Emanon
Mame
Hi! I was hoping to get some advice on where to cut a trunk (or how to style a tree) and overcome an initial, ugly, cut that I made before I had even the slightest idea what I was doing. (Just to clarify: I still don't have the slightest idea 
...) The tree is a giant sequoia or Sequoiadendron giganteum (SG).
And/or more urgently, I was hoping someone might be able to share pictures (from "nature" or of bonsai, but preferably from nature) of a SG tree that is NOT in the formal upright style. I was really hoping to find pictures of a SG (i.e. not Dawn or Coast redwood), even though I realize pictures of other trees might be helpful to others reading this thread.
More info: This is the first tree I ever had custody of. Because it was my first -- and because I moved outside of its natural range -- I think I've been more hesitant or conservative with it. It is obviously a "stick in a pot" and I've done little to it other than try to keep it alive. I've never wired it. When I chopped off the top half of the tree almost 3 years ago, I cut back to a branch that had already lignified and I made no attempt to turn the branch/new apex any further vertical.
This tree is now just under 8 years old. It has been slow growing but I've always kept it in smaller bonsai pots until last year, when I moved it to this larger training pot. And I've root pruned it every year, significantly... For the first time, in an attempt to thicken it up, I plan on letting it sit for at least this year and next before repotting.
I could obviously cut below my initial cut and just start over with creating a formal upright. There is little taper to the trunk right now below the initial cut, so the tree would definitely benefit from this. (Then again, SG's in nature don't show much taper in my opinion.) However, I have only a dozen or so trees right now and one of my other trees is a SG that has already been styled as a formal upright. For this reason, and the fact that this tree has already been butchered as it has, I've been considering turning this into something else. But what is possible with a SG?
I no longer live near any, so I can't easily go out looking specifically for a SG tree that is not straight up and down. I've also been unsuccessful finding anything other than formal upright SG's via a Google image search (I'm actually more familiar with Bing and use this). I would really appreciate any help or advice or pictures from nature (of bent SG trees) for inspiration. Thank you!
The first picture is of the front as I always imagined it. When I first received the tree years ago it had a pseudo or faux "goosepen" at the base. However, after I fixed the roots the trunk has fused, leaving just a cleft. It is still the best side at the base. After where I cut the tree there is a whorl with three extending branches. (I tried to highlight this in the second picture.) If I don't chop below the initial cut, and I continue to let it grow this year and next, I was thinking I should at least cut two of the three branches off here. Which one I leave as the new leader would be influenced by how far from a formal upright I think I can go with a SG. I also included a picture of the tree from another angle to that highlights the initial cut and whorl differently.
...) The tree is a giant sequoia or Sequoiadendron giganteum (SG). And/or more urgently, I was hoping someone might be able to share pictures (from "nature" or of bonsai, but preferably from nature) of a SG tree that is NOT in the formal upright style. I was really hoping to find pictures of a SG (i.e. not Dawn or Coast redwood), even though I realize pictures of other trees might be helpful to others reading this thread.
More info: This is the first tree I ever had custody of. Because it was my first -- and because I moved outside of its natural range -- I think I've been more hesitant or conservative with it. It is obviously a "stick in a pot" and I've done little to it other than try to keep it alive. I've never wired it. When I chopped off the top half of the tree almost 3 years ago, I cut back to a branch that had already lignified and I made no attempt to turn the branch/new apex any further vertical.
This tree is now just under 8 years old. It has been slow growing but I've always kept it in smaller bonsai pots until last year, when I moved it to this larger training pot. And I've root pruned it every year, significantly... For the first time, in an attempt to thicken it up, I plan on letting it sit for at least this year and next before repotting.
I could obviously cut below my initial cut and just start over with creating a formal upright. There is little taper to the trunk right now below the initial cut, so the tree would definitely benefit from this. (Then again, SG's in nature don't show much taper in my opinion.) However, I have only a dozen or so trees right now and one of my other trees is a SG that has already been styled as a formal upright. For this reason, and the fact that this tree has already been butchered as it has, I've been considering turning this into something else. But what is possible with a SG?
I no longer live near any, so I can't easily go out looking specifically for a SG tree that is not straight up and down. I've also been unsuccessful finding anything other than formal upright SG's via a Google image search (I'm actually more familiar with Bing and use this). I would really appreciate any help or advice or pictures from nature (of bent SG trees) for inspiration. Thank you!
The first picture is of the front as I always imagined it. When I first received the tree years ago it had a pseudo or faux "goosepen" at the base. However, after I fixed the roots the trunk has fused, leaving just a cleft. It is still the best side at the base. After where I cut the tree there is a whorl with three extending branches. (I tried to highlight this in the second picture.) If I don't chop below the initial cut, and I continue to let it grow this year and next, I was thinking I should at least cut two of the three branches off here. Which one I leave as the new leader would be influenced by how far from a formal upright I think I can go with a SG. I also included a picture of the tree from another angle to that highlights the initial cut and whorl differently.
But, thanks for reminding me of your thread! I remember reading this and it gave me more confidence to keep cutting the roots back drastically. Seeing it now gives me pause thinking ahead to next winter and my decision to leave the roots alone (in an attempt to put some size on the tree). If I do this I don't foresee that the tree will become root-bound because of the bigger pot that I have it in now. However, cutting the roots back every year does seem to rejuvenate them (and the tree?). That is to say, every year when I repot, the roots are now all a huge mass of fresh looking white (close to 100% fine feeder roots that I consider active). It's been this way for years. In those years when I've been more conservative cutting back the roots I get relatively less white, fine feeder root growth. When I first received this tree though the roots were predominately black (read: dead or dying). [Unfortunately I don't have any good pictures of the bare roots from that first year or two. There's a picture above in posting #11 though of the tree in a subsequent year where it still has some of those black roots.] It took me a few years to get rid of the black roots completely.
