pandacular
Omono
ah, so it will be more like a shari than a healed over wound. Will you treat it to prevent it from rolling over?
Cjr Bald Cypress 2022
- Thread starter Cajunrider
- Start date
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
No. The more it rolls over the better.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
I figure it will take me quite a bit more time to shape the trunks to show more taper. Time to sharpen my carving chisels. I am still not sure how I plan to hollow out the center yet. In all likelihood, I will leave it alone until the tree recovers from the drastic change and let time work on the trunk. After this round of carving, I might give it a coat of linseed oil to help the tree retain trunk moisture until it stabilizes.
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Maiden69
Masterpiece
A little late, but following along the line of the conversation on the other thread... I would chop the hell out of it, and use those two branches for the final design... but I would wait till spring to do so to recover as much energy as possible so you can continue the taper transition. I don't know if it would work now with the carving you just did. That would allow you to place it in a smaller pot and make it look more impressive. I think that a tall carved tree looses visual impact
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
I changed my mind and went with a twin trunk carved bonsai. If the twin trunk doesn't work out, I will chop further. I am looking for another candidate to do the sumo. All my BCs are quaking their fronds right now. What happened was that I pulled some soil away to show the flare and found it to be good and gentle, not the in-your-face flare I want for the sumo. So I went for the more feminine design of a twin trunk instead.
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Maiden69
Masterpiece
No worries, I was working on a twin trunk with my seedlings from 2021, it perished this year with the frost... In two years that the seedlings were planted together there was still a clear definition between them, so I think a twin from the same tree would be the way to go.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
This twin trunk from the international bonsai forum years ago is my inspiration. I still have a way to go with my top development namely bud selection and carving to get there. I think my base is decent enough. I kept the side branches at the top of each trunk now for foliage. They will likely be chopped once a good shoot show up near the top of each trunk.
@AlainK should remember the twin trunk in the picture below.
Maiden69
Masterpiece
That one seems to either be two trees that were brought together or a collected tree given the healed over bark on the smaller tree and the definite taper on the larger one. Not going to be easy to pull off that nice but I think it is doable.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
I traced back the discussion thread on that tree.
"The trunk was carved in 1998, it was a tree that was collected in 1994 or 1995 and was about 20 to 30 feet tall. The top of the stump was to large to make a convincing transition so I decided to make it a twin trunk style."
Twin Trunk Bald Cypress - Page 2
Jeremy, Thank You very much for your kind words. Jay, Thank You. The trunk was carved in 1998, it was a tree that was collected in 1994 or 1995 and was about 20
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Maiden69
Masterpiece
I see now, it is an illusion from the planted position. I guess the callous grown over almost 30 years makes it look convincing. You definitely have a lot more carving to do. I would also use Cut Paste green lid and seal the cambium all the way around to help it roll in faster.
pandacular
Omono
an expensive cut paste job!
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Lunch time work. After carving the task at hand is to keep the carved trunks from drying out in the heat.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Initial carving done. Trunk will be sealed with boiled linseed oil to prevent rapid drying of the trunk until the tree accommodate the major trunk mass loss.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Not quite as much as you think. The picture from a different angle showed that my carving up to now is right on point. So far the tree shows no sign of dying. The next 4 weeks will show how it responds to all the injuries I inflict.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
This tree has been sulking since early August. There has been practically no growth for 2.5 months. The other BC that was splitted two weeks later than this is growing like mad but this one is in stasis. It is green and alive but growth is minimal.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
20240320 update
Lots of healthy fast growing buds down below. I will keep them to help the tree recover.
The two split trunks still want to come together. A small piece of wood to separate them is still needed until the trunk establish themselves.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Today the apex of each trunk was chopped off and replaced with a new vertical shoot.
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
The progression of the apex of this tree is an excellent example of how we can keep an old branch of a BC as a temporary apex for a year or two while the tree recovers from our shaping of the trunk. Once the tree recovers, an appropriate shoot at the base of the old branch can be promoted to be the apex and the old branch with odd angle can be pruned off.
