Carving Smarty Pants boug (Bougainvillia)

[kvan64]

I collected this medium size boug stump in March this year. It has recovered well and I found that the swellings were rather unattractive => carving is the ultimate solution to fix this. The boug has flowered profusely a couple times this year and I have done some prunning.
Click to view the original tree:
viewtopic.php?f=104&t=3920&hilit=+boug

The stump has been carved, treated. Now the next step is sellective prunning for good ramification.

[Aussie_Bonsai]

not a bad carving job.

i'll love to see the bonsai once the branch and pad structure is more defined. all the beginnings of a great tree.

Ben

[Tony Bebb]

Nice job.

Big change from the original tree. Has a nicely tapered trunk.

May be asking the obvious, but did you seal the edge of the carved areas. Not evident from the photos. After carving I always trim the edge of the bark with a sharp knife to make a clean cut and then seal just the edge with the tube sealer. Bougs especially have a strong tendancy to die back from the edge of the cut. Sealing it will make it roll over the edge so the dead area doesn't get any bigger.

Tony

[kvan64]

Thanks Tony, I usually use Japanese cut paste for other Bougs but I found that the wood of smarty pants are somewhat a lot harder and does not rot easily. Also as the carved area is too large, I used Lime Sulfer to treat it instead. When it set and decoloured, I will apply wood hardener to seal.
Cheers,
DK

[krittas]

WOW what a differance the carving makes...
when is the best time to carve a boug?? now in the growing season or is there a better time??

[Tony Bebb]

Hi DK

I wouldn't use the cut paste all over the cut either, just to the edges to make sure it rolls over. Need to be careful applying lime sulphur to fresh wood too mate as a lot of trees don't like it. Can be used safely when the sap has dried.

To krittas, now is a good time to carve anything. I try and avoid early spring when the sap is pumping, but most the rest of the growing year is fine. Carving already dead wood can be done anytime.

Tony

[Pup]

Tony has a very good point, about Lime sulpher on fresh cuts be they big or small. The sap is rising and the chances of the lime getting into the live part of the tree is high. I always let the wood dry for about a year, it weather's better too.
For sealing with cut paste it is used to help in the healing process. So putting it on those large areas, where the wood is dead, its not going to heal that just the edges. So do not waste your hard earned on dead wood. As Tony has said just round the edge, and it will assist the healing better.
On small cuts its to finiky to try, so thats fine after about a month or so, you can have a look if it is rolling over take whats left off.

Cheers Pup

[kvan64]

Thanks Pup and Tony for pointing that out. I will definitely keep this in mind next time. Hope that it's fine this time as the deed is done
Will use cut paste on the edges too.
Cheers,
DK