Today I lifted this Huckleberry, Vaccinium species. Check out that fantastic rootage and trunk base! There’s no doubt this specimen can be made into a fine bonsai over the next several years.
But there’s something wrong with this picture. Can you guess what it is? Or better still, can you see what it is?
The left-hand trunk here is obviously too long. One of the common mistakes just about every collector makes (I’ve been guilty, too!) is to leave their trunk too long. Sometimes it’s because you like the way the trunk moves higher up in the tree. Sometimes you misjudge the final height of your bonsai when you first lift a tree. It’s not always easy to gauge the trunk base to height ratio, or the plan way in advance for the finished height of the tree. All of these are possibilities.
In the case of this specimen, both trunks are too long. The left trunk is just way out there. But the right trunk has its own issue, namely that it stops tapering long before the chop point.
Here’s the solution. Now, you may have had a “Wow!” reaction, and that’s okay. The fact is, this tree stopped making sense as a potential bonsai long before either of those trunks reached the initial chop point. The extra length wasn’t going to make the radial rootage any less nice, but you can overcome good features in your trees by hanging onto bad features for the wrong reasons. It made no sense to keep those trunks excessively long.
I see a natural Huckleberry shape in this specimen. It’s going to bud along the length of each trunk in spring, and this includes near the chop point on each. I will use some of those buds to make a broom-form shape, which is the natural form for the species. I think it’ll be outstanding.
Finally, the tree is snugged into its nursery container, to ensure the roots are kept moist. It takes some foresight to see the potential bonsai here, but as the tree buds out and recovers followed by the initial styling it should become obvious how it’s going to turn out.
Let me know what you think of this specimen.
Wild huckleberry, yesss!
I have only worked with one similar plant (a blueberry variety) and have focused on clip and grow for its styling so far. In your opinion, would styling strictly by pruning bring out the best in a blueberry bonsai, or would applying wire be a better way to go in this case?
Jared, you can only wire this species while the new growth is tender. Once the branches get set, and that doesn’t take long, you’ll crack them if you try to wire. So if you get your primary branches in the shape you want, you can then move to grow and clip for refinement.
Really nice rootage should become a great bonsai. Will you make an angled cut at the chop points next year? Like with your BC. Do you use something special to help the small roots to form?
Once I get a new leader or leaders on the chopped trunks, I’ll angle the cuts when the time is right. I won’t do this until the new leaders have thickened up a good bit. As for root formation, I use rooting powder on all of the specimens I collect.
Zach, I’ve read a couple places about varying concentrations of rooting powder depending on the type of tree. Do you follow that or do you have a single type/strength that you use for everything?
I just dust on the powder, Logan.
Zach I am always afraid to clean my collections so tight. What % live with no foliage and very little root?
I was thinking the same… no roots, no foliage!!??
See my response to Mike, Robert. All deciduous trees and all the broadleaf evergreens I know of don’t require any foliage or fibrous roots to survive collecting. I’ve been at it 30 years and this has proven to be true.
As a general rule, Mike, 80% across all species I collect. The tree wants to live and has energy stored in all its cells. So when spring comes, it produces buds and roots to recover from all the chopping. Most collectors are terrified of not getting any “feeder” roots when they lift trees. But seldom do you collect true feeders with your trees, only fibrous roots which are hardened off and don’t directly absorb water and nutrients. These (and chopped large roots) must produce new feeders to enable their survival.
That’s great news. I’m just getting started.
I watch another site and they freak out about touching the root ball. I have hard time keeping the root ball when I collect and feel sac religious when I loose the dirt then have to cut a few roots to get it into the pot.
That means I can collect a lot more .
Remember this rule does not apply to junipers and pines. For all of the deciduous and broadleaf evergreens I collect, it applies.
Logan I believe rooting powder comes in three strengths: 1 ,2,&3. With 1 being the weakest. Sorry that’s all I know. Web will prob. tell you why & what to use them on.