I gave the roots on this one a light cut back as they look quite nice as they were.
The roots on the Silver Birch were an absolute mess. I gave this more a more rigorous cut back, but I think I'll have to revisit this one after a bit more reading up on cutting and training the roots.
I've read that it is useful to cut the leaves off at the top of the stem at around mid-summer to encourage smaller leaf growth, would this still be recommended with my trees?KIRKY wrote:Both these have soft bark that can scare quickly from wiring over growing period Spring/Summer.
I would wire Autumn over Winter and remove wire before Spring. Generally if you want to wire and repot trees at the same time, put wire on trees before repotting. Then repot that way you don't disturb any new roots. Just make sure to watch the wire cutting in. Except when working with Pines. Then choose repot or wire not both. If you do a large repot removing alot of roots from a Pine leave two years before wiring.
Cheers
Kirky
Not yet.quodlibet_ens wrote:I've read that it is useful to cut the leaves off at the top of the stem at around mid-summer to encourage smaller leaf growth, would this still be recommended with my trees?KIRKY wrote:Both these have soft bark that can scare quickly from wiring over growing period Spring/Summer.
I would wire Autumn over Winter and remove wire before Spring. Generally if you want to wire and repot trees at the same time, put wire on trees before repotting. Then repot that way you don't disturb any new roots. Just make sure to watch the wire cutting in. Except when working with Pines. Then choose repot or wire not both. If you do a large repot removing alot of roots from a Pine leave two years before wiring.
Cheers
Kirky
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I needed this quote emblazoned on my face 20 years ago! But back then I still wouldn't have understood what it meant. To be honest with yourself is the hardest part. Admitting you may have bought a lemon is integral to learning as well, as we have all done it. Asking for help and admitting you made mistakes is easy for some, but harder for others. If you can listen instead of talk, when asking an experienced and talented bonsai grower then you are going to learn the right way. But at the end of the day, patience and persistence is how I am still learning. I prefer to only take advice from those with great material. Never believe you are great at bonsai or you will stop learning.treeman wrote: It is very important when working with, buying, or even considering any material for future bonsai development that we have a firm idea what we want to achieve, and that we have a good idea how that will be achieved.
This is a great piece of advice and very hard to visualize early on. How many times has an enthusiast rocked up at a club with a new $50 purchase, hoping to create something in about 2 years worth of growing, only to realize that they will need to cut a massive chunk off the material or to cut, wire, grow... cut, wire, grow....cut, wire, grow for the next 10 years until it becomes a lovely tree.treeman wrote: There are 2 options with young raw material like this. The first one is to do nothing and just let them grow and come back later.
The second is to start working on it now.
If we choose option 2, we need to realise that 95% of the material is useless to our needs. It's important to remember that what primarily makes a bonsai is the act of removal of the unneeded. Cutting MAKES bonsai!
Hi treeman,treeman wrote:quodlibet, There ARE no styles suited to these trees. You have to CREATE them.
It is very important when working with, buying, or even considering any material for future bonsai development that we have a firm idea what we want to achieve, and that we have a good idea how that will be achieved.
There are 2 options with young raw material like this. The first one is to do nothing and just let them grow and come back later.
The second is to start working on it now.
If we choose option 2, we need to realise that 95% of the material is useless to our needs. It's important to remember that what primarily makes a bonsai is the act of removal of the unneeded. Cutting MAKES bonsai!
Wiring, trimming, leaf removal or any other such techniques are for the future not for now.
So what is unneeded here?
This step #1 for option #2.
treeman wrote:Cutting MAKES bonsai!
