AusBonsai

hey guys i'm stuck, what do i do?

should i be unconventional and keep the informal upright with a semi cascade, or should i jin half of the informal upright and keep the semi cascade.

i want to keep the semi cascade. what should i do???????

sorry i forgot to rotate the pictures.

and if i did choose to cut it off how do i go about doing that it's a pretty thick trunk.

air layer the top off and have the best of both

Hi,

I think you should go with what the tree is telling you to do. I can see a formal cascade. Remove half of the upright section, allow that to develop to allow you to create a nice apex. Wire the tail to add more dramatic movement and I think you have enough branches to create a nice looking cascading tail. The trunk looks like it has the characteristic of a cascade style. To me this tree will look like a side view cascade.
Theres a book called 'Bonsai Style of the World' by Paul Ceronio, I think thats his name. Its a pocket size book, has great examples of cascade style bonsai. If your a member of a bonsai club see if they have a copy that you can borrow. Its a small book but quite inspiring.
If you wanted to you can wait to style this tree after you read the book.
Its not a lot but I hope I've given some food for thought.

regards,

Mario

hi dragon,

mate i think what you have said will work, i think you should cut half the top off as it is too high to keep a cascade, give it a bit of a jin, have a jin and sit back and admire what is. dont be scared to create what your mind is telling you. have fun with it. good luck post more pics when you have decided.

cheers molty

thanks heaps guys I'll definitely keep you posted with some pics.

I have a similar two-possible- ways juniper and just got told in no uncertain terms that the cascade will always be a good way to go. Great idea Baturb, if you can airlayer and keep the top for a future tree. Dont think I can do that with mine, my high bit is very twisty, not a lot of room, but it takes from cutting well, so will get a few more trees out of it.

Hi DL

You seem to have answered your own question in that you want to keep the cascade. It would be full, not semi, unless you wire it up a bit flatter. If you want a cascade I don't think you should keep the top as part of the design due to the thickness. To be cascade the thickest trunk needs to cascade. You could airlayer as suggested. I would recommend cutting the trunk to the two branches above the cascading branch first and leaving it for around 6 months to get the main sap flow into the line you want, then cutting back completely. Also don't root prune till the season after pruning. This will decrease the die back down the trunk. Leave a jin if you want, but reduce the thickness to be thinner than the cascade.

Look forward to the outcome.

Tony

The first question you should ask, is it a Cascade / Semi, or an informal upright?
It cannot be both.

If you wish a cascade, then to be a semi, the tip of the tail should not be lower than the bottom of the pot. The pot should also be no deeper than wide.

If a full cascade, then I much prefer to no foliage on top at all. The first foliage should be ( to me anyway), about the same height as the rim of the pot. Semi Cascades can have foliage Higher up the trunk tho

Ken

i know it will look crap as a informal upright because it has no taper. but i've never jinned before so i dont want to kill the tree or wreck it.

and i dont want to cut the top part of the tree because it is far too thick and will leave a ugly ugly scar.