Taunton & Somerset Bonsai Club Workshop 15 July 2017 1. Dave, Trident maple This Trident maple had previously been cut back hard and then allowed plenty of new growth. Dave s task was to select the branches he needed and remove the rest. But his first job, as ever, was to decide where the tree s front was, as this would influence which branches to keep. The trunk had a very large scar where it had been previously chopped, but Dave found an angle that showed the lovely trunk curve and placed the scar almost out of site. Dave removed about half of the branches and shortened the remaining ones. A little bit of wiring then placed them in suitable positions. The end result shows real promise; a very good trunk line with excellent taper and nicely placed branches. If the scar proves to be a problem then it could hollowed out to provide a nice feature. Deserving of a nice pot next year! 2. Mike W, Chinese juniper This rather unruly juniper was Mike s first workshop tree. It had a nice twisting trunk and looked healthy, but had lost structure and become top-heavy. Working slowly and methodically from bottom to top, Mike thinned foliage where it was too heavy, removed some wayward branches and gave the remaining branches better placement through wiring. It s still a bit bare in the middle but this will improve as the foliage fills out. It is now more structured, no longer top-heavy and the twisting trunk is now more visible. A bit of weeding completed the job! More could be made of the twisting trunk in future, but that s for next time!
3. Brian, Chinese Elm Brian had recently acquired this Chinese Elm and thought it could be improved. It s a nice tree with a good nebari, but very top-heavy. Brian set about thinning the top to give a better balance to the tree. This would also allow the lower branches a bit more room to grow. He also pulled the lower branch down a little with guy wires. The change is not huge but it gives a better shape and balance to the tree. Brian will need to keep the crown trimmed back and allow the branches to fill out a bit, closing the spaces between so that the pads are less obvious. 4. Andy, Elm This nice Elm was already quite well developed but Andy was keen to develop it further and put more structure into it. It was also a little top-heavy and while Elms will naturally tend to grow that way, it is difficult to maintain this in a bonsai as the lower branches will weaken. Andy removed a lot of unwanted branches and gently wired the main branches into place; no dramatic twists and turns for this tree, just gentle sweeping curves to complement the gentle movement in the trunk. A bit of weeding completed the job and the end result was really very pleasing. Development of side shoots over the next couple of years should enable gaps to fill in to give a more natural deciduous look. At next re-potting the tree could be placed a little lower in the pot.
5. Richard M, Alder Alder is an unusual tree for bonsai as they are generally very vigorous and can easily get out of control! They also have a nasty habit of shedding branches, so a fairly loose structure is advisable. Richard thinned out the top of the tree and cleaned up the trunk and rootbase. The change is subtle rather than dramatic and gives the tree a lighter feel. This is a tricky tree as it has three trunks of roughly equal height and girth. In a younger tree removing one (or even two!) of the trunks would be usual, but this is a well established tree with character so perhaps better to work with them. If Richard were to allow the crown to grow higher into a more domed shape, (rather than the flat top) but does this from just one of the trunks, this would improve the tree. Letting one trunk dominate will give some asymmetry and look more natural. 6. Dave, Field maple Dave had previously cut this tree back hard to get a shorter trunk and some taper. Now he set about developing the branch structure by thinning unwanted shoots and wiring the main branches to form a pleasing shape. The chop has started to heal over but even though Field maple heals quickly it will still take many years to callus over. So Dave decided to place the scar at the front with the intention of hollowing it out in the future to make an interesting feature. Field maple respond well to this approach and look good with hollow trunks, reflecting what is often seen in the wild. Best to do this in a year or two once the main branches are established and growth has slowed.
7. Andy, Scots pine Andy said that he was on the point of throwing this pine away as he just didn t know what to do with it! It had three roughly equal trunks, which is always a problem. Further, they were straggly and had suffered some dieback. On the plus side the tree was obviously very old and had really nice bark on the lower trunk. The solution lay in removing one of the trunks, but which one? We spent much time turning the tree round and round and scratching our heads! So, getting right back to basics we looked for the best trunk line and one angle looked just fantastic. Once we had established the front, it became clear which trunk to remove and Andy took no hesitation with his very sharp saw. The transformation was immediate and Andy had a jaw-dropping moment when he suddenly realised the potential in his about-to-be-thrown-away tree! He left a considerable stump, partly for possible jin but also for use to anchor wires for the remainder of the tree. raised the branches of the main trunk and lowered those of the secondary trunk. At the same time, by putting twists and turns into the branches he reduced their apparent length, resolving some of the straggliness of the tree. With two trunks left the plan was to wire them so that they looked unequal; one rising above the other. It took some hours for Andy to adjust the trunks and heavy branches with guy wires and then to wire all of the smaller branches. In doing this he The end result was amazing. Andy had transformed his ugly duckling into something beautiful within a couple of hours. The change was very dramatic and almost magical; I will be watching this tree in future with much interest! Lessons learned: (a) two trunks are better than three! (b) never give up on a tree!
8. Mike, Pine We really didn t know what species of pine this was. It was quite ugly with a straight trunk, two handle bar branches and a cluster of unruly branches at the top. Mike didn t know what to do with it! The solution was quite simple really! He cut off the branch on the right and changed the planting angle. Once again, the change is dramatic and instant; suddenly the trunk has lovely movement and the potential is clear. Given that Mike had to repot to get the angle right, we felt that further work should wait, other than some thinning out of the crown and tying down one or two branches. But it s fairly clear where future development of foliage pads will be, which Mike can do next year once the tree has settled in. 9. Brian, Hemlock Brian s second tree was this collected Hemlock. It was looking very strong and healthy with lots of growth and was ready for a first styling. Brian chose to go for a formal upright, so really his task was to thin out the branches and apex and then wire the whole tree. He used guy wires anchored through the base of the pot to pull the two main branches down. A little bit of weeding and his job was done. There s more work to do in time, but a nice tree begins to take shape
10. Richard, Field maple This little Field maple is coming along well enough, but it s not really very interesting. Richard pondered this and took a bold step that completely transformed the tree into something much more interesting with just one piece of wire! He wired the trunk and put some bends into it, giving a nice curving line in three dimensions. It s not obvious from the photo but he has brought the apex forward. Other than that he just trimmed it back and removed unnecessary branches. The change brought about is quite striking! The trim that he gave should encourage back budding and that will enable a fuller canopy of twiggy branches within a year or two. 11. Dave, Hornbeam Dave s third tree was this nice Hornbeam. He d already done some preliminary work taking out the top and wiring a new leader and several branches. However, while it has a nice trunk line the sharp kink at the base shows considerable inverse taper and this caused Dave to have a rethink. By turning the tree through 180 degrees the inverse taper vanished, although it left a quite ugly scar in full view. The scar had been caused by the removal or loss of a large branch or trunk some years ago. With a little carving to hollow it out Dave turned it into an interesting feature. What s more the branch placement looks better from this angle!
12. Brian, Hemlock? I m not sure if this is Hemlock! It s a collected tree that was in need of some initial training and shaping. Brian chose to do this mainly through the use of guy wires, but also wired the top branches and reduced the height by wiring in a new leader. He also repotted the tree and in doing so revealed a very nice root base that can only get even better. 13. Andy, Sycamore Sycamore are not the easiest species due to their coarse growth and large leaves. However, they are almost indestructible and respond well to trimming and wiring. Given the size of their leaves, best results are obtained with larger trees like this one. Andy thinned out the top and lightened the canopy a little to let more light in. It will benefit from regular leaf trimming to reduce leaf size and increase ramification over time. It does have a nice root-base and trunk and if the leaves can be reduced, it will make a handsome bonsai.
T 14. Richard, Cypress We weren t exactly sure what this tree was an ornamental garden conifer, possibly Cypress. There are obvious problems with this tree; the branches are very straggly and grow in a two dimensional fan shape. On the plus side it has a good nebari and an aged looking trunk with flaky bark, so it was worth trying to make something of it. Richard took a brave approach and cut off the long straggly branches leaving four young branches. He also reduced the height of the trunk. It was very drastic but hopefully the new branches will grow and can then be trained in a more compact manner to achieve some foliage pads. A tidy up of the nebari completed the work. Let s keep our fingers crossed! There were several other trees worked on during the day, but we forgot to take photos of all of them!