Bonsai_paul
Mame
It's going to pop very soon all over 
Cork bark elm
- Thread starter Bonsai_paul
- Start date
Bonsai_paul
Mame
It's your tree, and you haven't actually asked for styling advice, so by all means, you do you.@Zach2 at the moment i want them all
Bonsai_paul
Mame
@Zach2 what would you be doing if it was your tree ? Ive had this one just over a week and its my first tree also so i need to learn
Read @Forsoothe! 's posts #13 and #18 carefully, for starters. He has laid out a good roadmap. You need to select your first branch. I recommend one on the outside of the first major bend in the trunk. Then find a back branch, and then use the branch on the outside of the second major bend. Everything else down there can be pruned. Repeat this exercise going up the tree, with the distance between branches getting smaller as you go.@Zach2 what would you be doing if it was your tree ? Ive had this one just over a week and its my first tree also so i need to learn
It helps to sketch first, cut second. That is where post #18 can help you. No art skillz required to draw stick figures!
By the way, I should have said you picked well. It is a really great tree to learn on. You have branches everywhere.@Zach2 what would you be doing if it was your tree ? Ive had this one just over a week and its my first tree also so i need to learn
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
No, it's a poor choice. It should be in the possession of a more experienced, better-looking person.
Like me. Send it to me and I'll give you credit as the discoverer. I'll send you pictures from time-to-time.
Nanuk
Shohin
It's going to pop very soon all over
Think of it this way. In a few weeks after this tree is covered in leaves you won't be able to clearly see what to prune.
It is going to be covered in new leaves. This probably sounds good at the moment.
That said, the leaves on the lower limbs will be starving for light. They won't like that.
If you prune it some the interior of the tree can get light to the leaves and they will be healthier, and so will the tree.
My 02.
Bonsai_paul
Mame
@Nanuk do I just prune to the trunk on branches ?
Bonsai_paul
Mame
The
@Zach2 the supplier (premierbonsai) said I choose the best from this batch he imported.
I just need some idiots guide to what I need to do next
Thanks
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
Whatever you prune, you cut off at the source without damaging the bark of the source. The branch bark may look like it's united with the bark of the source (trunk, major branch, etc.), but each limb is separate. If you look closely at the base of a branch, you will see a gathering of the bark surrounding the base of the branch. That is the live bark which will cover the stub after it is cut off.
The shrinkage is higher on some trees that on others. Sometimes you'll see a hole in the side of a pine or spruce tree. That's witness to a branch which was cut off too close to the trunk which damaged the trunk's bark collar so that no living, growing bark was left surrounding that hole. It will take forever for that hole to be covered.
The shrinkage is higher on some trees that on others. Sometimes you'll see a hole in the side of a pine or spruce tree. That's witness to a branch which was cut off too close to the trunk which damaged the trunk's bark collar so that no living, growing bark was left surrounding that hole. It will take forever for that hole to be covered.
Bonsai_paul
Mame
Paul I've taken the liberty of drawing a sketch of what I would do with your tree. This is mostly to illustrate the number of branches and placement of branches in a potential final design--there are many different things you could do with this tree of course. You will see how few primary branches there are, and how much negative space is in the design.
Bonsai_paul
Mame
@Zach2 I love it and looking at my tree now haha
It is just a jumping off point. I am a terrible artist. You need to decide if you want your tree to lean one way or the other, if you want the classic "pine style" tree with horizontal/downward branches, or a more naturalistic tree with an upward spreading canopy, etc. Do some sketches/stick figures and make it your own. My point is just that in almost any case you will end up with only a few primary branches, and space between them like I've shown.
You can prune now before the buds burst if you are confident in the direction you want to take it. Otherwise it would probably be best to just take care of it this season, and wait until after leaf drop in the fall or next spring before buds swell to do your major pruning. The worst time to prune would be right after bud burst--your tree needs time to recoup the energy it expended to grow all those leaves.
Bonsai_paul
Mame
@Zach2 I think I'll leave it this season and take care of it, repot it in free draining soil next spring and prune ;-)
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
One more thing, just in case you don't know this: all growth is terminal; and new growth will grow in the direction that the bud is facing. In clip & grow, you cut off buds facing in a direction that you do not want growth. For example, pointing down, or backwards, towards another bud or branch, etc. You leave buds that point towards the space you want filled. There will be two (or more) buds in the axil of the leaf stem after the leaf has inflated. Every time you pinch a bud that is facing wrongly, you save the amount of energy that would have be expended inflating that leaf which will be used by the tree to inflate another bud, usually an interior, secondary bud, making the tree more dense. Secondary buds are those that won't be used by the tree unless there is some emergency and the tree finds itself with fewer leaves that it would normally have. The buds at the tips of branches are primary buds. All will inflate in normal circumstances, even those in positions that ultimately won't get enough sun to use their chlorophyll to make sugars to grow and send surplus' back to the roots. They will die, or just not grow well. The old secondary buds may never be used if all the primaries do the job, because the new growth just interior for the new primary buds (for next year) will become the new secondaries, and the old secondaries will become back-ups to the new secondary, back-ups! Some trees have lots of back-up buds all over them. They are little stipples, -just dots. Figs and Willows are good examples. They will bud back after of Hurricane or tornado has taken the whole top off. Many other trees don't have good or long living #3 back-ups and are said to not back-bud well or at all.
That's where "all growth is terminal" comes in. Normal growth is from the primary buds at the ends of branches first and foremost. Trees need to have their production equipment in as much sun as possible and that's at the end of the branches. If the interior buds, ~secondaries, don't see good light, they don't do anything but sleep.
That's where "all growth is terminal" comes in. Normal growth is from the primary buds at the ends of branches first and foremost. Trees need to have their production equipment in as much sun as possible and that's at the end of the branches. If the interior buds, ~secondaries, don't see good light, they don't do anything but sleep.
Bonsai_paul
Mame
Forsoothe!
Imperial Masterpiece
Take off, now, any that face the wrong way; leave those facing where you want leaves, twigs, or branches in the future.
