural beauty. They’re just way sloooow to train. But sometimes you find one with potential.

An American Beech with Potential

I rarely collect American beech, Fagus grandifolia. Despite their natural beauty, as bonsai subjects they seem to take forever to train. Why? Because you can only reliably get one flush of growth per growing season. With most other species there are two or more, and you can get additional growth or regrowth by hard-pruning. Not so with American beech. If you decide to hard-prune in, say, June, at best you’ll probably get some weak regrowth. Not very rewarding and it doesn’t get you much closer to a design goal.

Now, this is a specimen I spotted two years ago while hunting for hornbeams with a bonsai friend. In winter they’re easy to spot – the clinging golden leaves are a dead giveaway (though you may get fooled if there are hophornbeams around). In the case of this one, there was also a set of branches and considering how long it takes to grow your own set, I had to jump on this possibility. So home it came, looking like this.

Fast-forward ten months, and this is the season’s growth. It’s actually not bad, considering. But if I hadn’t had something to start with, I most definitely would not have had this result in this timeframe.

Fast-forward some more, to today. After two growing seasons, you can see a branch structure taking shape. From the beginning I saw a classic stately beech shape, with horizontal branches and the lovely smooth gray bark. There’s no doubt in my mind that this tree can make a fine bonsai.

Today’s work will be selective pruning, wiring and shaping.

Beech trees hold their leaves through winter because the species is one that does not form an abscission layer when its leaves turn in the fall. But once spring is in the offing, the leaves do release on their own or can be gently pulled off without damaging or pulling off the dormant (and quite prominent) buds. This is essential for ease of wiring.

I’m working my way up the tree, wiring the branches and positioning them. They naturally grow where they want, and while enough time would resolve any odd branch placement issues in the wild, bonsai training demands that we step in and shorten the timeframe (this is never so true as it is with beech).

Continuing the process. The leader needs wiring, in order to continue the graceful line of the trunk. I’ll leave the leader and its terminal (apical) bud intact, as I need another season of strong growth in order to make the tapering transition look smooth and natural. Eventually, the tree will terminate at a height roughly halfway up this leader – but it’s going to take another three or four seasons to do all of the work that needs doing in the crown.

I had a little more work to do on that lowest right-hand branch. Now it looks more in sync with the remainder of the design.

We have another month at least until our beeches start showing signs of budding. Those tight dormant buds will unfurl, and the growth that is “baked in the cake” for this season will push on out. I’ll need to do some pinching, of course, but no other wiring until at least summer.

Let me know what you think of this beech. As the blog title says, it’s got potential.

Spekboom Styling

by | Dec 25, 2020 | Care, Jade, Most Recent, Pruning, Styling, Wiring

spekboom styling

the bonsai files

Sneak Peek

You can style a Spekboom bonsai just about any time. The nice thing about them is, they’ll keep on growing right through winter with the right conditions.

Spekboom Styling

So it’s winter now, and the only things I’ve got that are growing are my Spekbooms and (to a very slight degree) my Rubber trees. One thing I’ve come to understand about the Spekboom (Portulacaria afra, or Dwarf jade) is that all it needs to grow is some heat and light, with minimal water and a little fertiflizer. I’ve had these guys both in my house and my new shipping shed (which I fondly call the Shipping Department), since they won’t take but a light freeze and I don’t like to take chances. Yes, I’ve also schlepped them back outside when the temperatures have gotten back above freezing, and that does help. But the growth just hasn’t stopped.

This tree put on a good bit of heft this year, and it’s a nice looking little specimen. The base is now 3/4″ across, and it stands 10-1/2″ tall. And you can see that this tree has grown with nice, gentle trunk curvature and good taper. So it’s on its way. But it does need some branch styling.

The main issues with the branching on this tree are two-fold: one, they’re all trying to grow upward (and that’s a bonsai no-no); and two, since Spekboom produces opposite leaves and hence branches, there are the inevitable bar-branches that have to get removed.

In this shot, the first two branches are wired and repositioned.

Continuing higher, the next two branches are wired and brought downward, with some movement introduced as with the first two.

You may notice that the wiring is somewhat “loose” on this tree. Spekboom is not like most of the trees you’ll wire in your bonsi endeavors; their growth is quite tender, meaning you can shape the branches but they can snap if you overdo it, and you’ll inevitably knock off some leaves and smaller shoots. You’ll see proof positive of this principle in that small shoot lying on the soil surface. The loose wiring is just a way of being as careful as I can.

In this shot I’ve wired the next two branches, plus I’ve removed a bar branch that emerged from the trunk behind that semi-front-facing branch I wanted to keep.

Getting closer to the top now. If you study this progression of photos, you’ll likely be struck by the opening up of the interior of the tree. This is a principle of bonsai design that is often neglected in the pursuit of ramification and dense foliage masses on our trees. Remember John Naka’s observation that bonsai should have spaces for the birds to fly through. In the wild, large trees are not large hedge bushes. There are indeed spaces for the birds to fly through, and our ability to see a suitable amount of the trunk and branch superstructure lends to the believability of our trees. I’ve advanced the design of this tree very nicely, just by keeping to this principle.

Now I’m just about to the top of this specimen, and with the light fading for today I’ll have to put off completing my work until tomorrow. I’ll update this blog once I’ve finished. You may be surprised by what I do, so do tune back in.

Here’s the answer. If you look closely at the photo above, you’ll notice that there is a loss of taper in the very top of the tree. The cure for this is to cut back to restore the taper, and that’s what I’ve done here. I’ve also added some trunk movement right at the very top, which will become more important as the apex resumes its growth.

With the reduction at the top, I then had two branches just below that were a bit long so I trimmed them back. Now I’ve got a good working silhouette!

Let me know what you think.

Dogwood Fall Work

by | Nov 20, 2020 | Care, Dogwood, Most Recent, Styling, Wiring

dogwood fall work

the bonsai files

Sneak Peek

Fall is a great time to edit and shape your deciduous bonsai. This Roughleaf dogwood is a great example of the progress you can make on your trees at this time of year.

Fall Dogwood Work

You’ve seen this Roughleaf dogwood before. It’s been through a round of training, and here in November the tree is showing it’s recent summer stressed out glory. That’s not totally serious, of course. This year was one for the books. Our rainfall deficit was many inches, which is another way of saying we had more than three periods of drought (no rain for at least two weeks at a stretch). That’s going to be hard on most of your deciduous trees, and mine were no exception. Watering with municipal water just isn’t the same.

No matter, this tree will come through fine. But it’s in serious need of some cleaning up, editing and wiring.

 

Starting off slowly, first I want to eliminate smaller branches that obviously have no place in the ultimate design. You should have a lot of these as you go to work on your deciduous trees in the fall.

More trimming, and the tree is not only getting “lighter” in appearance but much easier to “figure out” from a design perspective. There are some principles you should keep in mind as you do this work:

  • Downward pointing branches are almost always eliminated
  • Upward pointing branches must always be viewed critically; they’re not always removed, but probably in about 60-70% of the cases they are
  • For species that have opposite leaves, like this one as an example, you usually prune out the branch/sub-branch leader and leave the two shoots that diverge from one another – this gives you an easy change of direction for your branch and avoids “bar branch” situations
  • Prune off more than you think you should – but in steps; take off the obvious “outliers,” and as you study the tree more keep on working each branch back in toward its origin; a few passes will usually get you where you need to be
  • I like to leave a little more extension on my branches when trimming in the fall, for species that typically drop smaller branchlets; you’ll learn which are which as you gain experience

This photo is taken from an angle that I think makes for a better front. Time to start wiring.

Starting at the bottom, I’ve wired out and done additional trimming on the bottom branches. Notice that each branchlet has been given its own space (as nature tends to do as well).

Moving on up the tree. Take a close look at that apical branch, to which I’ve applied a bit of heavy wire. It’s straight and ugly; something’s got to be done.

 

A little bend makes a big difference, right? But now I’ve encountered a problem, namely that bar branch set on the leader. I can’t keep both, as they aren’t needed and just don’t look good.

 

The obvious solution was to get rid of the branch on the left. That gave me a left-right set below, which provides the balance needed. When the tree buds in spring, I’ll get a shoot on the left where I need it and can continue developing the crown.

 

With a little more wire and positioning, plus a final trim, I’ve finished my work for today. This tree is ready and set for 2021!

Let me know what you think.

Crape Myrtle Fall Fun

by | Nov 7, 2020 | Care, Crape myrtle, Flowering, Most Recent, Pruning, Styling, Wiring

crape myrtle fall fun

the bonsai files

Sneak Peek

Crape myrtles give pretty reliable fall color for us down here. Here’s my legacy Crape starting to show off. Then there’s that really big one again.

Crape Myrtle Fall Fun

Crape myrtles are pretty reliable around here for fall color. Here’s my legacy Crape. Even though it’s lost a good bit of foliage early (this is a common theme for many of my trees this year), what’s left has turned fiery.

 

Here’s the big guy again. I’ll call him “The Ogre” – which will be an amusing name when he’s decked out in white flowers next summer. I don’t think I need to comment on the growth, except to say it needs attention.

So we edit out the foliage in the lower part of the tree. It doesn’t serve any purpose – Crapes heal very well from large chops – so best to direct the growth where it belongs.

Continuing the process. This tree, at this stage, only needs a handful of branches at most (that includes the new leaders).

These selections can be a bit tricky, and usually there’s more than one right answer. You need a good feel for your design once you get to this stage of the reducing process. I’m comfortable with what I’ll be working with now.

I started with the lower of the two main leaders on this tree. Just a branch and a new leader needing direction.

 

And this is what I ended up with for today. It’s not unreasonable to ask if both of the sub-trunks are needed here for a good design. I see a nice possibility if I take out the one on the left. The good news is, I can continue to develop this tree with the basic design I’ve set, and then change my mind later. More options in the early going are always better.

Our first frost here will likely be around the middle of next month. We’ve had some cool nights, and lately our temperatures have moderated some. This tree will push more growth to restore its balance over the next three to six weeks. With a little winter protection, this Crape has a great head-start on 2021.

Let me know what you think.

Here’s the other one. It’s also 8″ across at the base, a little less front to back, and also 10″ tall. Two very nice sumo-style specimens.

Let me know what you think. Have you ever worked with Silverberry?

 

 

Silverberry Bonsai

by | Oct 31, 2020 | Care, Collecting, Most Recent, Pruning, Silverberry, Styling, Wiring

silverberry bonsai

the bonsai files

Sneak Peek

I’ve been wanting to grow Silverberry, or Eleagnus, as bonsai for some time now. A bonsai friend gave me one early in 2020, and today I got around to styling it after a year of growth from a bare trunk. But that’s not all ….

Silverberry Bonsai

A bonsai friend gave me this Silverberry, or Eleagnus, back in Winter 2019-2020. I chopped it to a bare trunk, and sat it on the bench to grow out. I learned during the season that they root slowly, so my earlier plans to style it in summer did not work out. But no matter. You can work on the above ground parts pretty much any time. The Eleagnus species are evergreen and very tough customers. They thrive in poor soils. What more could you ask for?

I decided it was time to do an initial styling on this one, in part because of the rest of the story you can read below.

 

Slanting style bonsai are always a challenge, because they slant. That may sound redundant, but when you think of a typical bonsai – the most common style is the informal upright – things such as branch placement and balance are very easy to accomplish. Not so much with the slanting trees.

We always begin by removing those branches that emerge from the bottom of the slanting part of the trunk, which usually can also be seen to be emerging from the inside of a curve. Tough to make those work!

We start wiring branches from the bottom. I left the right-hand branch long so it could keep on growing next year and thicken up.

More editing of branches. The look of the tree is getting “cleaner,” and it’s easier to see a design taking shape.

Now I’ve got the leader defined. Once you have your trunk line established, it’s a lot easier to evaluate your planned bonsai and adjust the design if needed.

I think this is a good start on a nice Silverberry bonsai. I’ll wait until next summer to (possibly) slip-pot into a bonsai container; it depends on the root growth I get in spring.

 

Now for the rest of the story. Way back in 2012, when I first had my property cleared of a huge number of trees I no longer wanted (and which also was intended to give me more nursery space), I lined the back and sides of the property with Silverberry. My next-door neighbor also put up a hedge at the same time. Fast-forward to now, and they decided to remove their hedge. Well, since I have steadfastly decided not to fool with really large trees anymore, I of course decided to grab a couple of huge specimens while I had the chance. Here’s one of them. The base measures about 8″ across, and it’s chopped at about 10″ from the soil. I’m pretty confident it’ll recover; I’ll know come spring.

Here’s the other one. It’s also 8″ across at the base, a little less front to back, and also 10″ tall. Two very nice sumo-style specimens.

Let me know what you think. Have you ever worked with Silverberry?

 

 

Sunday Fun – Cedar Elms And The Monster Crape

by | Oct 4, 2020 | Care, Cedar Elm, Crape myrtle, Elms, Most Recent, Pruning, Styling, Wiring

sunday fun – cedar elms and the monster crape

the bonsai files

Sneak Peek

Fall is a good time to do some pruning and wiring on your deciduous trees. I worked on a couple of Cedar elms today. Then there’s that monster Crape myrtle.

Sunday Fun – Cedar Elms and the Monster Crape

I’ve been rebuilding this Cedar elm that I collected a couple of years ago, since it didn’t want to bud low enough on the trunk for me. This photo is from about a month ago, when I chopped the leader back.

 

 

 

The growth has been good, so why not go ahead and do some styling on it?

With plenty of branches to choose from, it wasn’t hard to come up with this basic design. I don’t expect a lot of growth from this tree between now and dormancy, but next year is going to be an important one in terms of finishing out this tree. I even expect to be able to pot in sometime around June or July. Stay tuned for more.

 

 

 

I’ve posted my work on this Cedar elm since I first started styling it back in 2018. It’s a somewhat odd tree, what with that low branch, but I figured why not do something a little different?

The only problem with this is, as time has gone on I’ve become less and less enamored with that low branch. No doubt it makes for a different style tree, but whenever you break a rule you have to get back more than you give up. I don’t think this one has paid off.

There. Odd low branch is gone. The tree is looking better, but … there’s still something not quite right.

Proportions. I write often about maintaining correct proportions in our bonsai. In the before photo above, the spread of the crown of the tree is out of proportion with the trunk thickness and height. This tree has only a slight taper to it, so in order to trick the brain into thinking it’s a bigger tree than what it is, the branches must be brought in. So after a quick shearing, this is now a much more presentable bonsai.

One last photo for today, the monster Crape myrtle I recently lifted. You can see the shoots just starting to extend. I’m growing pretty confident this one is going to make it.

Let me know what you think about today’s Cedar elm work.