Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

Wiring a large cork oak

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The last tree to start growing in my garden each spring is also the largest. It’s a cork oak I acquired from Kenji Miyata.

Cork oak

Cork oak

I try to cut back and wire my oaks in fall or winter, but I often put this off for the big oak as it typically doesn’t start growing until April.

A few weeks ago, I began inspecting the buds for signs of growth every time I walked by the tree. I saw the first signs of growth this week so I slid the tree onto a cart and brought it in the workshop for cutback and wiring.

Buds

Buds starting to grow

Despite the tree’s age, it’s in relatively early stages of development. More than anything, my goal is for the lowest branches to thicken, a process that will take a few years.

I pruned the rest of the branches to get a rough idea of the silhouette. As the branches thicken, I’ll cut them back to create more movement and start training the secondary branches.

After wiring

After wiring – 44″

You can get a good idea of how young the branches are when viewing the tree from the side.

Right side

View from left side

Over the coming months, I’ll look out for suckers or other shoots I don’t need so I can encourage growth on the branches I want to thicken. I’ll look to prune and possibly wire the tree again in fall.

More Links to Bonsai for Sale!

Due to the positive response from last week’s links, I wanted to share two more Northern California bonsai vendors who ship trees.

The first is Mendocino Coast Bonsai. Run by Bob Shimon, Mendocino Coast Bonsai specializes in collected coast redwoods, Sierra junipers, Mendocino pygmy cypress, and coast live oaks. Learn more at their Trees for Sale page.

The second is Lotus Bonsai Nursery, run by Scott Chadd and Bolet Salvador. Lotus Bonsai Nursery has many species at different of development. You can see a sample of their trees on their Developed Bonsai page.

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Comments

  1. Jonas, what a fantastic piece of material, congrats on the find!

    Could you please explain how you will developement the descending branch thickness through the top of the tree, if that’s the goal?

    Thanks

    • Thanks Mark! I plan to prune to upper branches frequently to prevent them from thickening and let the lower branches grow much longer before pruning them so they thicken.

  2. Dear Jonas,

    You might add the distinguished bonsai master Gary Ishii of southern California as
    an online vendor of high quality trees, particularly junipers, olives, and remarkably ramified
    elms.

    Len Rosenband.

  3. Jonas, great post, as always.

    I can pretty much set my calendar by my cork oaks sending our their new leaf material – 15th of April every year!

    Best to you.

  4. Good job Jonas. Wiring at this time of year, with all the small buds just barely hanging on, is a very delicate situation for me. Your wiring skills are better then mine.

    I agree, Cork bark oaks are the last of the oaks to push. I hadn’t thought about tax day. Keep up the good work!

    • Ha, thanks Michael! Fortunately only a couple of buds started pushing so the timing was good for the wiring. Another couple weeks and it would be too late.

    • Thanks Bartosz, I agree about the tree’s current shape. I’ve been looking for broadleaf evergreens with similar trunks to get ideas for other style options – please let me know if anything comes to mind!