To chop or allow to grow

Share your success stories about defoliation, bare rooting and anything else relating to maintaining healthy bonsai.
Akhi
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 416
Joined: March 17th, 2016, 6:10 am
Favorite Species: Maple
Bonsai Age: 15
Location: Melbourne
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 40 times

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by Akhi »

I have see the trunk die back so the I healed area in the second pic was actually me scraping away the dead area to see where it ended.as it’s in a weird area, I was thinking of carving a hollow there leading up to the top branch and retain the lower branch as well. The other option I thought about was to cut where the lower branch and then let grow to heal over. What would be a better option?
For the first pic what is not very clear is that the tree has died on one side of the trunk while the side that supports the active growth is alive. So not expecting it to cover over. So both these I think will end up as carved specimens. Never carved before; can I leave the carving to the point that I have developed the tree or do I have to do it now?
The last pick need a major shakeout I am looking to develop it as a single trunk which branches out at the top to two and so on so a major pruning is in order (when I get the time hopefully this weekend) will post when done on that one.This one has a good radial root structure so feel might be the best of the three eventually.
Newbie
shibui
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 7653
Joined: August 22nd, 2009, 8:41 pm
Favorite Species: trident maple
Bonsai Age: 41
Bonsai Club: Albury/Wodonga; BSV; Canberra; VNBC
Location: Yackandandah
Has thanked: 65 times
Been thanked: 1399 times
Contact:

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by shibui »

You can lave carving to whenever you get the tools and fortitude. The dead wood won't suddenly heal up or otherwise disappear. It may rot a little but that usually only gives a far more natural looking result IMHO.
If you are worried about the wood rotting away treat with a preservative a couple of times each year. Lime sulphur is the traditional wood preservative used in bonsai. Read up on how and what to expect before trying it. There is no danger to your tree if the dead parts do rot a bit or even a lot. The live parts usually resist the dead wood decay process. That's why we can have hollow trees in nature.

I can see the dead area in your recent photo. That tree is small so if you really wanted to you could heal over that dead area but it would take some years.
The 2 options - carve and keep both branches or cut and heal - are both viable. There's nothing in that tree that says one will be better than the other so it will come down to your preference.
http://shibuibonsai.com.au/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Akhi
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 416
Joined: March 17th, 2016, 6:10 am
Favorite Species: Maple
Bonsai Age: 15
Location: Melbourne
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 40 times

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by Akhi »

Thanks for your reply. I will leave it to grow with the stump then and look to carve it out later in its life. Where in Melbourne can I find lime sulphur?
Newbie
shibui
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 7653
Joined: August 22nd, 2009, 8:41 pm
Favorite Species: trident maple
Bonsai Age: 41
Bonsai Club: Albury/Wodonga; BSV; Canberra; VNBC
Location: Yackandandah
Has thanked: 65 times
Been thanked: 1399 times
Contact:

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by shibui »

Any nursery or plant supply place will have lime sulphur. Even the green shed should have it. Lime sulphur is used as a dormant spray for fruit trees as it prevents fungal infection and kills some pests as well so it is readily available.
http://shibuibonsai.com.au/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
User avatar
kcpoole
Perpetual Learner
Perpetual Learner
Posts: 12272
Joined: November 12th, 2008, 4:02 pm
Favorite Species: Maple
Bonsai Age: 15
Bonsai Club: the School Of Bonsai
Location: Western Sydney, NSW, Australia
Has thanked: 17 times
Been thanked: 84 times
Contact:

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by kcpoole »

Nice effort!

agree with shibui that cutting back the nob and the surrounding tissue to get it to roll over as well
Same to be done to the new cut as well

Ken
Check out our Wiki for awesome bonsai information www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki
What is Bonsai? http://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index.php?title=Bonsai
What should I do now? http://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index.php?title=Newbie
How do I grow a Bonsai? http://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... _a_Bonsai?
Visit a Bonsai nursery to see some real nice trees http://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... _Nurseries
User avatar
juan73870
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 297
Joined: December 12th, 2018, 9:22 pm
Favorite Species: whatever is in front of me...
Bonsai Age: 10
Location: Adelaide Seaside
Has thanked: 82 times
Been thanked: 63 times

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by juan73870 »

In regards to lime sulphur, something like this:

Image

can be found at pretty much any hardware/gardening store around Oz.
:whistle: :whistle: :whistle: :whistle: :whistle: ;) :whistle:
Akhi
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 416
Joined: March 17th, 2016, 6:10 am
Favorite Species: Maple
Bonsai Age: 15
Location: Melbourne
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 40 times

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by Akhi »

While I have left the first two trees to continue to grow and develop some thickness and branches, I am pretty happy with where the third one is in terms of trunk girth and taper or lack thereof...anyways decided that it had far too many long branches that didn’t quite give the little tree strong bones to develop from so went a bit hard on it. The end objective is to have single trunk splitting into two and so on and so forth...
BAA68851-3FD3-4D0A-8ED1-EE4C77E5D0D7.jpeg
The picture above is what I am thinking of using as the front. Another option is also provided below:
EB6C44CB-C9D7-4FAC-88B1-21EBD652D63D.jpeg
Appreciate any suggestions and feedback that will help me develop this tree which is about 20-30cms from the trunk base to the top.
It is currently just in a melamine “pot” which I repurposed from what was lying around and have provided more room for the roots to go crazy as I had done some decent root work on it.
I ended up cutting the lowest branch which was too thick and distracted from the flow from base to top. But I am now left with the thick bit which I will cut flush to the main trunk but need to find the cutters :-(
7C3A382E-C3ED-4E91-9977-4B56E8519A0C.jpeg
Any advice and suggestions
really appreciated.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Newbie
terryb
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 559
Joined: April 29th, 2016, 3:44 pm
Bonsai Age: 4
Bonsai Club: SA Bonsai Society; VNBC
Location: Adelaide
Has thanked: 521 times
Been thanked: 199 times

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by terryb »

Are apples/crab apples one of the species where it is advisable to leave a stub and allow the tree to compartmentalise before removing?
shibui
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 7653
Joined: August 22nd, 2009, 8:41 pm
Favorite Species: trident maple
Bonsai Age: 41
Bonsai Club: Albury/Wodonga; BSV; Canberra; VNBC
Location: Yackandandah
Has thanked: 65 times
Been thanked: 1399 times
Contact:

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by shibui »

I think I prefer the second option which has the tallest part (apex) toward the front of the tree. having the apex going away looks odd and makes the tree look like it is falling backward.
I have cut apples flush without and problem but leaving a stub temporarily won't hurt either.
http://shibuibonsai.com.au/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Akhi
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 416
Joined: March 17th, 2016, 6:10 am
Favorite Species: Maple
Bonsai Age: 15
Location: Melbourne
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 40 times

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by Akhi »

Got it from Bunnings. They only had the bigger bottle! Now to find a clear day to start experimenting with applying it.
4A52585F-2B5D-45BA-A21E-EECF6F78866A.jpeg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Newbie
Akhi
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 416
Joined: March 17th, 2016, 6:10 am
Favorite Species: Maple
Bonsai Age: 15
Location: Melbourne
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 40 times

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by Akhi »

All leafed up and after a small trim of all the long stems
108AD922-C724-438F-B986-13452C4E2A4E.jpeg
C11F22B2-B7C1-4BDB-A0A9-0368C0D7401E.jpeg
3E1BA50E-874F-4C85-83CB-30CFAE2BC582.jpeg
Now back to feeding it.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Newbie
Akhi
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 416
Joined: March 17th, 2016, 6:10 am
Favorite Species: Maple
Bonsai Age: 15
Location: Melbourne
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 40 times

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by Akhi »

Last winter I repotted the base in a cheap 'pot' and chopped the top pretty hard, result was a lot of growth and backbudding even from areas that looked dead! It's nebari is lopsided in that there are missing roots but hoping a root pops up in this season.
IMG_20210915_065833.jpg
This was in the middle and has leaded up a lot this year, only thing I did was increased the ferts and kept up the watering..has a long way to go this one.
Screenshot_2021-09-15-07-00-34-73_99c04817c0de5652397fc8b56c3b3817.jpg
This was the top and has flushed out well. The little stub I decided to cut flush to the trunk and is now callusing nicely. Hopefully in a few years it will close fully. I am guessing this will now be just pinching every year and getting into a half decent pot next winter.
Screenshot_2021-09-15-07-00-34-73_99c04817c0de5652397fc8b56c3b3817.jpg
I have a question regarding pruning, I observed that letting the branches extend meant the trunk became too thick, but pinching them too soon weakened the twig and resulted in die out in winter and little or no flowers. This time I let the twigs extend a bit 4-5 nodes and then pinched the tip. Now as the leaves have hardened I am planning to cut them down to just one node. Is that the right way to proceed for this tree or should I wait till summer and then reduce to one node?
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Newbie
User avatar
delisea
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 372
Joined: August 31st, 2014, 8:56 am
Bonsai Age: 1
Bonsai Club: Coffs Harbour
Location: Coffs Harbour
Has thanked: 245 times
Been thanked: 157 times

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by delisea »

Hi Akhi,
I was doing the twice yearly chop down to two buds on plums for years and was not realy getting anywhere. Well, I was getting to the same point that others get when you do this, which is fine if you are happy with the result.

Watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANrC2TGL72U
This approach of letting grow and defoliating is much better IMO. You get a stronger plant and more setlled growth rather than water shoots racing off all year. You activate interior buds, and for garden plums you get those shot buds on main shoots that hold the most flowers. You can still chop down to two buds at some point if you wish. The challenge is that your wiring shaping game needs to be excellent.

I was also fertilising at the wrong time. I now don't fertilise untill all growth has hardened off completely. It doesn't seem a problem for you, but I need to do a micronutrient soak in spring otherwise I get chlorotic leaves.

Cheers,
Symon
Akhi
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 416
Joined: March 17th, 2016, 6:10 am
Favorite Species: Maple
Bonsai Age: 15
Location: Melbourne
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 40 times

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by Akhi »

Hi Symon,
Thanks for the video, even with the defoliation method, we would still need to cut down to two nodes eventually right? Especially with maintaining that shape, which I have only now got to after nearly 7 years :-) or do you see that with defoliation the next level shoots are short?
Newbie
User avatar
delisea
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Aussie Bonsai Fan
Posts: 372
Joined: August 31st, 2014, 8:56 am
Bonsai Age: 1
Bonsai Club: Coffs Harbour
Location: Coffs Harbour
Has thanked: 245 times
Been thanked: 157 times

Re: To chop or allow to grow

Post by delisea »

Akhi wrote: September 15th, 2021, 10:53 am Hi Symon,
Thanks for the video, even with the defoliation method, we would still need to cut down to two nodes eventually right? Especially with maintaining that shape, which I have only now got to after nearly 7 years :-) or do you see that with defoliation the next level shoots are short?
I'm no expert, but IMO no not necessarily. Some branches, if you are happy with them, you won't cut back, others you may choose to cut back to two buds. Perhaps you won't cut back until the outline of the tree extends too far. I find that if I cut back my plums to two buds some branches run on too much as all the energy goes to those two buds.
Some here will always cut back to two of three buds. This will give you ramification and branches that have squiggly ‘random’ line. It will look good, but it is not the only way for all species. For example, garden plums tend to have long branches with a series of small stubby branches that come of this main line. These small branches have most of the flowers. It makes sense to me to mimic this in bonsai.
One thing to consider, whether cutting back to two buds or defoliating you are weakening the tree. Sometimes it might beneficial to give the tree a rest.
Cheers,
Symon
Post Reply

Return to “Tips, Techniques, Maintenance and Advice”