Even though my bonsai collection has been greatly reduced over the past few years, I still find it challenging to keep up with it. At times I am actually overwhelmed with the wiring, pruning, repoting, etc that goes along with bonsai. However I find no greater satisfaction then when I maintain a tree and get it back under control.
leggy ficus
Take this tree for example. I worked very hard to reduce the branches a couple of years ago, however I wanted to give the tree a chance to recover healthwise so I’ve let it grow out. Problem is now the branches are leggy and too long for the trunk. I’m thankful it’s a ficus nerafolia.
Trimmed up Ficus
All it takes to regain control of these trees is to cut the branches back, way back. These trees will break back beyond the green. This means that when you cut a branch back you don’t need to leave any leaves. There are trees such as junipers, Brazilian raintrees, boxwoods in which the branch will die if all the leaves are removed. In the case of the Ficus Nerafolia you don’t have to worry.
At the Central Florida Bonsai Club annual picnic I was fortunate enough to win the Bouganvillea that Rick Jeffrey did a demo on. This is a nice thick bougy that needs some time to develop. I can’t help but see a toad shape in the trunk. So I will need to bring a branch down to just break that look up a bit. Otherwise I’ll get a plastic eyeball and just call it the toad tree.
New Bougy
I’m sure that this tree will develop quickly, so look for lots of future updates.
I have been looking for a new podocarpus to replace the one I sold a couple of years ago. However the search has ended. As I was visiting Mike Rogers I noticed in his nursery a podocarpus with all the features I was looking for. Great nebari, nice movement in the trunk, and lots of carving to do. Plus it already had nice branch placement, what a bonus. The reason I loke carving on Podocarpus is because hen the tree is finished, the contrast between the dark bark, white jins, and dark green foliage can not be beat.
Pre-bonsai podocarpus
The tree is about 36″ tall and will need a lot of work to get the basic structure set. I plan to let this tree sit during the growing season and then this fall put it into a bonsai pot. Better start saving now, it’s going to be a costly one.
Close up of nebari
Pay no attention to the weeds, I really need to start pulling those before taking pictures. But there is a nice jin on the left side and a wide root spread overall.
Close up of podocarpus top
Just look at all the jins!!! That is a carvers heaven. I just can’t wait to see this tree when it’s finished. The colors and textures will be amazing.
The most important thing about my on-line store is that I actually use the items that I sell. One item in particular is the Arbortech Mini-Grinder. Once I used one of these for the first time, I became a distributor so sell them. They are just that good!
Old wound scar
I’ve been working on large Neea Buxifolia for a few years now, but for the past couple it has been sitting in a greenhouse growing out. I was hoping to heal a large scar from a big cut made to shorten the tree. However it never healed. I knew if I ever wanted to develop this tree I needed to do a few things.
First would be to remove the old wood on the scar, and trim the cambium to promote healing of the wound. The best tool for this job, Arbortech Mini Grinder.
Carved trunk
Here is the after photo of the freshly carved area. Notice how the green cambium is now showing, and how I was able to remove the dead wood down to hard healthy wood. Also I used this opportunity to create some taper in the trunk. It was a large flat scar before, but now it is rounded and moves from wide to narrow. This should heal nicely.
Non-conifer cut paste
When it comes to big scars I use one product (Cut dressing 6044) more than any other. I’ve seen this stuff work on old wounds where normal cut paste didn’t. It stays on, and slowly flakes off as the tree heals.
Applying Cut Paste
Cut Paste Applied
It helps to warm a small ball of it in your hand before applying. Then just spread it over the wound, and covering any exposed cambium.
Neea Buxifolia
At this point I am just trying to develop the trunk line, and some minor branches. This tree has a long way to go, but this should give us a great start.
