2 Bald Cypress and a forest.i wired up.
- Thread starter Bob Vance
- Start date
Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Your second BC has too many branches near the bottom of the chop. If you keep them all, you will have reverse taper at that spot. I
Thank you sir. I'll take the highest branch off.
I see you brought your branches downward but don't forget the third dimension...if it were mine I would put more left to right wiggle in all your branches. The other advice I would offer is that your branches are much too long. To get effective ramification on BC you want to prune the branch at the point you want it to begin ramifying...I typically go about 3" from the trunk on the primary branches. After the branch is cut it will rebud and send 1-3 new branch buds from the end or near the end of the branch. Rinse and repeat to continue building branch ramification.
I don't think CJR meant for you to remove the top branch on the second tree...it is the cluster of 4 branches exiting the trunk at the same level that will create the problem down the road.
I don't think CJR meant for you to remove the top branch on the second tree...it is the cluster of 4 branches exiting the trunk at the same level that will create the problem down the road.
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Cajunrider
Imperial Masterpiece
Absolutely. Thanks John.
namnhi
Masterpiece
Here is where I have a question. Don't you want the branches to get to the thickness you want before cutting them back to start the ramification process? I have my idea but I would like to hear your thoughts on that.
After many years of doing it that way...I believe that is completely unnecessary and yet another bonsai myth! Through experimentation and observation, I have realized that you really don't have to let them extend first...that generally results in branches that end up too large after you build ramification. By starting the ramification early you can build the branch and of course the primary branch continues to thicken...in the end I find the results to save much time and be very pleasing... If needed you could always allow one of the secondary or tertiary branches to extend for more girth in the primary.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Wiring long branches into uniform gradual curves won't produce believable branching on deciduous trees. On deciduous trees (and BC is a deciduous conifer) Wire is mostly used to REFINE the ends of developed branching. It can be used to wire initial twigs into branches, but you really can't create a complete branch from the initial shoot. Hard pruning and regrowth, as John G. said, is the heart and soul of good deciduous branching.
What you will wind up with a few years from now with your current wiring are rainbow arc branches that look weird.
Building branching on a tree is a multi-year process that is never really complete. cut back to an inch on a branch allowed to thicken to half an inch at the base, grow on from the resulting backbudding, pruning that back hard to an inch or less, depending on where you want the branch to turn, ect. Deciduous wood isn't very flexible and will snap if forced into drastic turns and curves, while conifers' wood is very flexible and can remain so for decades. That's another reason deciduous trees' branching is developed differently than conifers'. With deciduous trees, It's generally not a wire once and done thing, unlike styling a conifer.
What you will wind up with a few years from now with your current wiring are rainbow arc branches that look weird.
Building branching on a tree is a multi-year process that is never really complete. cut back to an inch on a branch allowed to thicken to half an inch at the base, grow on from the resulting backbudding, pruning that back hard to an inch or less, depending on where you want the branch to turn, ect. Deciduous wood isn't very flexible and will snap if forced into drastic turns and curves, while conifers' wood is very flexible and can remain so for decades. That's another reason deciduous trees' branching is developed differently than conifers'. With deciduous trees, It's generally not a wire once and done thing, unlike styling a conifer.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
That's great. Now you have to think about branches that are directly opposite one another on the trunk. "Bar branches" as they're called can cause swelling on the trunk and inverse taper, more importantly they look to "even" for a natural image. Think about which ones you can remove particularly near the base. The initial first branch should be a primary focus of the trunk/tree. A branch opposite that initial branch subtracts from the visual impact by splitting viewer's attention.
pandacular
Omono
Do you do this sort of transition once per year? More? Depends on recent work?
Great advice. I'm assuming I can give them a break to recover. Don't wanna kill yet another tree.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
You can cut them off now at this point. Isn't going to make much difference.
JudyB
Queen of the Nuts
Same Bob Vance from the old days? Nice to see you here if so!
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Depends on vigor, species what you want to accomplish. I have to do it aggressively on developed trees (particularly elms and bald cypress) since they can get too ramified and need thinning to sort them out.
I cleaned up the thicker one with more branches. I don't have the heart to cut the other one yet. It doesn't have alotta branches to start with. It looks soo sad.
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