Arbortech: Must have for Bonsai

• Sunday, June 07th, 2009

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.