Every August I think August is the suckiest month, then along comes February and I remember there are worse things than killer heat and humidity. To help make February less sucky, there is some work that needs doing on trees being developed. If you have some deciduous specimens that need wiring, this is a good time to do it. You can see exactly what the structure of the tree looks like, and what needs to be done to make it better. So don’t hesitate to get the wire out and go for it.

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I collected this Bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, in Winter 2017 and began training it into a flat-top specimen once it had some nice shoots going. Last September I slip-potted it into this Byron Myrick oval. I think the tree looked pretty impressive considering how quickly this whole process happened. But of course there was plenty of work left to do.

 

The tree has been bare for about a month and a half now, and you can clearly see in this photo that it’s just beginning its journey as a bonsai. I’ve got some primary and secondary branching, and that’s about it. But in 2018 this branching is going to grow quickly and strong, and I’ll need to be sure to keep it in check. Cypress shoots, especially apical shoots, thicken amazingly fast.

For today, though, wiring out these branches is going to help further establish the design I have in mind.

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This work took about 20 minutes. I’ve got wire on just about every branch that will make it through winter (the smallest, thinnest BC shoots tend to die off over winter; this is normal). And I’ve positioned all of the branches in order to continue development of the tree’s structure.

I anticipate that this bonsai will be showable by fall. It certainly should be fully developed by the end of the 2019 growing season.

Although I had planned to train it through 2018 and then offer it for sale, it’s time to free up some bench space so I’ve gone ahead and posted it for sale.

 

UPDATE: This tree has been sold.