Bald Cypress - Best path forward?

[AcerAddict]

I picked up a bald cypress today from my favorite local nursery. It's about seven feet tall and has a trunk diameter of two and a half inches just above the soil. There are lots of small low branches. It's currently in a 15 gallon pot. I haven't taken it out of the pot yet, and have no idea what the root ball looks like to see if things are cramped or not. Two photos are attached.

I would like to thicken the trunk for another two or three years at least before I get it into a wood tray or bonsai pot and start training. I have the space on our property to plant it in the ground where it'll get full sun and stay plenty moist all the time. I also have a short, wide 25 gallon nursery pot that I could put it in as well. I'm not very fond of the "flat top" look for BC, so my end goal is a formal upright that looks something like the one in the third attached photo. I suppose my preferred final height would be about three feet.

Here's my questions on how to move forward:

1. Should I plant it in the ground or put it in the 25 gallon pot? Or, should I just leave it alone for now in the 15 gallon pot?
2. I've seen other places online where people thicken up their BCs by literally sticking the base of the pot in a big container with water so that the soil is always wet. If I leave my BC in a pot, is this a technique I should consider?
3. When should I chop the trunk? I would prefer to air layer it off in order to get a 2nd tree. Should I do this next spring after the new growth hardens off, or should I wait until down the road? Does a chopped trunk help thicken the base, or does it hinder it?

Thanks as always.

 

[AcerAddict]

Can't edit my original post anymore, but I forgot to tag @rockm in there. He was the one who first suggested a while back for me to get one of these great trees since they're native to NC and thrive very well here at the coast.

 

[Colorado]

My game plan for nursery trees is usually to address the roots/nebari first. It doesn’t make much sense to me to get the tree ramped up and thickening…if the roots that are going to thicken are a mess.

So, the first order of business is to do some root work in the spring to get the nebari on the right track.

Then, whether you place in a container or in the ground - ground is probably the fastest growth rate, but I’m not sure that should always be the goal. Ground growing is not a technique I use just because I don’t have the space for it, haven’t practiced it. But you can get tremendous thickening and growth on BC from submerging the pot in a tub of water (water line about half the depth of the sides of the pot).

Chopping the trunk will slow down the thickening considerably.

Nice cypress!

 

[AcerAddict]

My game plan for nursery trees is usually to address the roots/nebari first. It doesn’t make much sense to me to get the tree ramped up and thickening…if the roots that are going to thicken are a mess.

So, the first order of business is to do some root work in the spring to get the nebari on the right track.

Then, whether you place in a container or in the ground - ground is probably the fastest growth rate, but I’m not sure that should always be the goal. Ground growing is not a technique I use just because I don’t have the space for it, haven’t practiced it. But you can get tremendous thickening and growth on BC from submerging the pot in a tub of water (water line about half the depth of the sides of the pot).

Chopping the trunk will slow down the thickening considerably.

Nice cypress!

Great info, thank you. Since the roots should be priority #1 then, should I just leave it in its current pot until spring, or slip it into the 25 gallon now? Is there any benefit gained from moving it to the bigger pot this late in the year? Our forecast for the next four weeks calls for high temps in the low-80s to upper-70s. Nighttime lows will be from the mid-60s down to the mid-50s. Fall will eventually get here, but summer isn't quite ready to give up just yet. My crape myrtles and Japanese maples are still even now spitting out new leaves.

 

[Colorado]

If it were me, I would definitely just leave it in its current pot until spring.

And I’d wait until next summer to submerge in water.

 

[Tieball]

I would leave it alone and keep it in the existing container until you’re ready for root work. I'm not totally familiar with your climate. The unknown. This tree was probably stored just like you have it now over winter, above ground, and surrounded by other trees in plastic pots. I’d do the same over this winter.…surround it with other trees weathering winter above ground in containers. A few years back I dig a hole in the ground for a tree in a container. I put it in the hole over winter. It was a monster to pull out of the hole expecially while the ground around it stayed frozen fir a long time. And, I discovered, from other trees left above ground, that the hole effort was not a necessity.

 

[AcerAddict]

I'll leave it as-is for now then. I know bald cypress can handle serious root work without skipping a beat, so I'll do a major root reduction in early March, which is just before we start warming up here again. Woodworking is another hobby of mine, so I'll put together a nice grow box for this tree and then get it set up in a tray of water in June when we really start heating up here.

 

[Tieball]

Don’t make the grow box to big.

 

[just.wing.it]

Springtime: bare root, cut roots back, chop trunk, submerge. When new growth starts, fertilize heavily.

 

[AcerAddict]

Springtime: bare root, cut roots back, chop trunk, submerge. When new growth starts, fertilize heavily.

This is conflicting information. Colorado mentioned earlier that "Chopping the trunk will slow down the thickening considerably", so which is it? I want to do this the right way.

Plus, I'd really prefer to air layer the top off as opposed to just chopping and throwing away 4 feet of trunk. That's a big waste to me. I know BC is hardy, but can I really air layer next spring right after bare rooting and cutting a significant number of roots? I'm not in a rush with this tree at all. I'm fine with cutting the roots back in spring and getting it into a grow box, then waiting until 2023 to air layer the top if that's what would be best for the tree. Likewise, I could layer the top off next year, and wait for root cut and repot in 2023.

Don’t make the grow box to big.

How big is appropriate? 8" long sides? 12" sides? 16" sides? The trunk is currently two and a half inches thick at the base. How about depth of the box? I was thinking 4" or maybe 6", but would 8" or 10" depth give better results with trunk thickening?

 

[Joe Dupre']

First question I always ask is "How big do you want the trunk to be?" If it's 2.5" in diameter and you want a 4" tree, come spring chop it to the appropriate height, work the roots and plant it in the biggest pot you can stand. My friends and I have found that you almost can't overpot a bald cypress. A 12" high section of a 55 gal drum works well. With agressive fertilization, you can get to the 4" diameter in two to 3 years. If you want a 6" tree, ground planting with no chop would be the way to go. Remember, no matter what people say, you can not make a tree grow faster by chopping it severely. You can make some parts grow faster than others, but the overall growth will be slowed.

 

[AcerAddict]

First question I always ask is "How big do you want the trunk to be?" If it's 2.5" in diameter and you want a 4" tree, come spring chop it to the appropriate height, work the roots and plant it in the biggest pot you can stand. My friends and I have found that you almost can't overpot a bald cypress. A 12" high section of a 55 gal drum works well. With aggressive fertilization, you can get to the 4" diameter in two to 3 years. If you want a 6" tree, ground planting with no chop would be the way to go. Remember, no matter what people say, you can not make a tree grow faster by chopping it severely. You can make some parts grow faster than others, but the overall growth will be slowed.

I originally mentioned a desired final height of about three feet for this tree. That means I'm probably looking at a post-chop height of 24-30" correct? Then, I would develop the apex to reach the final height. I grabbed a tape measure to help me visualize things, and I think a 4" trunk would look too thin on a 36" BC. Instead, a 6" trunk looks much better on a tree with that final height. So then, it looks like I have to decide if I want a shorter final tree with a slimmer trunk, or if I want to commit the time needed to fatten the trunk to 6", whether that's in the ground or in a big pot.

The one major concern I have with planting this tree (or any of my bonsai material) in the ground to thicken the trunk is that it will be at the mercy of high winds when the next tropical storm or hurricane comes our way. Our house is literally 1 mile from the Intracoastal Waterway. Storm surge is not a problem because we're about 35 feet above sea level, but wind damage is a real threat. Last year, Hurricane Isaias made landfall just 55 miles SW of us. We had sustained winds of 70 mph at home, with gusts even higher. Obviously, trees of all sizes in the wild can make it through hurricanes and survive, but I'd have more peace of mind knowing that at any time, I could move all my trees to the garage for safe keeping. Even a really tall Ball Cypress in a comically huge pot would be welcome inside.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Taper on a 6" trunk at a finished height of 36" is going to be tricky. At a 24-30" chop height, the trunk might be 4" or so. To get a taper from 4" to basically nothing in a foot is very hard. I might suggest you do two to three chops over a few years to build better taper. Not to discourage you, but going from a 2.5" trunk with little taper to a 6" nicely tapered trunk could take 6-8 years or more.

My MO is usually to go with the survivor, broken-top style. MUCH faster and more consistant with what's found in nature......... and I'm kinda impatient. LOL Actually in our area, there are basically no really old, mature formal upright bald cypress trees. Trees several hundred or a 1000 years old have gone through dozens, if not hundreds of hurricanes and show the scars.

Here's a pretty typical older tree. That base is about 8' at water level and over 9' at soil level. Looking at it now, it really doesn't have a lot of taper in the middle section, does it?

 

[just.wing.it]

This is conflicting information. Colorado mentioned earlier that "Chopping the trunk will slow down the thickening considerably", so which is it? I want to do this the right way.

Plus, I'd really prefer to air layer the top off as opposed to just chopping and throwing away 4 feet of trunk. That's a big waste to me. I know BC is hardy, but can I really air layer next spring right after bare rooting and cutting a significant number of roots? I'm not in a rush with this tree at all. I'm fine with cutting the roots back in spring and getting it into a grow box, then waiting until 2023 to air layer the top if that's what would be best for the tree. Likewise, I could layer the top off next year, and wait for root cut and repot in 2023.


How big is appropriate? 8" long sides? 12" sides? 16" sides? The trunk is currently two and a half inches thick at the base. How about depth of the box? I was thinking 4" or maybe 6", but would 8" or 10" depth give better results with trunk thickening?

Yeah. If you want to thicken, then don't chop.

 

[rockm]

I originally mentioned a desired final height of about three feet for this tree. That means I'm probably looking at a post-chop height of 24-30" correct? Then, I would develop the apex to reach the final height. I grabbed a tape measure to help me visualize things, and I think a 4" trunk would look too thin on a 36" BC. Instead, a 6" trunk looks much better on a tree with that final height. So then, it looks like I have to decide if I want a shorter final tree with a slimmer trunk, or if I want to commit the time needed to fatten the trunk to 6", whether that's in the ground or in a big pot.

The one major concern I have with planting this tree (or any of my bonsai material) in the ground to thicken the trunk is that it will be at the mercy of high winds when the next tropical storm or hurricane comes our way. Our house is literally 1 mile from the Intracoastal Waterway. Storm surge is not a problem because we're about 35 feet above sea level, but wind damage is a real threat. Last year, Hurricane Isaias made landfall just 55 miles SW of us. We had sustained winds of 70 mph at home, with gusts even higher. Obviously, trees of all sizes in the wild can make it through hurricanes and survive, but I'd have more peace of mind knowing that at any time, I could move all my trees to the garage for safe keeping. Even a really tall Ball Cypress in a comically huge pot would be welcome inside.

As Joe D. suggests, you have to have an idea of what kind of tree design you're after, then proceed. In nature, BC come in a few forms, depending on age. The tall "flattop" form is its final stage. That image is of a very large, very tall tree that has weathered hurricanes and time. BC are tall, strong apically dominant trees. That means older trees have the majority of their branching (with one or two exception branches lower) at the top. This trunk is more suited to this form, since it has little taper, no root buttressing to speak of.

All that means is that you can probably proceed with two trunk chops with this trunk over several years, with the first next spring at around the two foot or a little less mark. Wait for new apical shoots to develop, use one of those as a new leader. Allow that one to grow to thicken to close to the original trunk's diameter, chop back in a few years to within four inches or so of the trunk. Wait for new apical shoots to begin building the canopy.

The other popular form of BC bonsai is the "immature variant"--a more classical conifer pyramid, the one you prefer. The form is of a younger tree. To get that image will require growing out the tree to thicken the base for a few years, then chopping lower, like a foot to a foot and a half. Then proceeding to build subsequent chops to force taper into the trunk. To be blunt, The tree you have pictured is not all that great of a bonsai. It was a sapling topped and left to grow branches, not much more...

If this were my tree, I'd plant it in the ground. Let it alone for a few years to bulk up the trunk and root buttress, then collect it. Wouldn't worry about storms. It will probably be fine. I'm not in prime hurricane country, but I and my trees have been through a couple over the years. Hurricane Isabel brought sustained 80 mph winds and two feet of rain. All my trees (except anything weighing less than 25 lbs) weathered that storm outside on the ground. No problem. If you get stronger storms, the tree being in the garage may not make any difference. It is what it is...

BC are easy to get out of the ground and can take extreme root reduction when healthy. In the spring, You could also just top it at two feet, put it in a large container and grow it out that way. It will take a bit longer, but it will work.

FWIW, air layering this tree isn't worth the trouble, and will slow you down as much, or more, than a trunk chop. I'd skip it unless you want to spend a few years developing small trees (if your air layers are successful) for use in a BC forest.

 

[Cajunrider]

As Joe D. suggests, you have to have an idea of what kind of tree design you're after, then proceed. In nature, BC come in a few forms, depending on age. The tall "flattop" form is its final stage. That image is of a very large, very tall tree that has weathered hurricanes and time. BC are tall, strong apically dominant trees. That means older trees have the majority of their branching (with one or two exception branches lower) at the top. This trunk is more suited to this form, since it has little taper, no root buttressing to speak of.

All that means is that you can probably proceed with two trunk chops with this trunk over several years, with the first next spring at around the two foot or a little less mark. Wait for new apical shoots to develop, use one of those as a new leader. Allow that one to grow to thicken to close to the original trunk's diameter, chop back in a few years to within four inches or so of the trunk. Wait for new apical shoots to begin building the canopy.

The other popular form of BC bonsai is the "immature variant"--a more classical conifer pyramid, the one you prefer. The form is of a younger tree. To get that image will require growing out the tree to thicken the base for a few years, then chopping lower, like a foot to a foot and a half. Then proceeding to build subsequent chops to force taper into the trunk. To be blunt, The tree you have pictured is not all that great of a bonsai. It was a sapling topped and left to grow branches, not much more...

If this were my tree, I'd plant it in the ground. Let it alone for a few years to bulk up the trunk and root buttress, then collect it. Wouldn't worry about storms. It will probably be fine. I'm not in prime hurricane country, but I and my trees have been through a couple over the years. Hurricane Isabel brought sustained 80 mph winds and two feet of rain. All my trees (except anything weighing less than 25 lbs) weathered that storm outside on the ground. No problem. If you get stronger storms, the tree being in the garage may not make any difference. It is what it is...

BC are easy to get out of the ground and can take extreme root reduction when healthy. In the spring, You could also just top it at two feet, put it in a large container and grow it out that way. It will take a bit longer, but it will work.

FWIW, air layering this tree isn't worth the trouble, and will slow you down as much, or more, than a trunk chop. I'd skip it unless you want to spend a few years developing small trees (if your air layers are successful) for use in a BC forest.

I second everything Mr. Moyogi said.
For me I wouldn't move it to a large pot until spring. In winter it has no energy from the leaves the build roots. Touching the roots now just leave injuries that can't heal until spring. BC is hardy so that wouldn't hurt it much but why should we present that risk to the tree. In the spring I would move it to a 55 gal drum cut off bottom or a big mortar mixing tub. I would keep the soil at 6 to 7 inches and keep the roots shallow. I have compared the growth of BCs up to 5" in 55 gal pot vs in the ground and found virtually no difference. The tree in the 55 gal pot has access to less soil but then I can fertilize the heck out of it in a controlled environment. I use Osmocote every 3 weeks and my BCs grow like crazy.

I have air layered many BCs and now won't do it anymore unless the trunk is ginormous and I can get the air layer at the diameter I want. Your 2.5" diameter BC will remain at 2.5" diameter for the year when you air layer because the energy collected by the leaves will be spent on building the roots of the air layer. All the energy the main trunk and roots can get is from the leaves under your air layer. For most BC, that usually doesn't amount to much. In 2019 I air-layered 2 BCs that has 2" diameter base. 2 years later, I now have 4 BCs with 2.5 diameter base. The original trunks and air-layered trunk have grown to be about the same diameter because the original trunks have to build branches to collect energy and the air-layer trunks have to build roots to build the branches. The end result is a one year delay in growth. Had I left the 2 BCs alone and focused on growing them, I would now have two 4" diameter BC that I want. I won't make that mistake again.

I also am guilty of chopping the BC trunk too early. When I chop too early, all I get is delayed growth, a scar, and no trunk taper. The new apex grows so fast that I have zero taper at all. I think I put up a post on this problem some where. From now on, I will not, repeat will not, chop until I get the trunk diameter I want at the base. That has been taught in this forum many times and I was too freakin' hard headed.

 

[AcerAddict]

Taper on a 6" trunk at a finished height of 36" is going to be tricky. At a 24-30" chop height, the trunk might be 4" or so. To get a taper from 4" to basically nothing in a foot is very hard. I might suggest you do two to three chops over a few years to build better taper. Not to discourage you, but going from a 2.5" trunk with little taper to a 6" nicely tapered trunk could take 6-8 years or more.

My MO is usually to go with the survivor, broken-top style. MUCH faster and more consistant with what's found in nature......... and I'm kinda impatient. LOL Actually in our area, there are basically no really old, mature formal upright bald cypress trees. Trees several hundred or a 1000 years old have gone through dozens, if not hundreds of hurricanes and show the scars.

All good points. Having been on the Cape Fear River multiple times, I will say that our cypress trees are all pretty thrashed from decades and centuries of storms here. At least the ones that aren't already totally dead from saltwater intrusion making its way up the river.

The other popular form of BC bonsai is the "immature variant"--a more classical conifer pyramid, the one you prefer. The form is of a younger tree. To get that image will require growing out the tree to thicken the base for a few years, then chopping lower, like a foot to a foot and a half. Then proceeding to build subsequent chops to force taper into the trunk. To be blunt, The tree you have pictured is not all that great of a bonsai. It was a sapling topped and left to grow branches, not much more...

While I do find that tree I posted visually appealing, I also get that it's not a typical method of development for BC bonsai. Just a simple image search for "bald cypress bonsai" shows the overwhelming majority of them end up with the "flat top, post-hurricane" style that is most common.

If this were my tree, I'd plant it in the ground. Let it alone for a few years to bulk up the trunk and root buttress, then collect it. Wouldn't worry about storms. It will probably be fine. I'm not in prime hurricane country, but I and my trees have been through a couple over the years. Hurricane Isabel brought sustained 80 mph winds and two feet of rain. All my trees (except anything weighing less than 25 lbs) weathered that storm outside on the ground. No problem. If you get stronger storms, the tree being in the garage may not make any difference. It is what it is...

BC are easy to get out of the ground and can take extreme root reduction when healthy. In the spring, You could also just top it at two feet, put it in a large container and grow it out that way. It will take a bit longer, but it will work.

Actually now that I think about it some more, if I planted it in the ground and its top got broken off by a storm sometime in the near future, that would actually make for a pretty cool story to tell once it became a bonsai tree. It'd be a perfect example of "life imitating art" and vice-versa. After all, bonsai is an art form that is meant to imitate what happens in nature.

If it is going into the ground, then I'll just go ahead and do that right now. No benefit would come from waiting until spring just to dig a hole and plant it. Might as well let the roots start expanding and stabilizing the tree sooner than later. In our climate here, this tree probably wouldn't even drop leaves for at least another couple months.

FWIW, air layering this tree isn't worth the trouble, and will slow you down as much, or more, than a trunk chop. I'd skip it unless you want to spend a few years developing small trees (if your air layers are successful) for use in a BC forest.

Forgive me if I wasn't clear on my air layering goals. I don't want to layer off a bunch of little branches. I would just do one on the trunk itself in order to end up with two trees that could be developed separately. I do realize that reducing the trunk height this way as opposed to straight chopping it would in essence cost me a year of development or more. With that in mind, I have to decide if setting back development is worth the relatively small amount of money I would save by ending up with two trees for the price of one. I don't really think it is. I'd rather just go buy another tree and not lose the time growing the one I've already got.

I have air layered many BCs and now won't do it anymore unless the trunk is ginormous and I can get the air layer at the diameter I want. Your 2.5" diameter BC will remain at 2.5" diameter for the year when you air layer because the energy collected by the leaves will be spent on building the roots of the air layer. All the energy the main trunk and roots can get is from the leaves under your air layer. For most BC, that usually doesn't amount to much. In 2019 I air-layered 2 BCs that has 2" diameter base. 2 years later, I now have 4 BCs with 2.5 diameter base. The original trunks and air-layered trunk have grown to be about the same diameter because the original trunks have to build branches to collect energy and the air-layer trunks have to build roots to build the branches. The end result is a one year delay in growth. Had I left the 2 BCs alone and focused on growing them, I would now have two 4" diameter BC that I want. I won't make that mistake again.

Yeah, air layering the trunk doesn't seem to have the same appeal now as it did when I first bought the tree. It's not like I'd be saving $1,000 by turning one tree into two. It's closer to $50 or $75. A year of development time is not worth that small amount of money.


So then, into the ground it goes!

 

[Cajunrider]

All good points. Having been on the Cape Fear River multiple times, I will say that our cypress trees are all pretty thrashed from decades and centuries of storms here. At least the ones that aren't already totally dead from saltwater intrusion making its way up the river.


While I do find that tree I posted visually appealing, I also get that it's not a typical method of development for BC bonsai. Just a simple image search for "bald cypress bonsai" shows the overwhelming majority of them end up with the "flat top, post-hurricane" style that is most common.


Actually now that I think about it some more, if I planted it in the ground and its top got broken off by a storm sometime in the near future, that would actually make for a pretty cool story to tell once it became a bonsai tree. It'd be a perfect example of "life imitating art" and vice-versa. After all, bonsai is an art form that is meant to imitate what happens in nature.

If it is going into the ground, then I'll just go ahead and do that right now. No benefit would come from waiting until spring just to dig a hole and plant it. Might as well let the roots start expanding and stabilizing the tree sooner than later. In our climate here, this tree probably wouldn't even drop leaves for at least another couple months.


Forgive me if I wasn't clear on my air layering goals. I don't want to layer off a bunch of little branches. I would just do one on the trunk itself in order to end up with two trees that could be developed separately. I do realize that reducing the trunk height this way as opposed to straight chopping it would in essence cost me a year of development or more. With that in mind, I have to decide if setting back development is worth the relatively small amount of money I would save by ending up with two trees for the price of one. I don't really think it is. I'd rather just go buy another tree and spend the time on growing the one I've already got.


Yeah, air layering the trunk doesn't seem to have the same appeal now as it did when I first bought the tree. It's not like I'd be saving $1,000 by turning one tree into two. It's closer to $50 or $75. A year of development time is not worth that small amount of money.


So then, into the ground it goes!

Yeah. If you go into the ground, right now is a good time. Big difference in soil temperature in the winter when going into ground vs. being in pot.

 

[rockm]

All good points. Having been on the Cape Fear River multiple times, I will say that our cypress trees are all pretty thrashed from decades and centuries of storms here. At least the ones that aren't already totally dead from saltwater intrusion making its way up the river.


While I do find that tree I posted visually appealing, I also get that it's not a typical method of development for BC bonsai. Just a simple image search for "bald cypress bonsai" shows the overwhelming majority of them end up with the "flat top, post-hurricane" style that is most common.


Actually now that I think about it some more, if I planted it in the ground and its top got broken off by a storm sometime in the near future, that would actually make for a pretty cool story to tell once it became a bonsai tree. It'd be a perfect example of "life imitating art" and vice-versa. After all, bonsai is an art form that is meant to imitate what happens in nature.

If it is going into the ground, then I'll just go ahead and do that right now. No benefit would come from waiting until spring just to dig a hole and plant it. Might as well let the roots start expanding and stabilizing the tree sooner than later. In our climate here, this tree probably wouldn't even drop leaves for at least another couple months.


Forgive me if I wasn't clear on my air layering goals. I don't want to layer off a bunch of little branches. I would just do one on the trunk itself in order to end up with two trees that could be developed separately. I do realize that reducing the trunk height this way as opposed to straight chopping it would in essence cost me a year of development or more. With that in mind, I have to decide if setting back development is worth the relatively small amount of money I would save by ending up with two trees for the price of one. I don't really think it is. I'd rather just go buy another tree and spend the time on growing the one I've already got.


Yeah, air layering the trunk doesn't seem to have the same appeal now as it did when I first bought the tree. It's not like I'd be saving $1,000 by turning one tree into two. It's closer to $50 or $75. A year of development time is not worth that small amount of money.


So then, into the ground it goes!

BC bonsai have become the signature tree of the Southeastern U.S. Flat tops are common because the people making BC bonsai know how BC develop. That's only happened in the last decade or so. Before that the "immature variant" was more common. Guy Guidry's BIG BC at the national arb was developed in that immature variant style.

However, Vaughn Banting, who Guy worked with, set the bar for BC bonsai with his flat top. It was a bit controversial at the time, because a lot of people outside of the S.E. U.S. and the BC's native range, thought it looked strange. But to those in the region, Banting's tree was spot on accurate. Gary Marchal and a few others turned out excellent BC bonsai in all forms for years. Flat tops have become the "go to" for BC, because of the history and long lean trunks that sometimes come with newly-collected trees.

As for air layering, I know you meant the trunk. It's not worth the time or effort. Not interesting and will produce alot of not interesting trees...Air layering to "get two trees from one" is NOT a reason to waste a year in developing the main tree. Just go get another one. That will have a better root system and flare already in place.

Gary Marchal

Gary Marchal

I somehow missed this, but I just found out that we've lost a pillar in the bonsai community this past February. I didn't know him personally, but I met him a couple of times and always held him and his work in very high regard. Here on the Gulf Coast, as a student of Vaughn Banting, he was an...

www.bonsainut.com

 

[penumbra]

Interesting thread with lots of good advice to take to heart with my own BCs.