Arakawa JBP

[Brian Van Fleet]

Night shot of the extending candles...

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Candles are mostly open now. Haven’t decided if I will candle-cut this summer. Likely I will not, and will wire it out again in the fall, and repot it to the correct planting position next spring. Then refinement can begin. This tree has been a slow process, but is (hopefully) finally on track.

 

[cmeg1]

Totally cool,man.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

A few months after the last update, I took it to Bjorn’s. I had gotten bored with trees without a whole lot of movement, and was considering finally just cutting off the first right branch…after coaxing it along for years and even successfully grafting new shoots in. So my goal was to make a tree that actually had a direction to it. My inspiration was partly this @markyscott JBP.

I had already needle-plucked and wired it out in the fall ‘21, and took it to Bjorn’s like this:

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

He agreed that removing the right branch was a good way to go.

He also wanted to address the stovepipe section of trunk too, by taking a wedge out, here:

Then we carefully and slowly closed the gap with a guy-wire.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Well, it lived, and healed. Here is a shot before and after needle-pulling in the fall of ‘22

 

[Shogun610]

When did you do that wedge cut?? Nicely done.. did you pack it with sealant ?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

In March ‘23 I repotted it. The roots had grown pretty well, and I potted it in a deeper container and used large particle soil.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

This year, it grew well, and I did not decandle it. The wedge cut healed nicely, and did add some movement to that section of trunk. Hard to see in a photo, but maybe after the next wiring it will be a little easier to see.


Here are some shots from the weekend, before and after needle-pulling. This winter, I’ll prune and wire it again.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

So here is a side-by-side of the last 2.5 years.

 

[leatherback]

Thanks for sharing.

WHat is the expectation with the wedgecut? Will it grow back together, or is that expected to be a slight line for the near future?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Thanks for sharing.

WHat is the expectation with the wedgecut? Will it grow back together, or is that expected to be a slight line for the near future?

As it barks up, it should not be noticeable.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Good shot of it in full growth mode.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Looking back over this thread, it appears the tree has never been candle-cut. Because it is a slightly slower-growing variety I did it very early and will watch to see how it responds. If it throws a bunch of buds from the tips (which I suspect it will) I can moderate subsequent needle length by leaving more buds until fall if it is strong, or cutting back to pairs in the summer if it is slow. I also left several candles on that lower left branch to allow for some lengthening of that branch.

Also found what should be a great pot match for the tree, 2nd generation Yamaaki.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Took a little time today to pull old long needles while I could still distinguish them from the new ones opening. This fall, it will get another round of needle pulling, and some detail wiring in preparation for a new pot in the spring. Maybe another 2 years away from showing well.
Before and after:

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Needle-pulling while anxiously watching the returns last night. Just a little light wiring and this one is good to go for a repot next spring.

 

[cody94withrow]

Last year, I had to do an aggressive repotting to get rid of some rotting roots in old field soil under the base of the tree, and ended up bare-rooting and nearly reducing it to a cutting. I thought there would be a 50-50 chance it would survive, but the buds were pushing and the timing was right. It did fine, but I went pretty easy on it last year.
View attachment 358910View attachment 358913View attachment 358911
Since it recovered well, I was able to do a little wiring on primary and secondary branches. The next 12 months should show some real progress, especially with summer candle-cutting and very careful bud selection. This variety tends to throw tons of buds on super short internodes. Not a bad characteristic for bonsai, but requires attention during the growing season.
View attachment 358912
The first right branch is a graft, and has gained enough strength to be wired into the design.