Hey everyone,
Has anyone here ever tried a phoenix graft?
I think later this spring I am going to try doing one, but not a traditional one.
I am going to use a few weeping willow whips.I started to root a few from my tree yesterday.
Since the willow grow so fast it won't take long for the whips to grow into the grooves in the deadwood.
So here is the wood I think I want to use. I have scraped all the bark off and have tentatively drawn where I want the "veins" to run.
After carving all the grooves, I'll treat so it won't rot and probably attach a base to steady it.Then, after the willow cuttings root I'll put them both together.
Sounds like it might be something fun to try.

I'm curious to see the results! I have red many times and saw many articles about phoenix grafting, but never tried myself.

Nice deadwood, Good luck and let us see some pictures afterwards!

Ive seen my friends do it, also plan on using some willow for one . Its gona be really fun

Sounds interesting, never heard of using willow for phoenix graft. I have a couple junipers that I am going to do but can't get out of chair.....roots growing to quick. :ohmy:

Usually phoenix grafts are done with juniper or the like, but I have access to as many willow cuttings as I need so I thought I'd try them.
Being traditional has never been high on my list. haha

The club I joined I've seen many phoenix grafts, and I don't think I have even seen a juniper one yet. Goes to show that tradition doesn't always matter

The only reason i'm doing juniper is because I got the perfect trees for the deadwood I got. I saw a japanese maple somewhere online, looked cool.
I was thinking about trying one of my zelkovas sometime.

I think a flowering tree would be great too.

www.bonsailearningcenter.com has an informative article on Tanuki Bonsai.(Tanuki is the Japanese term for Phoenix Graft) Go to the site, click on the Learn tab at the top, click on Styles of Bonsai, then scroll down to and click on Tanuki Bonsai. Lots of good info on the site. Randy & his wife have been doing bonsai for many years in Charlotte & has plenty of advice for the noob.

Being traditional has never been high on my list. haha

id have to agee, why would i want to grow a tree with all of the stringent traditional rules and end up with a tree that looks like everone elses .i guess you could call us the new American stlye bonsai.
i never realy got the point of a pheonix graft just a different "branch" of the art :lol: cant wait to see the outcome