BonsaiWilderness
Sapling
Does anyone know about fusing saplings to make a larger trunk on your bonsai? I recently read about it, is it true? if so how do you do it?
Fusing saplings
- Thread starter BonsaiWilderness
- Start date
BonsaiDTLA
Shohin
Yes it is true
Here's a really good article from one BNut member @Smoke
bonsaial.wordpress.com
Here's a really good article from one BNut member @Smoke
Trident Maple 021
This tree was put together for a project I have wanted to do for a long time. The idea started in 2011 out of a need for maple stock in a spreading oak tree style. After searching in vain for that …
bonsaial.wordpress.com
BrianBay9
Masterpiece
Ficus microcarpa easily fuse. Just bind several trunks tightly together with zip ties or raffia and let them grow for a year or so.
It “can” be done. Some species fuse more readily than others.
But...
(There’s always a “But”. Lol!!!)
Ive seen many attempts. I’ve never seen a finished product I’d care to own. Perhaps the “best” one I’ve seen was for sale that the ABS convention up near Baltimore about 5 years ago. It was a trident maple fusion made from about 30seedlings firmed around a cone. The seedlings had been kinda twisted into a spiral formation. The cone base made the taper look very uniform. But what was worse is they, the seedlings, were... seedlings. Which meant they all had slightly different leaf shapes, colors, and sizes. The fusing was mostly complete, but the Trunk was very bumpy and uneven, with different bark colors, and textures.
All in all, it looked like a Frankenstein tree.
I do not recommend that approach.
However...
There is a method that yield nice “clump” style bonsai! Much easier to achieve, too! The basic concept is to take 5 to 9 seedlings, bind them together at the nebari, and let them fuse there at the nebari. In a decade or so, you can make a nice clump. It’s even better if instead of seedlings, you start with trees that began as cuttings from a single tree. That way they have the same genetics, and will make a more consistent canopy.
Bjorn made a couple if YouTube videos on the process. Check them out:
Thanks for posting this.Yes it is true
Here's a really good article from one BNut member @Smoke
Trident Maple 021
This tree was put together for a project I have wanted to do for a long time. The idea started in 2011 out of a need for maple stock in a spreading oak tree style. After searching in vain for that …
Again, my position that all the work that was done did not yield a tree that made it worth the trouble. Tridents grow fast. It would have been easier, faster, and better just to take a trident, feed it heavily, and let it grow, and cut back, grow and cut back to build a good trunk.
I’m glad Smoke went to all the trouble to experiment with the technique. He’s pretty skilled, but if that’s what he created after all that effort... well, it just shows that there are better ways.
Woocash
Omono
I agree it’s not likely to win any prizes, but I like it. You are right though, lots of effort for a minimal gain, if any. I wonder if it would work better for creating thicker trunks on species which take much longer to beef up. I mean junipers or beech, for example.
BrianBay9
Masterpiece
This is why I think Ficus is a better choice for fused trunks. They already have aerial roots, discontinuities in the trunk, etc that make the fused trunks less objectionable. When used for a tree that you expect a uniform trunk (trident maple) Adair is right, it always looks wrong. Use the technique for ficus, maybe olive.
I have no idea how well olives fuse, but they root so easily, it would be far better to airlayer, or heck, just make a cutting! I mean, you can make a cutting of any size olive branch!
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
Would any one wish to take a stab of what the gain was for me???
HorseloverFat
Squarepants with Conkers
I was going to mention Smoke’s fusion experiments.. the “in-a-hole” project. Ect..
But I see it has been mentioned.. good!
Next I was thinking of Bjorns specimen/correlating video of how to create such specimens..
But I see it has been mentioned.. good!
I really enjoy the appearance of fusion projects, and believe that they yield different growth parameters/characteristics not quite available other ways, and, personally, believe that it would be worth a shot.
I am forced to conjure up images of interesting fusions i’ve noticed in the wild.. and birch comes to mind almost immediately.... I think I’d like to try (sometime)... I also believe there is a Sid Pavey video detailing such an operation.
Ah! There “she blows”
But I see it has been mentioned.. good!
Next I was thinking of Bjorns specimen/correlating video of how to create such specimens..
But I see it has been mentioned.. good!
I really enjoy the appearance of fusion projects, and believe that they yield different growth parameters/characteristics not quite available other ways, and, personally, believe that it would be worth a shot.
I am forced to conjure up images of interesting fusions i’ve noticed in the wild.. and birch comes to mind almost immediately.... I think I’d like to try (sometime)... I also believe there is a Sid Pavey video detailing such an operation.
Ah! There “she blows”
HorseloverFat
Squarepants with Conkers
Silentrunning
Chumono
BrianBay9
Masterpiece
True enough.
Smoke
Ignore-Amus
It's not worth the time to field a bunch of guesses, so I'll just say that this project was a means to an end. The end was not to have a masterpiece tree, it was not even to have a fat trunk, it was to make a tree that fit an image that I had of what a real maple should look like. I have about 30 maples that look like this:
Pointy topped moyogi styled trunks with green pyramid tops on them. There are about 50,000 of those trees around the world. Everyone has one. They are a dime a dozen. For me, I looked for a couple years and looked and looked. I could not find one grower that was growing tridents in a spreading oak style. I wanted a tree that looked like the way a maple tree grows. This is what a full grown trident maple looks like:
That is more or less what I wanted to do. Make a single rather straight trunked maple with a rounded canopy, a little more stylized since it is "bonsai" and be happy with that. I think it turned out pretty good. Anyone, please show me any pictures of anyone growing trident maples in this style for sale, I am very interested.
Pointy topped moyogi styled trunks with green pyramid tops on them. There are about 50,000 of those trees around the world. Everyone has one. They are a dime a dozen. For me, I looked for a couple years and looked and looked. I could not find one grower that was growing tridents in a spreading oak style. I wanted a tree that looked like the way a maple tree grows. This is what a full grown trident maple looks like:
That is more or less what I wanted to do. Make a single rather straight trunked maple with a rounded canopy, a little more stylized since it is "bonsai" and be happy with that. I think it turned out pretty good. Anyone, please show me any pictures of anyone growing trident maples in this style for sale, I am very interested.
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
Amazing how much more interesting and "deciduous tree-like" this trident is, compared to the other ones. I think it turned out quite well. Has the look of an old giant that has seen some things over the years.
HorseloverFat
Squarepants with Conkers
Smoke, that tree you were trying to emulate looks more like a “loose broom” style tree than anything else.
I had a bunch of red maples in my front yard that looked very much like that tree. “Loose broom” is very appropriate because the branches were all very weak, and every winter the strong winds would break a number of branches. They were constantly dropping limbs and branches.
I also had a couple bloodgood Japanese maples. They did not drop their branches like the Acer rubrums did. Their growth habit was much lower, and more sprawling than the red maples.
So, not all maples have the same growth habits.
HorseloverFat
Squarepants with Conkers
Mikecheck123
Omono
One tip I've now learned the hard way: use some kind of wrap and not just wire. Because the wire will simply cut in. I've seen people recommend "vet wrap" tape, but I haven't used it myself.
Similar threads
