Hi All,

Just re-vived my bonsai life after being out of it for 10 years, and never getting further than 2 years of 'playing' during my uni time. Now I have space, some time and a permanent position to live, so .. Bonsai again.

I used to assume you grow bonsai from the small plant, and onward. However, what I see a lot on the internet is people letting the tree just grow untill the trunc is almost as thick as they want. Then clip all material away, and grow the tree from a stumb of say 1/3 of the desired height.

I understand this saves time. Howevcer, will a bonsai created this way ever look really good? I am worried that you will always see the scar & seruious trunc thickness reduction at cutting positions. What are your thoughts on the best techniques?

As for the material:
I am now looking at some of the material I found over the last months: an acer spruce (Sitting in the garden; self-seeded some 3 years ago I guess, started pruning last fall at 1 foot, now has some 15 side-brances), a cherrrie-blossom tree (2cm trunc, 30cm high, 50 or so growing points) and some 20 larch plants (3 year olds, 20cm, some 25-30 growing points). Finally I am thinking about buying a very nicely balanced 5-stemmed juniperus at the desired heigh & trunc tickness I saw last week in a nursery; It has a base of between 4 and 6 cm, and is ready for styling ideal for Kabudachi. Unfortunately, the plant comes at 50 Euros, which I think is a bit of money for a plant that might very well die at my hands

So.. What are your idea on trunc fattening techniques?

CHeers,

Jelle.

Hi Jelle,

I'm here just to comment and not give advice. I wish to learn how to thicken roots and trunk of my new baby Juniper so I will follow this topic as well as read what is on the site.

It is wonderful that you are coming back to the art of Bonsai and you have so many wonderful young trees to work with! The Juniperus you wish to buy sounds awesome! I have no idea what 50 Euros is equivelant to in Canadian dollars.
(?) It has a good trunk size, yes? I hope you are able to buy it!

Leslie

Unfortunately, the juniper was gone when I went back there last week

Still no info on proper fattening techniques. I guess here there is no expert with 20+ years of experience who can shed some light on this, sigh.

Hi J,

With all the reading and watching of videos I've been doing recently it seems the method of trunk fattening you describe above is *the way* they do it. Japanese commercial bonsai growers do this as well as graphting a new tree on top of the stump. I'm going to ask in the "Bonsai Cafe" here if we can post links on the forum. If I find anything else that pertains to this topic, I will let you know, ok?

I'm so sorry the little juniper was gone when you went back however, it just means that a much better one will come to you for less money.

Leslie

J...I posted the question re: sharing links in the *General* section of the forum under the topic "Forum How To Questions".
L

So.. revisited.. I am trying different methods.

I have some Acer truncs without anything on them, which I will develope through the grow-and-cut method ( here )

I have one acer which I will let grow for one season, then trim off al new growth except for one or two leaf marks ( here )

and finally, I have thought of a new way for some of the larch saplings. I have taken the new growth of this year, trimmed it, and bend the stem down. I have doine this in a way that one small side-branch sits in the middle of the main stem. The branch I have wired vertically. This way, the side-branch can become the new leader, growing nicely in one line with the rest of the tree. The old leader I will remove at some point. Maybe before the spring, or just after the initial growth.
Doing this will avance the trees growth in height very little, but will create a nice taper, I hope.

howdy jelle,

no hopes about it you assumptions are correct i call it the fold and grow method i did this successfully with a hemlock until a rabbit got to it last winter the only problem i have dicovered is the scaring can cause unwanted bulges in the trunk...seeing you are dealing with a youngin' i think it will outgrow any issues created.

I am wondering how the trees are looking now. I am going to try both methods listed in the "Article" section over the next 3 years. See which method I like better.

suppose it will depend on the tree. I may be weird, but I think the trees can "communicate" with us. When I look at a tree - I get an idea of how she wants to look ... :dry: --- sort of anyway.

Anyone understand what I am trying to say?

I am reading through old help files to see what I can learn.

My Ma wants to plant Colorado Blue Spruce and some Majestic Blue Spruce on the homestead -- I think I will snag one of the 2 year olds for a Bonsai.

Hi Angie,

Heck ya! I understand what you're trying to say. :lol: I'm a wood carver and in the *wood carvers' world* it is often said that the piece of wood (or the wood spirit within) speaks to the artist and guides her/him thru the carving process or can immediately tell the carver what it wants to be before the carving starts. See?...we're not crazy! :woohoo: Or...if we are, there's a whole lot of us crazies out there!

Leslie wrote: Hi Angie,

Heck ya! I understand what you're trying to say. :lol: I'm a wood carver and in the *wood carvers' world* it is often said that the piece of wood (or the wood spirit within) speaks to the artist and guides her/him thru the carving process or can immediately tell the carver what it wants to be before the carving starts. See?...we're not crazy! :woohoo: Or...if we are, there's a whole lot of us crazies out there!

Us in the normal -non-wood-carving- world would advice you to PUT DOWN THE BRANDY! You clearly are having daydreams when you start hearing plants talk to you :evil: