Big ugly gets a haircut

[Andrew F]

Dragged this paper bag [dwarf umbrella] candidate out for a hair cut, my conclusion is back to the ugly corner for a decade.







No wonder MattA laughed as i drove away with this thing.

Anyone else have a clue what i could do to this tree, reduce it to a stump? remove outer limbs, retain middle trunks? Kill it with fire and pitchforks????

[Paul B]

First thing I would do is cut them toenails
Then grab a beer and have another look tomorrow

[Andrew F]

First thing I would do is cut them toenails
Then grab a beer and have another look tomorrow

Id need a carton for this broad

[MattA]

Now you have given it a haircut, can you see why it had been put in the ground...beside a nice size base & nebari it has no redeeming features .... Yet

[Andrew F]

Now you have given it a haircut, can you see why it had been put in the ground...beside a nice size base & nebari it has no redeeming features .... Yet

So thats 1 vote for reduce to a stump.

[MattA]

Now you have given it a haircut, can you see why it had been put in the ground...beside a nice size base & nebari it has no redeeming features .... Yet

So thats 1 vote for reduce to a stump.

No, thats a vote for throw it in the ground & forget for a decade

[Andrew F]

Hi Matt,

I decided on taking a hand saw and rotary tool to this bad boy and just rebuild it from the soil up, the nebari is pretty good so its a matter of renovating upstairs lol

[simonvallone]

i too have the same issue only thing was it was in the geound for a decade and still have no clue what to do with it how would u style something like that???

[GavinG]

One way to attack it might be to find the side/front that looks most confused and cut away everything directly in front of you, so that what is left is the mound of the stump, and a ring of trunks around it. Or select the 5 or 7 or 9 trunks that more or less have some harmony, and cut the rest down to the stump level. It's easy some times to just slash everything down and dump it back in the garden, and find that in ten years you've got the same mess you have now. Been there, done it.

Or if you really can't find any trunk lines you like, maybe it's telling you something - it's possibly just a lush pot-plant, not a bonsai with structure and form.

Best of luck.

Gavin

[Andrew F]

i too have the same issue only thing was it was in the geound for a decade and still have no clue what to do with it how would u style something like that???

Is your issue with a dwarf umbrella? I think im going to have to go back to bare basics as far as the top half of this tree is concerned. Luckily i can with this sp. its very forgiving of mutilation.

One way to attack it might be to find the side/front that looks most confused and cut away everything directly in front of you, so that what is left is the mound of the stump, and a ring of trunks around it. Or select the 5 or 7 or 9 trunks that more or less have some harmony, and cut the rest down to the stump level. It's easy some times to just slash everything down and dump it back in the garden, and find that in ten years you've got the same mess you have now. Been there, done it.

Or if you really can't find any trunk lines you like, maybe it's telling you something - it's possibly just a lush pot-plant, not a bonsai with structure and form.

Best of luck.

Gavin

Thanks Gavin, i think you are right, for now ill let it all regrow till next spring then ill do some serious hacking, and if its still ugly ill plant it in the ground indefinitely.

Thanks for Chiming in guys.

[simonvallone]

yea same tree has same structure too my uncle loves it he keeps telling me to make it into a bonsai i offered it to him but he wasnt keen, he decided i should cut all the branches off and use them as cuttings and throw the rest in the bin lol

[Andrew F]

yea same tree has same structure too my uncle loves it he keeps telling me to make it into a bonsai i offered it to him but he wasnt keen, he decided i should cut all the branches off and use them as cuttings and throw the rest in the bin lol

Are you able to get some pics of it??? I think the bases are the best bit. They do make nice bonsai, Steven and brett's are perfect examples.

[bodhidharma]

I believe there is a tree in there I would be cutting it back to the first shoot with a nice cut, not a hack off, get rid of the crossovers or move them and start styling it into a Savannah style tropical forest setting. It would have to be long, low and lush. Time to bring out your imagination.

[Gareth]

repot the bastard so we can see the base we are working with, i find it easier to look at the direction of the tree when looking at it from side on, and root worked.

Or, you could save it for when i come over and we could hack the crap outa it?

[Andrew F]

repot the bastard so we can see the base we are working with, i find it easier to look at the direction of the tree when looking at it from side on, and root worked.

Or, you could save it for when i come over and we could hack the crap outa it?

Sounds good brosef, the base is the most redeeming feature at this point. Might be the first tree i havent felt the need to recycle cuttings from.