Dawn redwood

[c54fun]

Thought I would post some pictures of my dawn redwood. I'm trying to learn how to make trees look a little more natural. For me I just want to remove every branch and then wire only the exact one I want. This is fine but I tend to really like the trees that look more natural like @Walter Pall often posts. You know his trees have a ton of work into them but they don't really look like it. Personally I love the looks of his trees and this year I am going to try and learn how to make my trees look a little more natural. I'm sure it takes years and years to learn how to do this but it will be fun to try.

This redwood to me looks somewhat natural and less refined. I resisted the urge to remove all the branches that went in every direction. Just work it a small amount trying for a more natural look. I'm going to try this with several of my trees and see how it goes. When the tree was bare it drove me crazy to see branches going in every direction but after it has grown out some its looking better and better. Maybe after a few years of this it will be the way I want it. Absolutely love the color of this trunk.

Resisting the urge to turn this into my limited skill set Japanese dawn redwood something or another.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

For starters, what kind of "natural" style are you going for? I started to write up a long post assuming you were going to style it like a coast redwood, since that is a species I am very familiar with. Dawn redwood is a much smaller tree that looks much more like a standard conifer.

 

[c54fun]

For starters, what kind of "natural" style are you going for? I started to write up a long post assuming you were going to style it like a coast redwood, since that is a species I am very familiar with. Dawn redwood is a much smaller tree that looks much more like a standard conifer.

Just a general more natural look. Nothing specific. Less refined would be a better word.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I think you need to do start with some general branch clean-up. Eliminate all branches that are growing straight up or straight down, and any that cross in front of the trunk. Then eliminate any branch below your primary branch (ie lower than 1/3 of the way up the trunk).



Consider these redwood silhouettes as inspiration for where you might want to go with your design:



Note how the foliage is clustered in the top 50% of the tree, which gives a feeling of age and height. Also note that they don't as a rule have a triangular foliage outline (widest at the bottom of the tree). They tend to be more spear-shaped, with small weaker branches at the bottom and the strongest branches somewhere in the middle.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

For example... Right now it looks like a shaggy mop, but with detailed wiring and laying out the foliage into pads I think you could go a long way towards making it a more believable redwood.

 

[c54fun]

I googled dawn redwood trees and clicked images. 99% have a triangle to pear shape. I'm sure i'll figure something out.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Since dawn redwoods were introduced to western science only after WWII, there are zero trees over 100 years old outside of China. Unless you find photos of old growth taken in China, we really don't have a good representation of what a natural old growth dawn redwood looks like.

I would only be guessing.

 

[rockm]

Thought I would post some pictures of my dawn redwood. I'm trying to learn how to make trees look a little more natural. For me I just want to remove every branch and then wire only the exact one I want. This is fine but I tend to really like the trees that look more natural like @Walter Pall often posts. You know his trees have a ton of work into them but they don't really look like it. Personally I love the looks of his trees and this year I am going to try and learn how to make my trees look a little more natural. I'm sure it takes years and years to learn how to do this but it will be fun to try.

This redwood to me looks somewhat natural and less refined. I resisted the urge to remove all the branches that went in every direction. Just work it a small amount trying for a more natural look. I'm going to try this with several of my trees and see how it goes. When the tree was bare it drove me crazy to see branches going in every direction but after it has grown out some its looking better and better. Maybe after a few years of this it will be the way I want it. Absolutely love the color of this trunk.

Resisting the urge to turn this into my limited skill set Japanese dawn redwood something or another.
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the idea that more natural looking trees should have branching that is allowed to run at will is not natural. With "natural" trees, the rules can be even stricter. The branching on this is simply confusing and distracting. The sudden emergence of large branches that zoom off in random directions is not natural looking.

I would definitely take 'Nut's advise on where to make some cuts.