How to make a thick trunk in mame/shohin bonsai ?

[Njyamadori]

For a long time I have been seeing maples and pines with thick trunks that are mame or shohin sized. How do I make that ?

 

[Kudo]

Usually the same way bigger bonsai trunks with tapper are developed: let it grow until it thickens to the desired size and chop to select the new leader. Repeat this process until desired taper is achieved. The shohin/mame might be a little more tricky because you must have very lower buds to select a new leader otherwise your trunk won't have taper. For small sizes it is also common to wire a seedling before the trunk thickening process and apply severe bends to create trunk movement.

 

[Kudo]

Here is a nice video Bjorn Bjorholm explain the wiring and bending to create future shohin juniper bonsai:

 

[Njyamadori]

Here is a nice video Bjorn Bjorholm explain the wiring and bending to create future shohin juniper bonsai:

Thanks so much and I will watch the video since I watched the second part of the juniper videos ! I’m starting maples from seed and I’m hoping I can have something nice in 15 years

 

[TN_Jim]

put it in a big pot or in the ground, grow the leader out, cut heal repeat, develop bones, select branches -years here...annual cuts = healthy plant (no refinement techniques aside from core branch movements)

trees in a bonsai pot can slow to watching stone weather. my comments are for making branches and growing cut trunks forced into new leading trunks.

sure, tree trunks will grow bigger to some degree with time and any methodology, get a trunk size you want now and grow the branches; otherwise, reduce them over time without compromising the health of the plant...or grow a sapling

 

[Alain BERTRAND]

I have visited a Japanese grower specialized in shohin trees (he had but no choice because he had almost no land). Most, but not all, of his stuff were from air layers.

 

[Adair M]

Look at Brian Van Fleet’s thread: “Sumo for Smoke” (or something like that). He has documented his development of his trident sumo. He also has a blog where he details how he develops his trees. I highly recommend him. He has excellent photographs and describes what he does extremely well.

 

[MrWunderful]

Start off with great nebari through airlayer/seedling cutting, allow to ground grow for a few years after putting aggressive movement in the lowest part of the whip.

Then its all about yearly chops while caring for the wounds so they heal properly. 5-15 years later you start growing most of the branches.

If you are super interested in maples, get this book:



This is the maple bible.

 

[Attmos]

5-15 years later you start growing most of the branches.

At 50 years old, I feel like I began this hobby about 30 years too late.