Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

Creating redwood bonsai: step 2

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The first step when creating branches from scratch on coast redwood pre-bonsai is to stimulate lots of new shoots. Once this new growth appears, the next step is to trim the shoots on the upper portions of the trunk to begin developing compact branches (aka short internodes).

(See “Step one” for details about starting the process.)

Here’s a multi-trunk coast redwood covered with new shoots.

Multi-trunk coast redwood

Multi-trunk coast redwood

And here’s the tree after shortening new growth where I want to create dense branching.

After pruning

After pruning, 31″

The lowest shoots will grow freely so they can thicken before pruning. Once they reach the desired thickness they can be reduced. Here’s what this looks like.

Before pruning

Coast redwood before pruning

After pruning

After pruning, 12″

The upper branches are now short which will help me create a dense crown. The lowest branches on the right were reduced so I can get started on the secondary branching. The lowest branches on the left will grow freely so they can thicken some more before pruning.

This middle stage of development can be repeated as many times as it takes to create the silhouette you’re looking for. For small trees the process might take 1-2 years; for larger trees, 3-5 years.

Thanks for Max for the help with the pruning and to Peter Tea for the inspiration.

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Comments

  1. Would you do the same thing with bald cypress or are there differences in how you would train them?

    • Great question Steve – I haven’t seen anyone try the technique with bald cypress but I think it’s worth a try with a younger specimen. I’d guess there would be some adjustments due to the different growth habits but would likely start with the same approach and see what happens before proceeding further.

  2. Jonas, is there a best time for doing the trimming and a time when you wouldn’t recommend doing this. Thank you.

    • Yes, there is! I trim every 3-5 weeks during the growing season and hold off during the dormant season, roughly from October through February, give or take, where I live.

    • Hi Andy! I’d start this process after the trunk has reached the desired thickness. That said, I don’t know anyone who has combined trunk growing from scratch with this branch development technique so I don’t know what additional tips will come into play. The primary challenge, however, will be getting buds to pop where you want primary branches.

      I’d try a few approaches, some simply focusing on the trunk, and some making selected cuts along the way to stimulate small branches where you want the future primary branches to grow. And if you want to practice the branch development technique, you can start with a tree that already has a bit of a trunk to see how it goes.