Reverse Taper in Dwarf Red Pine

[Grant Bowie]

Hi all,

This is a project I have just taken on.

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It is labelled Emery's Lo Glow; which is a grafted dwarf red pine from the south coast of NSW.

It has dreadful reverse taper and I will use it as a teaching aid. How to reduce actual reverse taper, how to reduce the appearance of reverse taper and other stuff.

I have just lightly slip potted it into a cut down but slightly bigger plastic pot.

Grant

[Brian]

Grant, I know you would remember the late Jack Tripovitch's trunk spiking technique which could help that problem.

[Grant Bowie]

First job is to remove the major branch that is doing most of the over thickening where the reverse taper is most evident.

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When you see the tree from the side you can see the distortion the heavy branch has caused.

The heaviest branch has been removed but another one very close has been left to protect the health of the tree. It will be removed next year or in two years time.

The next step will be to choose a front that is more acceptable.

Grant

[Grant Bowie]

Once the wound has stabilised and I know the tree is safe; I will extend the jin more into and down the trunk. In a year or twos time when I remove the next branch I will extend the jin even further up and down the trunk.

Physically peeling off bit of the trunk will make the area look thinner and this area will of course cease to grow and thicken.

The live areas will in time slowly thicken and adjust, the side opposite the jin will thicken most noticeably and reduce the look of reverse taper within a few years.

In the mean-time I will start to style the tree from a different angle/front/side that will look and be of better taper.

Grant

[Boics]

Good thread Grant.

This will be nice to document over time.
Well done on making the effort to educate the masses.

[kez]

Agreed,

this is what this forum is all about, It's great that we have the experience on here to help us all move forward

Cheers Grant,

Kerrin

[trident76]

Hi Grant,
The removal of some parts of the tree will obviously reduce the appearance of reverse taper, as can be seen in the photos.
My thought is that the addition of roots or branches on very low parts of the tree could also reduce reverse taper.
To this end, do you think it would be worthwhile attempting to graft a new root or two, or branch (which could become a sacrifice branch) in order to thicken the part of the trunk affected by reverse taper?
Luke.

[Grant Bowie]

Hi Grant,
The removal of some parts of the tree will obviously reduce the appearance of reverse taper, as can be seen in the photos.
My thought is that the addition of roots or branches on very low parts of the tree could also reduce reverse taper.
To this end, do you think it would be worthwhile attempting to graft a new root or two, or branch (which could become a sacrifice branch) in order to thicken the part of the trunk affected by reverse taper?
Luke.

I have left a branch or two to act as thickeners/sacrifice branches above the branch I removed; so no need to graft another. A new branch would take many years to get up to speed so an existing branch is always better.

And I am not interested in grafting new roots, trunk splitting or anything else too invasive as they can often look un-natural. Slow and steady, plus good use of existing material but a slightly different view, can often win in the long run.

Grant

[shibui]

Slow and steady, plus good use of existing material but a slightly different view, can often win in the long run.

Very good advice from a VERY experienced bonsai grower.

We know there are many ways to achieve a similar outcome but I think it is going to be worthwhile just watching this thread (rather than offering unwanted advice) to see the methods Grant uses to solve this problem. Who knows, you might even learn something

[Grant Bowie]

Hi all,

Thanks for the suggestions, advice and defence.

I am trying to show a very simple but effective technique for correcting reverse taper while getting on and shaping the rest of the tree. The tree will need 2 to 5 years after initial styling to be showable and in the mean time the reverse taper will now correct itself after my small amount of work I have done on it.

The rest of the trunk can now thicken slowly whilst the worst affected area cannot thicken at all.

I have used this technique on a Black pine 2 years ago and the reverse taper has already nearly disappeared, while the top of the tree is still another 2 or 3 years from being ready. I am sure that the reverse taper on this pine will have corrected by the time the tree is ready for show.

Anyhow,

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I have plucked all the old needles and removed some unnecessary minor branches.

I left the needles on the remaining lowest branch because I thought I might remove it soon, but I have now decided to keep it and work it into the design.

I have tilted the tree more vertically and am working on the tree now; lots of wiring and sorting to do.

Grant