Alaskan Yellow Cedar

I had the pleasure of participating in Dan Robinson's workshop on Alaskan Yellow Cedar a few weeks ago at the Visions of the American West convention in Denver.  Enrolling in this workshop was a bit risky since I wasn't familiar with this species, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to work with Dan.  The taxonomy of the Alaskan Yellow Cedar is seemingly ever changing as described here.  In fact, its Latin name was changed yet again as recently as 2002.  Dan digs these from an alpine bog on Vancouver Island, where the acidity level of the soil is so high, it's hard to imagine life existing at all.  Along with each workshop tree, we were given a portion of the trunk to determine the age of the tree.  These trees continually layered, producing new roots as the ground level raised, so each had a portion of the trunk that was underground.  The growth rate is so slow, I will need to have this examined microscopically.  He estimated the age of his demonstration tree at 600 years. 

I did not capture photos of the other trees from the workshop, but most were slanted without much movement in the trunk line.  Dan mentioned that he was tempted to air layer many of these trees since the tops had such interesting deadwood and the many of the trunks lacked taper.  The tree I chose was the only one that was relatively columnar, but yet, it seemed to have some movement in the trunk when viewing from a certain angle.  Most of the four hour workshop was spent on carving using a Mikita die grinder - Dan's weapon of choice.  I spent the last half hour or so wiring the foliage.  Dan and I disagreed somewhat on the front, as he felt it was best to expose as many gnarled dead branches as possible, whereas, I preferred to expose the most trunk movement and taper, as seen here...

Many older trees, especially yamadori, have a main point of interest.  As bonsai artists, it is our objective to first see this, but then also to accentuate and draw focus to it.  This tree on the other hand seems to have many areas of interest, from its hollow trunk, to the gnarly jin at the base, which at one point was a root, to the intense dead, gnarled branches, to the beautiful array of colors seen when exposing the inner bark.

The tree seems to be adjusting fine to Nebraska, despite our very hot and humid conditions as of late.  It will be interesting to see how the tree reacts to transplanting and adjusting to a less acidic soil.  More photos of the convention and workshops, including some of myself and Dan working on this tree can be found here.

Larch Hybrid

This collected larch came to me from Alan Adair.  A Japanese/American hybrid.  This is the only photo I could locate of the tree at the time of purchase.

Last spring, I changed the planting angle to expose less surface roots and began the makings of a semi-cascade style bonsai.  I wired it this past week.  The base has definite interest, but so does the trunk that seemingly twists towards the sun.  I believe you can appreciate both with the new front.

Kifu Korean Hornbeam

This is one of two yamadori Hornbeams that I picked up last spring. Both are Kifu size, but I plan to shorten the other to create a smaller, shohin package. Both were left to grow freely last year to gain vigor. I had a major decision to make before working this tree – which side to make the “front.” I studied this tree occasionally since it went dormant, but it was never clearly evident.

On one side (pictured above), the negative is a large wound up about the middle of the trunk, but the taper is slightly more dramatic because of it and there is also nice taper to the root base. The collected Korean Hornbeam's typically don't have much of a root spread at the base, but rather a wood mass that has formed from all of the budding along the base of the trunk. There isn't much branching on this side of the tree, mainly because of the wound.

The other side has no large wounds to think of, and nice, even flowing taper to the apex. Plus, the apex branch has slightly better taper and secondary branching. This side also has a lot of branching, which I would need to thin if making it the front to expose the trunk line. Not a big deal, but I'd rather have these branches to the side/back and wire them to bring them to the front.

Quite the dilemma, huh? I chose the side with the wound. Why? Simple - the nebari rules all. The stronger nebari/base taper that flowed to the soil level made for the most appeal.

I began with cleaning out the wounds. As I chipped away at the layer of cut paste, I saw a black color to the bark, which meant the top layer of the exposed wound had begun to rot under the paste. I dug out the rotted layer using a chisel from this carving kit. In addition to carving out the rotted wood, I attempted to expose a new layer of cambium around the edge to induce healing again of the wounds. Ever since spending a day with Dan Robinson at his gardens in Washington, the use of my knob cutter has been dwindling. Dan swears against the tool all together. I only use the knob for real soft wood, generally Japanese or Trident maples. When working Hornbeam, I usually carve a short jin or stub, then use my carving tools to blend the wound using the adjoining contours of the tree. Since the newly exposed wood can be fairly bright, I usually burn the exposed wood to darken the color.

After all of the cleanup, it really came down to picking branches and wiring. The tree was heavy branched on the back side, so I brought one of these forward to create my first branch. I think the rest came together nicely and this should make a very nice bonsai in the years to come. I will change the planting angle slightly to hide the stubbed roots on the back side of the tree and plant this into a smaller, deep oval, come spring time.

Squirrel!

Jim Barrett

I recently made a trip to the West Coast and was able to squeeze in a few nursery stops. Since life largely revolves around traffic in L.A., I wasn’t sure what to expect as I began my trek, but after an anxiety-tinged commute from Costa Mesa to the L.A. area, I finally made it to Jim Barrett’s place in Arcadia. It was a muggy, hot day, but the air was relatively clear, so I was continually distracted by the mountain range to the north of Arcadia. As I pulled on to Jim’s street, I noticed a beautifully styled pine near the street’s edge. It was a Japanese Black Pine that Jim has been training for a number of years, accented by Black Mondo Grass.

 

As I pulled up in front of Jim’s house, I noticed a massive Ginkgo, but the base was gnarly and it had a different form than the mature Ginkgo’s lining the street in downtown Lincoln. It was a Chi Chi cultivar that Jim has grown from a cutting since the ‘60’s. The growths that develop, called Chi Chi, from the main trunk can also be seen on other Ginkgo cultivars once they reach a certain age, so the ‘Chi Chi’ cultivar is known more for its distinct growth habit – producing a large number of main and secondary branches, which is unusual for Ginkgo. Also, it does sport smaller leaf, making it ideal for bonsai.

 

Jim recently decided to part with this Twisted Trunk Pomegranate (more about these in a future post) and was discussing the purchase with a potential buyer over the phone. 

After viewing his collection and the stock Jim had for sale, I made it into his pottery shed, which featured a number of his own designs, but also a nice collection of Chinese and Japanese pottery. This page from the Brandywine Bonsai Society’s site shows the variance in Jim's pottery. The rest of the afternoon was spent viewing his pottery catalog and discussing bonsai over a cold beer.  Perfect.  Check out the rest of the photos...

Ume

This Japanese Apricot came to me via Luigi Trapani of Southeast Bonsai Studio. Of all the diligently refined trees sitting on Luigi's bench, this one really communicated to me. During one of our trimming sessions, Luigi kindly allowed me to work it. I ended up leaving Savannah with it after parting with some of my nice J. maple stock. I've determined that it could have two fronts, so I plan on moving it to a round container when it begins to break dormancy. Still looking for that right container. It is a pink blooming cultivar, but I have not exposed the tree to warm enough temps to induce blooming.

I like the angle on this first photo...

Secrest Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum 'Secrest' is a dwarf form of Bald Cypress that originated from a witch’s broom. Check out this page for a mature landscape view amongst this nice collection of Bald hybrids. The garden centers in Lincoln had their stock out a bit later than usual this year since we didn't really have a hard freeze until mid/late November. There were about five to choose from at Campbell's on Pine Lake.  The sun was shining and temps were decent, so I took my time to study them. 

The chosen one did not have the most trunk girth, but I liked the subtle movement from the base of the tree until the first branch. I figured that I may be able to get a little more bend out of this section, then focus on creating more trunk movement after the first branch. 

First, I removed some of the unnecessary branches and wrapped the trunk in raffia. It sat that way for a few weeks until Haidar stopped by with some heavier wire.  He suggested that I wrap some electrical tape over the raffia to increase the flexibility and cover any tiny spots that may have been missed to avoid any wire scarring.  I broke out some Scotch 2242 and began to wrap.  It reminded me of gripping a tennis racket.  Using the tape cuts the application time drastically in comparison with applying raffia.  So, I have added yet another item to my bonsai tool bag – electrical tape. 

We managed to get some significant wiggle out of this tree after a bit of a workout. As Tom said later in the day, “That's some serious bondage."  

Fall Color

Abstract shots of the Arakawa...

NBS Over-Wintering Seminar and October Meeting

The NBS October Meeting will follow the Over-Wintering seminar, presented by Max J. Miller and Loren Buxton at 10:00 am this Saturday at Mulhalls.

Nebraska Bonsai Society Fall Show

The Nebraska Bonsai Society will be holding our fall show in conjunction with Lauritzen Garden's Autumn Ambience and Japanese Festival this weekend.  The admission fee to the gardens this weekend will support the addition of their Japanese garden.  The Ikebana Omaha International will also have a display.  Come out and enjoy the festivities.