• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

  • Blog
    • How-to Guides
  • Podcast
  • Shop
    • Bonsai
    • Books
    • Soil
    • Soil (wholesale)
    • Supplies
    • Tools
    • Video Consulting
    • Northern California Bonsai Resources
  • About
    • Workshops

Big cut – crape myrtle

August 2, 2011 by Jonas Dupuich

Greg recently brought a crape myrtle to a Bay Island Bonsai workshop. The tree has a large trunk and good roots. It also has a big first branch. Boon recommended removing it.

Crape myrtle - front

Crape myrtle – front

Right side

Crape myrtle – left side

Left side

Crape myrtle – right side

Because the branch was so large, Boon recommended making the cut in stages. Greg could cut most of the way through today, and complete the cut next year.

Cut

Proposed cut – left side

Cut

Proposed cut – right side

Removing the branch in stages speeds the time it takes for the wound to heal over. It’s also less stressful for the tree.

Making the cut

Making the cut with a sharp saw

The cut

Cut complete

After making the cut, Greg cleaned the edges of the cut with a grafting knife. Even sharp saws tend to leave rough edges. Cleaning the cut with a grafting knife will help the wound to heal quickly.

Cleaning the cut

Cleaning the cut

After cleaning the cut, Greg covered the wound with cut paste. In one or two years, the cut will have healed significantly and the rest of the branch can be removed.

I first learned about this technique in Japan at Ebihara’s garden. Here is a photo of a Japanese maple undergoing a similar treatment.

Removing large branch

Healing a large wound on a Japanese maple

Subscribe to Bonsai Tonight

New Posts Delivered Every Tuesday and Friday

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by Kit

Filed Under: Bonsai Development Tagged With: crape myrtle

Previous Post: « Witnessed in a recent workshop – grafting follow-up and junipers
Next Post: Fall decandling – year two »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Maros says

    August 2, 2011 at 8:43 am

    Fantastic technique. If it works well than it can help a lot, I will try it definitely myself. Good post. Thanks.

  2. Justin Rotert says

    August 2, 2011 at 1:52 pm

    YES! BRILLIANT! Great technique, I will most surely remember to use it. thanks

  3. bonsaijapan says

    August 2, 2011 at 3:31 pm

    Very interesting technique. Thanks for posting it.

    Joe.

  4. Jose Luis says

    August 5, 2011 at 5:37 am

    Jonas,

    First, let me congratulate you on your beautiful site. I always enjoy your posts. Another way of removing a large branch is using toriki (air layering). Although one might discard the useless branch, because toriki creates a callus on both ends of the removed bark ring, once the branch is removed you will have a mature callus on the cut. In Taiwan, we usually use this to remove unsightly growth on celtis, keyaki, elm, ficus and other miscellaneous trees.

    Warm regards,

    Jose Luis

    • xwires says

      August 5, 2011 at 10:11 am

      Hi Jose – thanks so much for the note. Layering is a good option for removing these larger branches. Ebihara has used a combination of these techniques by removing large branches over several years while re-purposing the ends of the branches with his branch grafting technique: http://bonsaitonight.com/2009/07/29/ebihara-technique/

  5. Cheryl Sykora says

    August 13, 2011 at 3:56 am

    Jonas, your site and Peter’s site are the most interesting bonsai sites on the internet.

Footer

Follow Bonsai Tonight

Subscribe

Instagram ● Facebook ● Twitter
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Shop
  • About

P.O. Box 6560, Alameda, CA 94501 · 510-915-2025 · jonas (at) bonsaitonight (dot) com

© Copyright 2009-2025 Bonsai Tonight · All rights reserved · Privacy · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. You can opt-out if you wish. Accept Decline Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT