Vision for this "Katsura" Future.

[humanafterall]

I am looking to make my first chop on this katsura next spring. I wanted to see what other people here would do with this stock.


I have two ideas so far...

1. Chopping to the first branch and doing this the right way... ( not much experience protecting leaders after chops, so gotta learn sometime.)

2. Start a chop 2/3 the way from completed and starting the second branch just above what could be a back branch?

What would you do?

I'm thinking Option 2, still gives me the options to do 1 in the future for better taper.


I will log its progress on here.
My goal is a 7-8in tall, and one day fitting into this beauty.

 

[penumbra]

I am not seeing enough of the tree to have any design ideas. I personally can only say that it is far from ready to squeeze into a bonsai pot, and that it needs to grow out quite a bit to thicken up.
Funny, I keep opening these Katsura posts in hopes of seeing a Katsura tree .... not the maple.

 

[humanafterall]

I am not seeing enough of the tree to have any design ideas. I personally can only say that it is far from ready to squeeze into a bonsai pot, and that it needs to grow out quite a bit to thicken up.
Funny, I keep opening these Katsura posts in hopes of seeing a Katsura tree .... not the maple.

Well it clearly is in development.... let's not be shallow it needs a path too plus I'm not looking to make an insane 2inch trunk maple... taste is taste homie

 

[Nybonsai12]

It needs to grow and thicken up. I'd put it in the ground over a tile for a year or two or three to see how it does and likely chop to that first branch at some point.

 

[humanafterall]

Putting it in the ground isn't an option and I'm looking for a Shohin size or smaller so it didn't seem like the worst idea to chop now.... I'm looking for finished 7-9in tree. Maybe I'm tripping but seemed logical and I did like it's girth already but clearly it wouldn't touch a pot for another decade

It needs to grow and thicken up. I'd put it in the ground over a tile for a year or two or three to see how it does and likely chop to that first branch at some point.

 

[Nybonsai12]

Again this is just what i would do. Others will likely have different advice.

In my experience trees should be really vigorous when performing a chop. I've found that chopping younger material in a pot has quite a different response to something that has been growing vigorously in the ground. If ground growing isn't an option, i'd probably repot next spring into an appropriate sized anderson flat or cedar box making sure to try and get roots growing out laterally and not downward. This will help develop nebari.

I'd allow it to grow unchecked after the repot to get strong. If the plan is the first branch is to be the next section of trunk, i'd likely wire some movement into at the time of repot. Good Luck and happy growing!

 

[humanafterall]

Again this is just what i would do. Others will likely have different advise.

In my experience trees should be really vigorous when performing a chop. I've found that chopping younger material in a pot has quite a different response to something that has been growing vigorously in the ground. If ground growing isn't an option, i'd probably repot next spring into an appropriate sized anderson flat or cedar box making sure to try and get roots growing out laterally and not downward. This will help develop nebari.

I'd allow it to grow unchecked after the repot to get strong. If the plan is the first branch is to be the next section of trunk, i'd likely wire some movement into at the time of repot. Good Luck and happy growing!

That's what I needed to hear!

I could technically get the same affect of the Anderson by just cutting its current pot in half and planting it back into that and starting with the leader an chop in one repot session? It's been growing vigorously and I think a hard chop and developing the next trunk section was my first choice for better tape for a short tree

best tips on getting it there would be welcomed.

 

[humanafterall]

With respect of controlling the thick downward roots that im not even aware of yet....

 

[BrianBay9]

...and I'd air layer rather than just chop. You've prob got three trees there if you do it right.

 

[humanafterall]

...and I'd air layer rather than just chop. You've prob got three trees there if you do it right.

There's a nice split section i was thinking of airlayering... can't post a photo of the full tree due to size of file

 

[Juanmi]

Whatever you do I'd like to see the evolution of that.
Katsura is one of my favorite JM varieties, I gravitate towards shohin sizes, and I really like that pot.

 

[RoadManDenDron]

If you are truly happy with the thickness, even chopping to the first branch I would then be hoping for budding at the lower nodes i would then cut back to for better taper.

 

[vp999]

I am not seeing enough of the tree to have any design ideas. I personally can only say that it is far from ready to squeeze into a bonsai pot, and that it needs to grow out quite a bit to thicken up.
Funny, I keep opening these Katsura posts in hopes of seeing a Katsura tree .... not the maple.

Funny you mentioned about Katsura....I have a nice Katsura and every time I tried to search for more infos and picture on it on Google all I'm getting is Katsura maples also lol.

 

[Joe Dupre']

If you like the girth, I'd chop it right above the first branch and start building your taper. Any higher and you might be left with a straight, untapered section. My go-to method is getting the trunk I want first. Taper, branching, roots and ramification comes pretty fast after that.

 

[humanafterall]

Whatever you do I'd like to see the evolution of that.
Katsura is one of my favorite JM varieties, I gravitate towards shohin sizes, and I really like that pot.

Will do.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Id also air layer the top off instead of chop. Id also wire movement into that first whip now while its flexible, that way when you do remove the top, you have an actual interesting tree and may save you a few more chops and cuts otherwise as movement would already have been added to the new leader whip.

 

[humanafterall]

I am planning a repot/root evaluation next spring, I also plan on getting this it into a Mini Anderson Flats (14”x 12”x 3”d) till it thickens alittle more during that time.

The blue pot shown in the first ost is the pot I ultimately plan to get this into and the depth of that is 1.5

Thoughts?

 

[humanafterall]

Id also air layer the top off instead of chop. Id also wire movement into that first whip now while its flexible, that way when you do remove the top, you have an actual interesting tree and may save you a few more chops and cuts otherwise as movement would already have been added to the new leader whip.

There's a split I'm gonna layer off before I do anything drastic but I did post my current update above. I did go the Aflat route and I'll let this thing thicken to about 1.25