Well it has been a long time since I’ve worked on my trees, and even longer since my last post. What a crazy year it has been. I can’t believe we are already well into the holiday season. although it is a really good time for me to get caught up and prepare for a busy bonsai time in the coming months.

This weekend I spent some time with Mike Rogers who helped me with a couple of my trees. One was a podocarpus that I had bought from him last year. During the year due to a watering issue I lost the growth on the top of the tree, but left me with tons of deadwood. The problem however was that the deadwood was too long and needed to be reduced. Mike has developed a method to address that.

As you can see there is a long stright section that is rather boring and doesn’t add any interest. I fthe section couldn’t be removed the great spread near the top would have to be removed because the overall tree would be to tall.

Mike’s solution is to cut the section off and drill a 1/2″ hole into the base of the driftwood.  The other end is carved into a peg that slides into the hole. 

The hole is filled with wood glue and the section is held in place for 30 minutes

After the glue dries and the wood is carved you can’t even tell the 4 inch section was even there.  Amazing stuff!

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Guy Guidry made a stop in Orlando last week for a workshop, and I couldn’t think of a better tree for him to help me with than my new bald cypress.  I’ve always seen it as a weeping style, but he made a few other options.

Guy Guidry sketches

Everything from flat top to an extended twin trunk style.  However with a bit of pushing from Mike Rogers we went for the traditional Japanese Formal Upright (shown in the center drawing)

Guy Guidry & Mike Rogers

In oder to make this style, the main trunk needed to be shortened and smoothed.  Guy couldn’t wait to get the power tools going.  Here is a great shot of him working with Mike Rogers in the background.

Paul Pikel wiring

After removing about 4 inches from the top I started the wiring, and I have to admit I have been looking forward to doing this for months now.

Wired bald cypress

Here is the tree with all its branches wired.  I knew that not all the branches would remain but I wanted to get this done prior to styling the tree. 

Initial styling

The tree looks great after its initial styling.  I have a rather big scar to heal over this year and to develop a top.  However this tree should be looking very good by next Winter

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On a very cold day (for Florida) i was lucky enough to have the NoNaMe’ Bonsai Study group and Mike Rogers help me to move my large Trident Maple.  Altough it fit nicely where I had it, I found that it was too difficult to work on it.  So I decided to move it out into my yard for easy access.  The fact that the tree and bonsai pot weigh about 500 pounds I’m not worried about it walking away.

The first challange was to get the tree out of the pot and then move the components separately. 

Defoliating the Maple

 We moved the tree into a plastic tub so that it could be moved more easily.  Since the tree hadn’t dropped its leaves yet, the group helped the tree into dormancy by defoliating the tree.

setting the stand

The stand needed to be placed and leveled so that it would support the tree, and sit level.  Edwin and David are using a level to make sure we had a perfect stand.

Finishing touches

I added some additional soil to stablize the stand while the rest of the group finished with the tree.

Combing the roots

One last task was to comb out the roots.  I don’t know the next time I will repot this tree so we took advantage by working the roots prior to the repot.

Setting the Tree

The tree was then set in the pot (back towards the photo) and the soil was added.  The sun rises from the right side of the photo and sets behind to the left.  I am trying to develop my first branch and in order to maximize the sunlight we potted it facing this way.

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This time it was Shimpaku Junipers, and not one of my favorite trees to work with.  These trees were pretty challenging with no growth close to the trunk and long thin branches to deal with.  It required some creativity and some raffia to bend and twist these branches into shape.

Mike Rogers

Mike Rogers always does an outstanding job with his trees.  As I was putting my second wire on my tree I glanced over to see Mike had practicially finished wiring.  No fair!

Adam Lavigne

Adam Lavigne also went with an informal upright.  His trunk pretty much dictated the way this tree was going to be styled.  He was a last minute participant, and he did a very nice job on stying it out.

Rick Jeffry

These trees were challenging and Rick’s tree was no exception.  However he was able to harness the wild growth of the tree into a wonderful windswept.   

Paul Pikel

My tree took a different turn all together. The first 3 inches of the tree indicated to me that it wanted to be a cascade or semi cascade.  The raffia really allowed me to bend the branches very far.  The apex of the tree is pretty much a corkscrew to get the growth low and close to the trunk. 

All of the trees will require new growth to pop out and fill in.  However I think this year’s auction next month for these trees will bring in a nice amount. If your club hasn’t tried this program you may want to try it.  Its a lot of fun and a really eye opener.

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