From landscape tree to bonsai
As most of you know, it can be hard to find good material for black pine bonsai outside of Japan. This forces a certain level of creativity. Growing seeds is one good approach. Another is converting landscape trees to bonsai.
I recently purchased a couple of black pines developed as landscape trees in the hope they could someday become bonsai. The larger of the two was taller than I am.
Black pine developed as landscape tree
Black pine
Despite the large size and uninteresting trunk line, the tree possessed a couple of characteristics that made me think hard about working with the tree as bonsai. The base of the trunk is fairly large, and good bark is beginning to develop.
Base of trunk – side A
Base of trunk – side B
A good trunk is a great start for a tree, but branches also matter, and this tree had but a small number of quite large branches. I didn’t have long to think about it, but I knew I had some intriguing starting points so I brought the tree home.
What, then, to do with it? I’m curious to hear your suggestions. I’ll post photos of the initial work later this week.
Developing young pine bonsai
A number of my black pines are turning eight this year. Some are starting to look like young bonsai. Others simply look young. As none have grown to the size I have in mind for them, the work at this stage is straight forward.
I’ve trained the tree below in the exposed root style. This year’s goal for the tree below is increased growth. To keep it from blowing over, I removed the uppermost shoot.
Before cutback
After cutback
I have yet to select a trunk or main branches, but I suspect the final tree will be somewhere in this area.
Exposed root pine
Most of my young pines have small shoots near the base of the trunk that will form the future branches. Longer escape branches serve to thicken the trunk. To keep the lower branches on the tree below in check, I cut them back and wired them down.
8yr-old pine with long shoots
After cutback and wiring
I also replaced the tree’s trunk by wiring a branch upwards and tying it to the stub from the previous trunk. Changing the main trunk like this is a good way to add movement and produce taper.
Another young pine was getting floppy. I wired the trunk a few years ago with some very tight curves. The weight from the long escape branch made the tree bounce around in the wind. To keep the branch from moving around too much and snapping the trunk, I removed some of the excess foliage.
Before cutback
After cutback
Some trees are puzzles to me. I’ve found that some of the trickiest - read: least attractive – simply require more time before the future direction becomes clear. I’m hoping light cutback and another year or three of new growth may help with this one.
Future bonsai?
Future landscape tree?
Some of the smaller trees produce no strong feelings in me. I’ll let these grow another year before making any cuts.
8yr-old pine
Plenty of small branches
I really like this stage of development because the work is simple and the effect on the tree’s future can be huge. Some of my most hopeless cases have turned into really fun trees. The rest are growing nicely – as landscape trees.
Refining trident maple
I’ve been working to develop the ramification on my trident maple for several years now but the progress has been slow. This year I’m trying something different to see if I can speed up the process.
I usually let new shoots run a bit before trimming them and I defoliate the tree 2-4 times a year depending on its vigor. This year I’m going to keep new growth in check by maintaining the tree’s silhouette throughout the growing season. To do this, I will trim all vigorous shoots as they emerge, even if this means working on the tree every few days.
That’s the plan anyway – it’s early April now and I’m already behind! You can see in the photo below that the apex has rounded out some and a few shoots are breaking away from the silhouette.
Trident maple – healthy apex
I cut back all shoots that were leaving the general silhouette and left the interior branches alone. When the new leaves harden off, it will be time to defoliate – another opportunity to cut elongating shoots.
After removing the new shoots
I’m hoping that keeping the vigorous shoots in check will improve the tree’s balance. If, however, I don’t see much progress by the end of the year, I’ll look to try yet another approach next spring.
New ficus bonsai
A few weeks ago, I found myself walking away from the Golden State Bonsai Federation’s Mammoth Fundraiser with three new stands and a large ficus. The ficus sported a funny, bulbous trunk and a nice, full silhouette. So I did the natural thing people in bonsai so often do – I removed the bulk of the foliage, inadvertently creating a sort of tropical Charlie Brown tree.
Ficus before cutback
Ficus after cutback – ouch!
I fully – and regularly – accept my non-bonsai friends’ critiques about the “beauty” of my collection. I consider this to be part of the intake process. When I get new trees, I focus on getting them healthy, and tree health always begins with the roots. I knew I would soon remove the tree’s soil and would therefore need to remove a commensurate amount of foliage – that’s what led to the big cuts.
The repotting went smoothly. I began by removing the old soil and trimming the roots.
Long roots
I then went to work on some large roots that didn’t make sense for the tree. One large root in the front of the tree was too large for cutters so I gnawed away at it the best I could and then smoothed the wound with a chisel.
Removing a large root
I didn’t leave many roots. Healthy ficus can typically withstand fairly severe root pruning, especially if the tree is well cared for after the repotting.
Rootbase from above
Rootbase from below
Such a small rootbase made finding a bonsai pot easy. When I was finished repotting, I placed the tree in a greenhouse where it will be misted, but not watered much, for the next month or two.
Ficus – side A
Side B
I have yet to select a front for the tree, or an apex – it’s too soon for that. I still need to remove the top third of the trunk to address a large, open wound, and I don’t want to make that final cut until the tree has more vigorous shoots – and plenty of roots. I’ll start thinking more about the future style of the tree when I get to that point.
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