There are a lot of issues that I have had with the bald cypress that kind of bothered me.  Probably the most prominent was the “hips” that the tree had.  It just looked very unnatural to me.  However I had planned to hide those imperfections with some nicely placed branched. 

I had grown the top out to help the scar heal, which it made great progress on during the year.  Though I didn’t have the “A-HA” moment until Suthin had visited me back in August of this year.  He liked the tree, but as he walked by he said, look at it from this angle…   Of course he was right.  From a view turning the tree wbout 30 degrees clockwise all my issues went away.  Now why didn’t I think of that. 

Also Mike Rogers had commented about the height of this tree to me on that same day, and I now agree with him.  So since the weather was cold and this tree is now dormant, it was time for major changes!

 The easiest of the problems was the height.  You can see how much growth I had last year and how much new cambium had rolled over the huge scar.  Although it needed to be reduced. 

That’s a big cut for sure.  I may actually clean the piece up and count the rings.  I’d love to have some idea how old this tree really is. 

A straight cut angled downward towards the back.  By doing the cut in this manor you hide the scar and create a drmatic taper to the tree. 

Well there turns out to be a method to my madness.  I reduced the height down to the first useable branch.  The placement, thickness and size of this branch makes it a perfect candidate for the new top of this tree.

Okay so here we have the new top wired in place and I used my giant Root Cutters to round off the straight edges of the big cut.  This allows for the cambium to easily roll over the scar and in time will totally heal over.  I added a coat of cut paste over this large wound to help the health of the tree while it healed.

So here is the finished Bald Cypress after all the changes.  Look how much better the line of the tree looks now that it has been turned.  Also the height is much better.  Since this photo I have tilted teh tree a bit more to the left.  It looks a little off balance in the photo.  I’m still looking at the second trunk and am considering lowering that as well.  I still hav eplenty of time this year to decide.

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It is has been unusally cold in Florida this year, however the trees are going dormant quicker and giving me a great opportunity to work on the,  I have been looking forward to repotting this crepe myrtle correctly for a long time now.  As you may remember I showed this tree at the BSF convention in May, and I bought a new Sara Rayner pot for it back then.  The time to repot the tree couldn’t come soon enough.

I let the tree grow out a lot, just to thicken some branches and to improve the tree’s health.  The ramification continues to increase and the tree’s scars are just about completely covered.

The tree’s roots looked strong and healthy.  I didn’t really have to reduce the roots at all once I combed out the old soil mix.  The dark color and rounded top add a nice balance with the tree.  I only had to wire a few back branches but for the most part it is clip and grow to keep this tree in shape.

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There are times when it is good to take a step back and reassess your situation. I have worked with this Ficus “Too little” for years and have made no progress. I got 6 stitches in my left hand working on it and I’m pretty sure this tree isn’t for me.

So what to do with it? I can honestly say I learned from this tree and now so can someone else. I figured the best thing I could do would be to donate it to the Central Florida Bonsai Club. I’m hoping it goes to a good home.

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So I just bought an amazing slab from Joe Day (thanks Julie Trigg) however I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. It has got to be over two feet long by a foot deep. Certainly some sort of forest planting but what?

Right now my tendency is towards bald cypress or trident maples.

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