For the first time in years, I have a dawn redwood in the garden. It was a favorite species of mine growing up but I’ve only worked on them as bonsai here and there over the years. After working on one last week, I’m not sure why I don’t see more of them trained as bonsai.
I picked up the tree from Cedar Rose Nursery in Placerville, California. The tree was still growing in the ground when I stopped by, so we dug it up and cut off most of the roots, the top half of the trunk, and all of the branches. That didn’t seem to slow the tree down as it produced lots of new growth over the course of the growing season.
Dawn redwood at Cedar Rose Nursery
After one year in a pot
I started work by removing the old leaves but found that small leaflets kept getting stuck between the branches. A small brush made the clean-up easy.
Brushing away old leaves
After removing the leaves it was easy to see some of the flawed branching.
Lots of opportunities to prune!
Some of the more unsightly flawed branches were “bar branches,” branches that emerge at the same level on opposite sides of the trunk.
Bar branches
Although there are good reasons to keep bar branches on occasion, there was no great benefit to maintaining them on this tree as there were plenty of nearby branches that I could use to create the primary scaffold branches.
After removing the branch on the right
The tree looked different after removing several bar branches and thinning branch clusters where more than two or three shoots emerged from the same spot.
After thinning
I also selected a single leader at the top of the tree. I don’t yet know what my plan is for developing the apex (a single leader? multiple leaders that branch out?), but I do know that I’d like at least part of the upper trunk to thicken.
From here the work was straightforward. I shortened the upper branches and wired the remaining branches to give them shape (thanks Mark and Nicole!).
After pruning
After wiring
I plan to prune the top of the tree several times during the growing season next year to give the lower branches time to get stronger. I’ll revisit the structural decisions when I look at the tree next fall.
News & Updates
[Winter Shohin School]
- There are a few spaces left for the 2026 Winter Shohin School (and lots of workshop material available!). This year’s event will be held in Alameda, California. Headliner Daisaku Nomoto will lead the two-day event focusing on shohin display and development. Learn more and register online.
[New Bonsai Book from Japan]
- Last year the Japanese Bonsai Association published a catalog with award winning trees from all 50 years of the Sakufu-ten. The Sakufu bonsai exhibit is an annual event featuring the work of professionals. Each member of the Japanese Bonsai Association can submit a single entry for the exhibit. Many Japanese professionals consider the show’s top award as the most prestigious in Japan.
I’m a big fan of the event and of the book so I was thrilled when I found out I could make them available in the US. Learn more or pick up a copy at the Bonsai Tonight Online Store.
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James Shadoan says
Thank you very much for the step-by-step progress update on the Dawn Redwood. I have three similar trees that need to be pruned now that they have just finished dropping their leaves, and your photos will prove to be a big help!
Richard Cote says
Great post, Jonus. I am a relative beginner but have a fondness for Dawn Redwoods, Ginkgos and Bald Cypress due to their beauty in all seasons and ancient history; I have several of these trees now, including some really nice old ones. Based on your past posts, I have now bought about 5 trees from Cedar Rose (although no Dawn Redwoods; I’ve never seen them offered!) and am in the process of figuring how to approach them. This post on your approach to the DR is really helpful and much appreciated (as are all your posts!).
Kevin says
Why would it ever be beneficial to leave bar branches in place?
Jonas Dupuich says
There’s a good chapter on this in Michael Hagedorn’s “Bonsai Heresy.” Briefly, sometimes a tree lacks enough branches to create a compelling design if all bar-branching is removed; sometimes bar-branches aren’t distracting (depends on the size and orientation of the branches), and sometimes removing a bar branch can be destructive to the design, particularly for old, large, or prominent bar-branches that are integral to the design.
Marty Weiser says
Very nice post about getting a tree started one its bonsai journey. I look forward to seeing its progression. Would you like to comment about how you plan to develop ramification in this dawn redwood – when and how to prune after it pushes buds? I have a similar, but smaller one and a forest that are now about a year or two ahead of this one.
Jonas Dupuich says
Thanks Marty! First, I plan to let everything run for a few months. I plan to reduce the new shoots on the top of the tree and wire the lower shoots. I’ll let the tree run again and prune again towards the end of the year. I don’t know exactly where and how I’ll prune, but I’ll be looking for visible buds to cut back to and I’ll be aiming to prevent the upper branches from growing too much to they don’t get too thick.