During a Bay Island Bonsai workshop hosted by Daisaku Nomoto, I brought in a red pine forest I’d grown from seed. Nomoto found the grove to be omoshiroi. He took some interest in the forest, insisting that I bend two of the trunks down and remove a large branch from the main tree. He wasn’t concerned about the unorthodox character of the composition or the lack of taper – the forest was omoshiroi. I asked if I should wire the rest of the branches – Nomoto didn’t think they needed it. The branches didn’t need a lot of attention because carefully detailed branches wouldn’t match the unusual trunks. I thinned new shoots to one pair per branch and removed the old needles.

Red pine forest – before cutback

After cutback

I’ll wire a few of the main branches when I decandle later this spring. It looks like this forest might be my best candidate for next year’s BIB exhibit, but it’s too early to tell just yet. I’ll know more in fall when the summer growth fills in.

The first tree I worked on at Aichi-en was somewhat unusual. The second tree I worked on made the first tree look easy. From a distance, the white pine looked unremarkable.

Japanese five-needle pine – front

The tree’s exposed roots were covered by foliage in the front, but easy to see from the back.

Japanese fine-needle pine – back

After looking closer, I realized that the foliage hid the tree’s true form. The trunk had been bent down until it crossed itself.

The tree’s apex crossing the trunk just above the roots

I didn’t have a clear idea what I’d do with the tree. “Very unusual tree,” Mr. Tanaka said with a big grin. I smiled and thought, “great.” As I did with the first tree I worked on, I began by removing the old needles. This gave me a chance to size up the tree and make a plan. Here it is after I removed the old needles.

After removing the old needles

Before I started wiring, I made a case for shortening the apex where it crossed the middle of the trunk. Mr. Tanaka said to go ahead and cut it. Next came the wire.

For the first bend, I placed a screw directly into the trunk near the top of the tree and pulled it down using stainless steel wire. This made the tree more compact. I then wired the remaining branches, making a few cuts along the way. Here’s the tree after the initial wiring.

First pass – wiring complete

I wanted to make the apex smaller and I wasn’t sure about the lowest branch on the right, but I kept it to see what Mr. Tanaka thought. I had bent the branches enough that I didn’t want to tweak the tree anymore and I passed it to Mr. Tanaka for final adjustments. He removed two of the branches, one near the apex and the lower right branch, and then reset the rest, keeping the silhouette and basic style roughly the same.

I picked up a styling tip by watching Tanaka set the branches. He tended to bend the main branches way down, and the smaller branches out a bit. This made the tree a bit more compact while keeping nice branch pads. Here is the tree after Tanaka made these changes.

Styling complete

Because the tree is so unusual, I’d be curious to see how it looks several years from now. If it’s still at Aichi-en, I’ll be sure to get pictures.

Late fall through early winter is show season in Japan. Depending on how many trees a bonsai professional has to show – or sell – October through February can be a busy time. Within just three weeks, I helped with trees bound for four different events. Show preparation can entail anything from needle plucking to repotting to detail wiring. And once show trees are ready to go, work begins on the sale trees.

My favorite task during the season is show wiring. On several occasions, I’ve been given a tree and told to make it look pretty without using heavy wires. Depending on the tree, this can be a confounding task. The first tree I worked on was a cascade black pine.

Japanese black pine

After removing old needles and trimming a few long needles, I began tweaking the branches, most of which were wired last year. I quickly realized I didn’t have a great idea of what I was trying to do so I let Mr. Tanaka complete the work on the tree. When the branches were set, I oiled the pot and applied moss to the surface of the soil. Here’s a photo of the finished tree.

Japanese black pine – show prep complete

The next tree I worked on was a large black pine with long needles. The tree was in good shape, but stray needles and branch pads that lacked definition detracted from the overall look of the tree.

Black pine – before

I began by removing needles that grew at undesirable angles – usually downward – and wiring a number of small branches to better define key branch pads. When I finished, I had Mr. Tanaka take a look.

Happy with the result

Tanaka tweaked a few small branches and added a guy wire – for the most part, subtle changes. Here’s how the tree ended up.

Show prep complete

Sometimes simple tasks can make a big difference. The deadwood on the white pine below was quite dark before I treated it with lime-sulfur.

White pine with lots of deadwood

I also plucked stray needles from a large white pine bound for Taikan-ten.

Needles plucked – getting ready to add moss

On the other end of the spectrum, some trees were wired from bottom to top. This isn’t normally done just before an exhibition, especially ahead of shows like Kokufu and Taikan-ten. The practice can, however, be acceptable for regional shows – especially if the tree’s owner requests it.

Mr. Tanaka and Peter Tea working late to finish wiring a large white pine

The show prep that really caught my attention was the work that went into an old multi-trunk trident maple. The first step involved removing all of the leaves.

Mr. Tanaka removing old leaves

I would have thought this job wouldn’t take a long time, but when there are hundreds of leaves on hundreds of branches and great care must be taken to avoid breaking branches, the task can take a surprisingly long time. It’s a perfect job for Mr. Tanaka, a third-year apprentice at Aichi-en who by coincidence has the same name as our oyakata.

Once the leaves were removed, Mr. Tanaka pulled out an electronic toothbrush and scrubbed the branches with water to remove green build-up wherever it appeared.

Electric toothbrush technique

So many branches

The result was a beautiful trident maple. Some moss and an oiled pot completed the work, and the tree looked great at Taikan-ten. I’ll post pics of these trees as exhibited before long.

The back pine below appeared on the turntable and I was asked to make the tree “more beautiful.” What an unusual tree!

Twisted pine

Before looking very closely, I immediately got to work plucking old needles. That gave me a chance to study the tree and let me put off figuring out what to do with it. Once the tree was clean, Oyakata – Mr. Tanaka of Aichi-en – asked what I wanted to do with the tree. I said I wanted to make it more compact and wanted a tiny bit of foliage to poke out on the right side. I thought about doing that by bending the top part of the trunk to the right. That would have the effect of undoing the final curve in the trunk. Tanaka suggested that I think about bending the trunk even further to the left. If the tree is funky, go with it, he said. Sounded great to me. I haven’t done a lot of heavy bends on black pines so I had fun wrestling branches with bare hands and jacks to get it into shape.

Stainless steel guy wire

This opened up quite a few cracks along the branches. I was told they’d heal just fine, so I added cut paste and moved on to the next bend.

Openings in the bark after making a severe bend

Before long, the branches were covered with screws and wires.

The result of bending the trunk 4″

Guy wire with screws

Jin

Branches wired

When I finished positioning the branches, Tanaka spent a few minutes pointing the branches upwards and moving them closer to the trunk. I had positioned the braches farther apart and pointed the buds outward. Why make the change? Mostly to improve the tree’s silhouette.

Wiring complete

It was 10:30 p.m. when I finished working on the tree – about 12 hours in the workshop. What a fun way to start a bonsai vacation!

Here are some shots of the tree from different angeles to offer a better idea of how twisted the thing is.

Front – before	Front – after
Right – before	Right – after
Left side – before	Left side – after
Back – before	Back – after

I’ll be curious to see how the branches withstand the big bends. I’ll ask Peter Tea for a photo if the tree’s still around next year.

Decandling is a great technique for improving ramification or for maintaining it. What little ramification my red pine forest has can be attributed to a few years of decandling. I don’t currently have any plans to further develop the trunks in this forest, so the branches are getting all of my attention. Here is the group planting before decandling.

Red pine forest – June, 2011

Top 1/3 decandled

2/3 decandled

Completely decandled

In addition to removing the spring shoots, I removed some extra vigorous branches to better balance the tree. The shoot below is quite vigorous – more than I want for this bonsai.

Vigorous branch

The branches below are better suited for development into branch pads.

Desirable growth

Where extra-vigorous shoots were crowding out more refined growth, I removed the vigorous shoots.

One of these shoots is not like the others

Extra-vigorous shoot removed

As I worked, I found a few anomalous shoots like those below. They weren’t spring shoots, but they weren’t exactly summer shoots either. Where did they come from?

Mystery shoots

About two months ago, I thinned these trees and shortened some of the candles – see “Thinning a red pine forest” for details. On one or two occasions, I accidentally broke the candles before they had time to develop. It was as if I “de-candled” these branches on the early side. The result of these mistakes are the strong shoots you see pictured above. As these shoots would continue to develop ahead of the properly decandled branches, I removed them to maintain balance.

Mystery shoots removed

After removing all extra-vigorous shoots and plucking needles from some of the more dense areas, I wrapped up my work for this season.

Decandling complete

This forest is another good candidate for wiring this fall. Once the branches are in place, I plan to repot the group in a slightly smaller pot.

I’ve received a lot of questions about decandling since I started writing about it. The basic idea is simple – we decandle pines to replace vigorous spring growth with less vigorous summer growth. There are, however, a number of variables to consider, from timing to needle plucking to after care. The best way to navigate these details is with an experienced teacher. If a good teacher isn’t available, I recommend experimenting – preferably with a tree you consider appropriate for experimentation. (For details about some of the variables to consider when decandling, see “Decandling secrets revealed!“)

The first time I decandled a pine on my own, I had an idea of when and what to cut, but was less clear about how the new growth would turn out. I watched the summer shoots develop very closely that year and ended up learning a lot. I’ve still a lot more to learn. Here’s what the process looked like on one of my more developed – though still young – pines this year.

Japanese black pine – June 2011

Vigorous spring shoot

Spring shoot removed: note that I left a tiny bit of the new shoot – this is where the summer shoots will emerge

Needles thinned

Five needles and a short stub remain

After decandling and needle thinning

The tree is more than a bit straggly at this stage. As the summer buds have begun to appear, I have to wait until fall before I can wire the tree. What does a recently decandled pine look like after a great wiring job? I recommend Peter Tea’s recent photographs of a 100-150 year old pine for an answer. See his Aichien Journal for the story.

The progress continues on a Japanese black pine I’ve been working on since digging the tree from Lone Pine Gardens some years back. This summer’s work consisted of decandling, thinning a few needles, and reducing the two temporary branches at the top of the tree.

Japanese black pine, approximately 18yrs old – before decandling

After decandling and cutback

The straggly branch at the top left is keeping the trunk alive until a couple of grafts take. I don’t need much growth here, but I want to keep the sap flowing past the grafts. The straggly branch on the right is part of the new apex. I’m letting it grow until the apex is closer in size to the trunk. Once enough grafts take and the apex has reached adequate size, I can remove these branches and actually get an idea of what the tree will look like as bonsai.

Korean hornbeam can grow dense with little effort. To encourage interior shoots, I need to thin the foliage. I do this by cutting new shoots back to 2-4 leaves and completely removing extraneous shoots from overly dense areas.

Korean hornbeam – July, 2011

After removing the unnecessary leaves, I decided to lower a few of the branches. I remembered that the branches on the right side of the tree pointed upward a bit more than the branches on the left. You can see this more clearly without the leaves.

January, 2011 – note upward pointing branches on the right

To make these branches better match the angles of the other branches, I used several guy wires. There are a number of ways to set up guy wires. For this tree, I stuck to a simple set-up. First step – cutting two short lengths of aquarium tubing.

Aquarium tubing

To create an opening for the wire, I cut a slot in one of the tubes by bending it and taking a small slice from the top.

Creating an opening for the wire

This will be used for the top branch – the one to be lowered. I slip the bottom section of tubing into place as is.

Guy wire with tubing

After slipping the first section of tubing onto the wire, I place the tubing below the anchor branch and feed the ends of the wire through the openings in the tubing with the slot. I decided against shooting the set-up in place as there were too many branches in the tree’s interior to tell how things are connected. Here’s the basic set-up.

Guy wire set-up

After wrapping the wire with tubing around the anchor branch and the branch to be lowered, I twist the wire with my fingers to hold it in place. I then lower the branch with one hand, and use pliers to take up the slack in the wire with the other.

Guy wire detail

Hornbeam – after thinning and adding guy wires

Why not simply wire the branches that need to be lowered? One thin guy wire does the same work as a very heavy wire wrapped around the branch. The process is simple and uses less total wire.

Why use plastic tubing? The tubing slows the rate at which the wire cuts into the bark and it protects the bark from injury and discoloration.

I don’t know if the branches will set before the leaves fall off this autumn. If not, I’ll leave them in place – or remove and replace them – when I work on the tree this winter.

Decandling my cork bark black pine was a straightforward process this year. I removed the spring growth and thinned unnecessary needles. I did not decandle weak shoots or shoots that grew in areas I’m trying to develop – mostly the lower branches on the right side. Here is the tree before decandling.

Cork bark Japanese black pine – June 2011

Most branches produce a single new shoot – strong areas produce two or more new shoots.

Two new shoots – this branch is strong

Main shoot removed – one shoot remains

When two or more shoots appear on a single branch, I remove all new shoots to prevent the branch from becoming even stronger. These branches usually have a main shoot that grows upward and one or more side shoots that grow at angles. I cut all shoots perpendicular to the direction in which they grow. Cutting two or more shoots at the same time produces uneven cuts that can lead to uneven growth.

The weaker shoot grows at an angle

Both shoots removed – both cuts square

As I worked, I found a needle that was green toward the base and brown toward the tip. I likely broke it when I wired the tree in April. My goal is to break as few needles as possible when I work on pines. Lots of broken needles is a common sign of careless work.

Oh my, a broken needle!

After removing the new shoots, I thinned unnecessary needles. This allows more light to reach the lower branches and helps balance vigor. I leave more needles on weak branches and fewer needles on stronger branches.

Shoot after decandling – plenty of needles

Branch thinned to five pairs of needles

When I’d finished this work, I noticed that the tree looked different than it did last year – a good sign. If all goes well, I’ll have the silhouette I’m trying to develop in a few more years.

Decandling and needle thinning complete

Part of the improvement is due to improved branch structure. You can get an idea of what the branches look like below.

First branch on the left

Each large branch is comprised of a number of smaller branches. The subtle differences between these branches provides depth and interest.

One of the branches that comprises the large first branch

For comparison’s sake, see the tree when last decandled one year ago: “Decandling cork bark Japanese black pine“

Refining old bonsai isn’t always a quick process – especially when the bonsai is a corkbark black pine. With brittle branches, the variety does not lend itself to dramatic restyling. I’ve been fortunate that the pine below has been healthy enough to decandle three years in a row. Many corkbark pines need a year to recover after decandling which further slows progress.

I talked briefly with Akio Kondo about the tree in a workshop this past winter. He encouraged me to continue refining it and removed a few unnecessary shoots. Then, with a big smile, he said, “Wire it.” Only now getting around to the task, I finished wiring just as the new needles began to emerge from the elongating candles.

The tree is still in an awkward stage. At best, I can hope to remove some of the “lumps” in the silhouette while I wait for new shoots to develop. It’s slow work, but I’m happy with the progress to date.

Front – before	Front – after
Right – before	Right – after
Left – before	Left – after
Back – before	Back – after

The work began with removing the old wire. As the tree had grown quite dense, this turned out to be a chore. I worked with a pliers to help with the branches between which my hands wouldn’t fit.

Unwiring copper wire (looks like 14 gauge)

I secure the wire and the branch with my left hand

And remove the wire with the pliers, one loop at a time

The wire gets recycled

I found a few places where old wire had cut in. Swelling occurs quickly in cork pines, and tight wire accelerates this. As long as the wire doesn’t cut in too deep, the natural corking will disguise the marks within a year or two.

Wire marks

As the pine was in bloom when I began wiring, I removed the pollen cones to avoid making a powdery mess.

Spring shoot with male, or pollen cones

As you can see from the detail shots below, the branches are very early in their development. Some areas of the tree, like the one pictured below, consist of parallel shoots with buds along the length of each shoot.

Young branches

Other areas consist of short, stubby shoots. When these areas develop further, I’ll have far more options for creating an attractive silhouette.

Short shoots

Once more mature branches are in place, I can focus on improving the tree’s balance. And somewhere along the way, I’ll be able to show it again.