Five weeks ago I cut back and wired a coast redwood. Even though it’s mid-November, the tree is filling in quickly and some of the wires are already beginning to cut in.
Coast redwood – 5 weeks after wiring and cutback
The main goals of cutback and wiring are to ensure that light gets into the tree’s interior and to stimulate new shoots.
New shoots
The new growth appeared throughout the tree – near the trunk, along existing branches and at the branch tips.
New buds emerging next to a cut branch
New buds at the branch tips
New buds emerging from the trunk
Once these shoots elongate a bit I’ll repeat the process of thinning and wiring. Now, however, it’s time to remove the wires that starting to cut in.
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bonsai eejit says
Hi Jonas,
Thanks for posting about this species. I have been playing with one here in Ireland that I grew from a cutting, now a substantial tree but am only now getting to the refinement stage. I have looked for info on how and when to prune this species to maintain ramification but can find very little on the net. Is Oct/November a normal time to prune? I have some serious growth this year after wiring in the early Spring and I’m unsure if I should risk pruning now. Any advice appreciated.
Regards
Ian
Jonas Dupuich says
Hi Ian – thanks for the note! As long as the tree is still active, fall is a good time to do minor cutback. If winter is cold where you are – regular freezes at night – it makes sense to prune in early spring when the tree is actively growing again.
Al Polito says
Ian, Bob Shimon, who provides 99% of the collected redwoods here on the West Coast of the States, instructs us to feed the hell out redwoods and to pinch off tip growth as long as there is an active bud behind that tip somewhere. That will force more interior growth and better ramification. Typical “elongating species” stuff, I suppose.
Jonas: Looks like you’re using aluminum wire… what’s your thinking behind that?l Nice meeting you at Artisan’s Cup by the way.
Thanks! Al Polito
Jonas Dupuich says
Hi Al! I used aluminum as not much bending needed to happen and the wire doesn’t stay on long so I went with the less expensive option. If redwood shoots weren’t so soft I’d likely use copper.
bonsai eejit says
Jonas/Al,
Thanks for the info. I have no problem getting mine to grow over here! They seem to like dropping the odd branch after wiring on finer branches.It’s a bit of a pet project for me as I think it’s the only one in Ireland as a bonsai. I love a challenge 🙂
http://bonsaieejit.com/2014/12/15/sequoia-sempervirens-update/
Jonas Dupuich says
Thanks for sharing the link Ian – the tree’s coming along well!
Ben Watts says
So if you have buds emerging where you cut branches off, dont you want to remove those buds, ssince you didnt want a branch there in the first place? my redwoods are so hard to maintain due to the fact that they grow like weeds! Ive never pinched mine but still get knobs and stuff all the time. Branches elongate and idk if I can cut them right in the middle or if a branch has to be cut back to another bud/branch.
Jonas Dupuich says
Hi Ben – yes, some of these shoots I’ll remove, others I might use. Knobs occur when you cut to the same spot again and again – these branches are typically removed as there’s no good fix for them.