Bending a Leptospermum

[Matt S]

Hi Everyone,

At this year's Bonsai convention in Melbourne I bought a Leptospermum laevigatum from Treeman which is growing nicely. I had a question for him that I was originally going to PM him but I thought I'd throw it open to everyone and see what happens.

This tree has had some pretty impressive twists and bends in the trunk that were obviously done when it was much younger and then allowed to thicken up (I'll add some pictures tonight). My question is how was this done? I've had a go at some spindly secondary branches but even when young they're really brittle and I cant get as much movement as the trunk has.

Anyone have any tips?

Matt.

[treeman]

Hi Everyone,

At this year's Bonsai convention in Melbourne I bought a Leptospermum laevigatum from Treeman which is growing nicely. I had a question for him that I was originally going to PM him but I thought I'd throw it open to everyone and see what happens.

This tree has had some pretty impressive twists and bends in the trunk that were obviously done when it was much younger and then allowed to thicken up (I'll add some pictures tonight). My question is how was this done? I've had a go at some spindly secondary branches but even when young they're really brittle and I cant get as much movement as the trunk has.

Anyone have any tips?

Matt.

I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you.

[Pearcy001]

Personally I wire bends when the shoots are red and flimsy after first extending, by cage wiring to assure no wire marks. I find you can get up to about two inches of soft growth. Just make sure you monitor the wire if it is close to tight as it can thicken quickly sometimes.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

I'm guessing but, perhaps restricting the water intake a little, to allow for some "droopiness" to happen when the branches are really young?
Followed by Cage wiring? .....am I even close???

[terryb]

I agree with Pearcy. Based on some seedlings that I germinated this year, new growth is very flexible but as soon as it turns brown it stiffens very quickly. At this stage you can still put some movement into them but I haven't been game for extreme turns. Treeman's posts on the subject mentions lots of wiring and rewiring, so I'm guessing start early and keep on top of it. Happy to be proved wrong though.

[Jiro]

Uggh they are ridiculously brittle. You really have to wire the branches as soon as possible and be extremely vigilant about wire scarring. The flip side is that you don't have to leave wiring on for great lengths of time to achieve the desired results.

I've also had issues with the L. petersonii in that sometimes when I prune a branch it will just stop budding and sprout a bud back down at the base of the branch.

However, you can defoliate them and they will bud like crazy all over.

I had a calamity in winter when my 2 year old kicked a soccer ball into my 10 year old specimen, the crown snapped off and I lost both lower branches as it tipped over and rolled. To be honest it ended up being a blessing in disguise as I was left with a good little trunk now covered in new growth, I get to start a whole new project... well thats the spin I'll put on it.

They are one of my favourite native species to bonsai, the flowering is a real treat... although I have struggled with getting flowers to bud unless I leave sections un pruned. Does any more learned than I have any tips on that?

[treeman]

Ok Matt here are the steps...
1 Select a side shoot to wire not the main leader. (that is - a small branch coming off the lower part of the leader) It should be thin but not too thin. Approx 2mm. ONLY wire a little at a time (maybe 100mm or so)
2 This branch will be your new leader. (you can do multiple leaders of course) Make sure you anchor the wire well so you support the main leader and the new leader.
3 Wire loosely because you will need to twist as you wire. With laevigatum, you must wire clockwise and twist clockwise as this is the way the fibres are arranged. The twisting will be obvious as the branch thickens making it look natural and it also spreads the stress along the branch which further inhibits the breaking as you bend.
4 Proceed to wire slowly and grip/compress the branch with both hands as you go. Especially on tight bends, this will prevent them breaking.
5 Now you have a new leader bent to the approximate shape you want. leave it, but give additional support if it sways around. (stake it if need be)
6 Meanwhile the apex of the original leader is allowed to extend. However - and this is important - do not allow it to grow so much as to allow it to sap too much energy from the wired branch - which it will most certainly do! If you let that happen, the new wired leader will be severely weakened and will eventually die if you don't take measures to stop that.
7 When you notice the original leader becoming overly strong and the wired branch basically stop growing, (not much in the way of new leaves and elongation etc) cut back the original leader severely but not completely off. Leave a small stub which you can later use as an anchor for the next wiring. Remove the wire from the new leader.
8 If you are not satisfied with the movement of you wired branch, re-wire and compress the bends as much as you need to. Remember though that wire will delay the growth and thickening.
9 Later, when the branch has thickened nicely, you can compress the bend even more if you like but this time, pull them into position by hand and use padded wire hook to hold them in place. You can do this with quite thick stems and if you are careful they will not easily break. If they do crack - no big deal, just leave them in their new position to heal and set.
10 If you want to extend the height of the tree or the length of the branch, just repeat steps 1 through 9!
11 Leave as many sacrifice branches (especially low ones) as you can and allow them to grow for the whole season because it is this free growth which will thicken the tree. When you cut them back leave a few leaves on them so they can reshoot and continue in their thickening work.
12 Always keep in mind the taper and strength of the branches and their relation to each other. If you allow any branch to take over it will and the rest of the tree will suffer and this will happen all the time during the training period.
13 Keeping point 12 in mind, don't cut anything for ''appearance'' . Only cut something if you really need to. This way the tree will remain healthier and grow faster.

[Matt S]

Thanks Mike for your generous reply. I was worried I was going to end up with a tree with a gnarly trunk but boring branches!

I've managed to get some seeds to germinate (thanks terryb!) so now I have a plan. For those following this thread, you can see the results of Mike's technique here:
viewtopic.php?f=106&t=20109&hilit=laevigatum&start=60

Fantastic stuff! I was really happy to get one of these at the convention.

Matt.

[Boics]

Interesting thread.
I'll take some of this advice Mike!
Unfortunately I've only one Lepto Laevigatum left after a few false starts.
Don't be too aggressive on the root pruning is my tip and I've been managing this task now in active spring growth period as opposed to summer recommendations from others.

Mike's twisted Lepto's are fantastic stock and will make some awesome believeably "natural" tree's in due course.
I'd love to have one of these...

Check out this thread here for some lepto inspiration: viewtopic.php?f=106&t=14123&hilit=bonsai+golf#p146459

[AirControl]

Hi Everyone,

At this year's Bonsai convention in Melbourne I bought a Leptospermum laevigatum from Treeman which is growing nicely. I had a question for him that I was originally going to PM him but I thought I'd throw it open to everyone and see what happens.

This tree has had some pretty impressive twists and bends in the trunk that were obviously done when it was much younger and then allowed to thicken up (I'll add some pictures tonight). My question is how was this done? I've had a go at some spindly secondary branches but even when young they're really brittle and I cant get as much movement as the trunk has.

Anyone have any tips?

Matt.

I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[boom64]

Thanks for pushing Matt ,and of course thanks to Treeman for such a great detailed explanation. One of the best features of A.B.is the sharing of new techniques (well new to me ) and ones we all can have a go at. Since Treemans first post I have been torturing a little Claret Tops starter in the same way, happy to say its nearly getting there. Cheers John.

[treeman]

I should probably add too that this severe bending and twisting is supposed to represent the trees subjected to violent wind in very exposed sites but it's equally valid to train them in an upright fashion with more gentle curves. You see these types of forms in the gullies well back from the beach, protected from the strong onshore winds. And you can have anything in between too. That's what's so good about L. laevigatum!