The fastest way to develop deciduous bonsai: Walter Pall's hedge pruning method explained

[Rafael Najmanovich]

The fastest way to develop deciduous bonsai: Walter Pall's hedge pruning technique explained! New video. Postscript note to the video by @Walter Pall : "I would like to add that, yes it is for developing trees. I personally have only trees in development. So I use this method on ALL of my broadleaved trees. I found that it also works well on many conifers. One drawback is that the tree only looks good in winter when it is in storage usually. But you can improve the quality so much more than with orthodox methods. A method should never be assessed according to what you know already, what is common knowledge. a method should only be measured by long term results. Who has the better trees in the long run has the better method."

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Good video, and great looking trees from what I can see down low. Any idea if the technique would work well with Tsuga canadensis? Mine shows vigor, but not quite on the level as that of a deciduous tree. And the timing becomes more critical if won’t grow out multiple times within a growing season.

 

[Rafael Najmanovich]

Good video, and great looking trees from what I can see down low. Any idea if the technique would work well with Tsuga canadensis? Mine shows vigor, but not quite on the level as that of a deciduous tree. And the timing becomes more critical if won’t grow out multiple times within a growing season.

Hey, thanks for the comments. As far as my current knowledge goes, I can't tell if it would work with Thug canadensis. If you happen to have buds in the interior it would probably stimulate those to grow. If there aren't any buds already, there is probably a slim, slim chance that the removal of the auxin on tip could stimulate back budding but perhaps the bigger chance is that you'll end up loosing that branch in a year or two once the remaining needles dry out. I really don't know yet. For sure this technique would work on larch, thuja and junipers as long as the pruning is restricted to existing foliage.

 

[Smoke]

This is not the hedge pruning technique. You are just pruning long growth. You are defeating the purpose of hedge pruning and the shape can never be established pruning only long growth. I have been using this technique on my maples before even Walter talked about it. When I hedge I literally "hedge" the tree into a finished shape.

I feel this video needs a script. I want to say the words before you even think about them....

 

[Rafael Najmanovich]

Sorry. This what hedge pruning is, let it grow, harden, cut to silhouette. Gardeners have been stabilising the shape of hedges for centuries like that, no Japanese secret mysteries involved. As you can see I am incredibly natural in front of the camera

 

[Saddler]

This doesn’t seem like anything WP describes. From his website

“In Central European climate about six to eight weeks after the first flush, in our area from the middle of May to the beginning of June, the tree is then cut back with big sheers to its previous silhouette. It is irrelevant where exactly it is being cut, or if any leaves are cut. This actually ought to occur as a partial leave pruning will allow light and air into the crown of the tree. All other growth inside the silhouette is not touched but strengthened with this method.”

Refurbishing a Japanese maple - the "hedge cutting method"

translated from German into English by Michael Eckardt , President Kitchener-Waterloo Bonsai Society Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Refurbis...

walter-pall-bonsai.blogspot.com

Have you worked with WP and observed his method?

You took what seemed like forever on a task that should take only a couple minutes, as per WP, who said it when I asked him about his cutting instrument.

 

[Paulpash]

But @Walter Pall explains it so clearly in his original article you'd have to be a bit of a Muppet not to understand it. There's even a 'paint by numbers' progressive series of pictures of a clump style maple for those that can't read lol!

 

[just.wing.it]

This is not the hedge pruning technique. You are just pruning long growth. You are defeating the purpose of hedge pruning and the shape can never be established pruning only long growth. I have been using this technique on my maples before even Walter talked about it. When I hedge I literally "hedge" the tree into a finished shape.

I feel this video needs a script. I want to say the words before you even think about them....

I think this thread may have a script...
Must be deja vu.....

 

[Rafael Najmanovich]

This doesn’t seem like anything WP describes. From his website

“In Central European climate about six to eight weeks after the first flush, in our area from the middle of May to the beginning of June, the tree is then cut back with big sheers to its previous silhouette. It is irrelevant where exactly it is being cut, or if any leaves are cut. This actually ought to occur as a partial leave pruning will allow light and air into the crown of the tree. All other growth inside the silhouette is not touched but strengthened with this method.”

Refurbishing a Japanese maple - the "hedge cutting method"

translated from German into English by Michael Eckardt , President Kitchener-Waterloo Bonsai Society Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Refurbis...

walter-pall-bonsai.blogspot.com

Have you worked with WP and observed his method?

You took what seemed like forever on a task that should take only a couple minutes, as per WP, who said it when I asked him about his cutting instrument.

I work twice a year with WP, he also saw the video before it was published. A bit of logic thinking here: "It is irrelevant" means that if I had wished to cut the last leaf on each branch in the shape of a pink elephant it would have been the hedge pruning method too. True, I didn't simply take the long garden shears and prune wherever, I could have. but I preferred to cut always leaving a stub to the closest pair of leafs I wanted to leave, which I wanted to leave intact. Would it have made a difference? probably not. could it have been better? In some of the trees maybe a bit more light and air could help, in others not.

 

[Rafael Najmanovich]

But @Walter Pall explains it so clearly in his original article you'd have to be a bit of a Muppet not to understand it. There's even a 'paint by numbers' progressive series of pictures of a clump style maple for those that can't read lol!

Very true, Walter explains it very clearly, and still people don't understand, that is why I felt that my video is still relevant. If you have deciduous trees in development in your collection and haven't performed this technique yet my video did its job in two out of four possibilities: 1. either you didn't know about it, 2. didn't understand it despite being very clearly written, - but there are two other options where I can't help: 3. you choose deliberately to slow down the development of your trees or 4. don't believe it despite seeing the results Walter gets...

 

[MrFancyPlants]

While not exactly the way Walter does it, Walter emphasizes that he has so much good material to deal with, (I don’t doubt it) that expediency is a priority. Those who aren’t professional can take more care(whether it helps or not) when placing our cuts and still claim the same technique.. to let it extend and cut it back multiple times in a season.
To the OP, for deciduous like maple or elm, when is the last pruning and branch selection timed? Any time after the leaves fall off, but before dormancy? After dormancy? I’m not sure why, but I am hesitant to prune after dormancy because I feel there isn’t a chance to heal after the metabolism slows down.

 

[Smoke]

“In Central European climate about six to eight weeks after the first flush, in our area from the middle of May to the beginning of June, the tree is then cut back with big sheers to its previous silhouette. It is irrelevant where exactly it is being cut, or if any leaves are cut. This actually ought to occur as a partial leave pruning will allow light and air into the crown of the tree. All other growth inside the silhouette is not touched but strengthened with this method.”

Thank you. This is exactly what hedge pruning is. Actually it is not a training exercise at all. It should only be performed on trees that have a set branch structure already and are ready to be finely ramified.

 

[cmeg1]

Great Video!
I’m going to HEDGE THIS with A LOT of fertilizer...
I don’t care what anyone thinks

 

[sorce]

Thank you. This is exactly what hedge pruning is. Actually it is not a training exercise at all. It should only be performed on trees that have a set branch structure already and are ready to be finely ramified.

View attachment 250780View attachment 250781View attachment 250782

Stop it!

Sorce

 

[leatherback]

I’m going to HEDGE THIS with A LOT of fertilizer...

That will never be a realistic broome with hedging. I do not think this will work. You have the wrong species AND you are not repotting in summer. Nah.

 

[cmeg1]

That will never be a realistic broome with hedging. I do not think this will work. You have the wrong species AND you are not repotting in summer. Nah.

WAIT! I thought this was a Pine tree.Can you repot Pines in Summer?

 

[leatherback]

WAIT! I thought this was a Pine tree.Can you repot Pines in Summer?

Only if the moon is full I think.

 

[Lazylightningny]

 

[Smoke]

Stop it!

Sorce

Can't do it. You have been here 9 years and have failed to show "one" bonsai yet. What the hell is the problem?

I have now tagged you AOC of BN!

 

[Smoke]

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, like a fine wine?

More like whine.....