developing refinement, the tree, me and my daughter

Last Christmas I saw some beautiful holly decorations. So, I set out to look for holly. Last week I found what to me was a holly with great potential. The pot was not priced however, and it was sitting next to 35-40 dollar plants. I went home without purchasing it. When I got home I was unloading the car when I saw a green flash against the yellowing grass (we are conserving water here in southern California). It was a $20 dollar bill. Hooray, I was going to finally buy my holly. The nursery sold me the tree for 20 dollars even. I was giddy with delight.

Some people do not like variegated plants for bonsai. They say that they are weaker than the common varieties. I was willing to experiment. This holly looked well aged yet had new growth.

For this project I was going to have My daughter whom I lovingly call Monkey do most of the work. This would be an exercise in guiding and teaching my daughter.

What we set out to do is remove unneeded branches, reduce the overall size of the tree, and set the trees skeleton by lowering the lower branches.

We chose to cut the branch at this point because it was just above a growth of younger branches. These newer branches will become the apex.

It was somewhat difficult for my daughter to cut the branch. First, the places where her hands could get leverage where directly in the path of the saw. Second the cut was at an awkward angle. It was difficult for her to get a rhythm with the saw. We lost a few of the young branches.

After, the branches were cut to size relative to the new apex.

And finally the lower branches were wired and placed where they needed to be. What will become the first or lower branch (the big one moving left) was not pruned so that it can grow relatively undisturbed. The other lowered branches were thinned a bit to promote back budding.

The stage is now set to develop this tree into a bonsai. Of course I might have been frustrated at moments, but I never said a word. The key to my daughter appreciating this hobby and maybe sharing it with me is positive reinforcement. She puts up with my eccentric hobbies because she likes spending time with me. I would not want to discourage her by micromanaging or scolding her. Like a bonsai I am trying to develop my daughter’s potential.

Well, enough about that. We’ll keep you updated on the Ilex. Cheers.


Update 06/29

Well, it's 21 days later. My daughters work is coming to fruition. The tree has a lot of new growth and plenty of back budding. All those reddish brown spots are brand new soft supple leaves.

New Growth

This is going to be the lowest branch. it was long and only had leaves all in a clump at the very top. Now many new leaves are growing from the bare branch. The Holly is next to a stone pine. That is why there are needles in the pic

Bonsai from chain store home improvement centers

Many people put down big box stores or even regular plant nurseries as potential bonsai sources. I say, nay. Are these places the best place to pick up bonsai material? Of course they are not? Then why visit these places? The reason to visit them is because they are more convenient than a bonsai nursery. On a google maps I searched bonsai and got seven listings in the greater Los angeles area. I searched Home Depot and got 12 listings, then I searched Lowes and got 5 more listings. Just by my house there are two Home Depots and 1 Lowes with in a 4 mile radius. There are no bonsai nurseries within that radius, but there are three plant nurseries. Another reason to visit these places is the price. I have bought some trees with amazing trunks for six dollars and change. These trees at a bonsai nursery would easily sell for three to four times as much.

$6.95 for a fosemary with a great trunk

I think it very funny that people who badmouth trees bought at these stores highly prize wild collected trees. These wild collected trees are very difficult trees to work on because they grew however they wanted. It's much easier to work on nursery raised plants than wild plants.

This juniper i found at a regular nursery

There are some drawbacks. First, when we look for plants at a big box store we are looking for the jewell. We want the cream of the crop. It may take time to find a suitable plant. Heck we might not even find anything that week. The second negative is the plant selection. Most of these plants are for landscaping. What that means is that the same plants will be sold in your general area. On the flip side those plants are happy in the climate in which you live.

I have been to bonsai nurseries where they sell lantana for landscaping. These are beautiful 3 gallon plants. I walk to the bonsai section and the same lantana are in a bonsai pot. The new price is eighty five dollars. I am for cutting the middleman out if I can. I need to pinch those pennies.

If you have more time than money than you should look at the big box stores. So, what should you look at when buying plants? That will probably depend on your taste. I will tell you what I look for. First, the plant has to be healthy. There is no point in buying something that will die no matter how great the ramification is. The rest is arbitrary. I love to find plants with great trunks. It takes time to get a thick trunk. If the plant starts with a nice trunk you can invest time on other parts of the tree. Price is important to me. Plants that are around seven dollars are gold. Also, the plant species is important. To me some species are more desirable than others.

A dwarf olive with incredible potential bought at a home improvement center

When choosing a tree always remember that you will be reducing the size that you start with. If you want to end up with a twelve inch bonsai do not buy a thirteen inch tree. For a twelve inch bonsai you might have to start with twenty four inches. Sometimes none of the branches look like they will be helpful, but the trunk looks amazing. For that I lop all the branches off and start fresh. There is no point in keeping something bad just to try to fix it later. That's not to say that you should do that with all trees. If you are unsure of what to do leave it. As new branches and leaves grow you might get a clearer idea of what to do.

I cut all the branches from this pommegranet

Yes you can find material for bonsai at home improvement centers. You will have to look through some plants. I find that specific HIC have the best of one kind of tree. For example one might have great rosemary and another great boxwood. This probably has to do with suppliers in the area. Have a great time hunting for those trees. Cheers.  

 

Kapok the silk tree, pre bonsai experiments on a tropical

I have always collected seeds. wherever I went if i saw fruiting trees I have tried to take some seeds home. Sometimes they would not germinate. In the early days of the internet information was not as readably available. Now, information is limited by one’s imagination. There is stratification, scarification, dormancy, etc. Each plant has its prerequisite for germination. There is one plant that I have had one hundred percent germination. That plant is the Kapok. The kapok is a tropical plant that can grow 230 feet tall. It has buttressing roots that are tall enough to hide a person. It is a very impressive tree. I have searched for kapok bonsai on the information super highway to no avail. Well I found one example, but i crave more.

Kapok at Yamaguchi bonsai nursery in Culver City

Last year I collected kapok seeds from a tree at work. One year later and the results are incredible.

sapling Kapok one year old.

The growth rate was amazing. The trunk taper was phenomenal. This was looking to be a very interesting bonsai. After a year they have not lignified. I have wired them a bit. I have noticed because they are soft and grow so fast you have to keep an eye on the wiring. Let the wire bite into it a bit. The wire scar will heal very fast. Be vigilant though.

One year's growth

The saplings grow a palmate leaf that grows from the trunk. They look like a branch and leaves. However, the whole “branch” falls off after a while. The tree kept growing, and the leaves kept falling. There were no branches. I decided to nip it in the bud. I cut the growing tip and hoped that the plant would force branches out of the place where its leaves had left a scar. My gamble paid off and the tree started to grow branches.

True branches growing from the crotch

Here I wired a kapok in semi cascade style, han-kengai. It so happens to be one of my favorite styles. The trunk is green, so it is super malleable. I am very excited to see this tree develop in the next two years.  

I have brought you up to date on my experiment. I'll keep you updated. Cheers.

Update April 13

We have branches. Or at least that is what they look like.

Update June 11

Let me show you a recent pic of the tree pictured right above:

After I took the wire off the tree straightened itself. The problem is that the trunk has not lignified. The trunk is still green and not woody. The wire can cut deep into the soft tissue fairly quickly. Now, when I wired this tree i actually broke it in two places. The tree healed and I removed the wire. I thought that because of the scaring of the broken points the tree would retain its shape. I was wrong. Back to the drawing board I suppose. 

Update July 8

I tried something else. I chopped the kapok under the oldest leaf. It was just a knob. Four branches grew from that knob. Now my Kapok looks like a palm tree. Could this be a new style in bonsai? Palm tree style bonsai? 

All kidding aside, I liked where the tree was going, but I thought that it needed an even more dramatic pruning. So I chopped a different tree even lower. I cut at the place where I would like to see new branches grow. A week after the chop I saw one small bud growing out, it lives! 

It should grow back

Update July 19

There are little branches growing from the trunk. The trunk chop seems to be the best way to promote branch growth lower on the trunk.

Update July 23

It's only been 4 days after the last update but the branches have grown tremendously.

Update August 26:

It looked promising. However, things took a turn. The kapok decided to replace its trunk and not grow new branches.

Update Nov 4

I was looking at the kapoks and I saw one that had spikes:

One of the trees is growing the thorn/ spikes that are typical of some of these trees. 

Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) Cutting the tap root

     Let me start with the disclaimer: The following is something that is done with Japanese Black Pine. This is my first attempt at cutting the tap root off of a seedling. I saw this on bonsaitonight.com and in Bonsai Today issue 20. These are Cedar of lebanon. They have been growing them for approximately 8 weeks. I don't know if this technique is appropriate for this species, but I thought what the hey, let's go for it. The reason that the tap root will be removed is to stop the root from growing super long as this will lead to the root coiling around the pot. Tap roots are anchors for the tree. They grow deep and thick so that the tree can grow big and tall. However, since these seedlings will live in a pot we do not want a long tap root. After the roots are removed what will hopefully happen is that the new roots will grow in a radial pattern and develop into radial "nebari". What does nebari mean? I looked it up and it literally means stickiness. In Japanese words meaning change according to context. So, here in the realm of bonsai nebari refers to the thick roots that pop out of the surface like an old tree. After I sever the tap root it will be dipped in rooting hormone. Then, they will be placed in 2x2 plastic pots where they will all survive and grow to be exceptional bonsai with the greatest nebari ever. Scenario two, I'll be happy if half of them survive the tap root ectomy.  

2x2 inch pots

     First thing first I used coarse organic material to plug up the holes in the bottom. The layer was deep enough to just cover the holes. I use organic material to retain moisture. Here in sunny dry southern California I need to battle evaporation. This is especially true with these tiny pots as they do not hold much water. It's early February and the weather forecast for this weekend is for the low 80's F. I do not know if I will have time to water these plants three times a day. 

organic material base

     In the middle I placed one of my wife's lipsticks. Then a 60/40 mix of organic material and sand was added around the lipstick. I did not pat the dirt down. Its loosey goosey. 

Lipstick as a space holder

     This is what it looks like after the lipstick is removed. The mix was moist so it held its shape very well. 

Hole in the middle

     I added some fine sand made from shells and other invertebrates. I used this sand because I couldn't find river sand. I found a 5lbs. bag of this particular sand at a local pet shop. The sand is made of crushed shells and other things. I guess i should have bothered to read the label. The material is very light.   

Sand in the Hole

     This is what it looked like after all the pots were filled.

Half way done

     The spray bottle is to keep the sand sticky so that a hole can be punched through the middle. 

Moisturize

    This is a small paint brush. It is the perfect thickness for the cedar of lebanon. I pressed it down the middle about half way. 

Poking Holes

This is the rooting hormone. After the tap roots are cut off the seedlings will be dipped in this.

Rooting Hormone

     I still had time to change my mind and pot the seedling. If you notice the root which i believe is the bit after the white spot about halfway down the plant is very long. 

Before

     No guts no glory. Razor blades would have been better I suppose. I used some shears to sever the root. 

Trim 

A dip in the rooting hormone. Then the excess powder was blown off.

Rooting hormone

the seedling is placed in the hole. then the pot is watered again so that the sand closes around the stem.

Insert here

The seedlings are placed outside in a shady area. It is important to keep them out of the wind also. Now it is a waiting game. When will the new roots start growing? 

The end