Dawn Redwood I put in the ground to “thicken up” is huge. Now what?

[fossiliferous]

Tl;dr: it’s 8 feet tall and as thick as my wrist. What now?

Context: I’m still definitely a newbie when it comes to bonsai even though I’ve been doing this for a few years. Had an interest in it for a while, figured might as well get some things started in my early 30s so I can enjoy them for decades- of course life got chaotic and things hit the fan as soon as I got some trees.
In 2021, my husband bought me a couple of dawn redwood twigs for my birthday for me to bonsai. The one that survived was still pretty much a twig when we moved into our current house a couple of years ago. I planted it in a plastic container with holes in it right by our deck to “thicken up.” I don’t remember if I put a ceramic tile under it to prevent a huge straight taproot or not. I hope so. Last summer it got pretty big, but was still spindly. I was just glad that it didn’t die, given that I was kind of busy with a 1 year old and 2 year old. This summer it has really gotten huge. I took a tape measure out there. It is over 8 feet tall from the top of that plastic “pot” to the still-rapidly-growing tip. Near the base it is as thick as my wrist!!
Meanwhile, the deck is getting decrepit enough that we need to replace soon. So the tree is going to have to be moved anyway in a few months, probably.

Air layer? Hard trunk chop while it still has a while to recover? I want to make sure that it survives getting moved and/or moved into a real pot. Thanks!

 

[19Mateo83]

Nice redwood, you got some good thickening on that thing!

 

[fossiliferous]

Nice redwood, you got some good thickening on that thing!

Thank you so much! Bit more than I bargained for!

 

[pandacular]

Air layer? Hard trunk chop while it still has a while to recover

por que no los dos?

you can get one great big tree and a number of smaller trees out of that thing if you're lucky and/or skilled. you could probably layer some branches or a portion of the top and try to separate in the spring, then chop it.

 

[19Mateo83]

If it was mine I would chop it low while it’s growing good and start on your next segment making sure to properly seal your cut. Just cut it straight for now and go back and angle your cut once your new leader puts on some girth. I would also try cuttings with as many big of a pieces as you can stand.

 

[Bonsai Forest]

in the name of taper and ramification

 

[pandacular]

is now a seasonally appropriate time to chop? I've never done one before, but I would've thought late winter would be better.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Just a reminder. Whatever you do.......chop, airlayer, airlayer and then chop......... when it goes into a bonsai pot, the trunk growth SSSLLLOOOWWWS down dramatically. It seems to be a nice size now, so I think you're good to go.

 

[leatherback]

If it was mine I would chop it low while it’s growing good and start on your next segment making sure to properly seal your cut. Just cut it straight for now and go back and angle your cut once your new leader puts on some girth. I would also try cuttings with as many big of a pieces as you can stand.

yup, would be my approach too. (BUT I do not know the specific species, so more of a conceptual yes, rather than a species-specific yes.)

 

[rollwithak]

Girthy….

 

[Shibui]

I've root pruned and trunk chopped dawn redwood here in one operation. They seem to cope well.
Wholeheartedly agree with the concept of large trunk chop followed by more fast growth to heal the chop and start growing the new leader to match the base so chopping in ground would be my preference too. Probably monitor next growth phase and cut back again when new leader gets close to merging with the lower section. No problem with pruning any time of year.
At some stage you'll need to get it into a pot to decrease growth rates so the new leaders don't grow too much.

Not sure how to get branching on dawn redwood. They have so far refused to co-operate on that score.

 

[rockm]

I'd agree with the trunk chop while in ground. No competing overgrowth so it should be good to grow out another leader and branching.

FWIW, such strong growth indicates to me that the tree has root (s) that have escaped into the ground. That means you're likely to have big dominant downward growing roots (or possibly one root) to deal with and develop when this is dug up.

 

[Cajunrider]

Tl;dr: it’s 8 feet tall and as thick as my wrist. What now?

Context: I’m still definitely a newbie when it comes to bonsai even though I’ve been doing this for a few years. Had an interest in it for a while, figured might as well get some things started in my early 30s so I can enjoy them for decades- of course life got chaotic and things hit the fan as soon as I got some trees.
In 2021, my husband bought me a couple of dawn redwood twigs for my birthday for me to bonsai. The one that survived was still pretty much a twig when we moved into our current house a couple of years ago. I planted it in a plastic container with holes in it right by our deck to “thicken up.” I don’t remember if I put a ceramic tile under it to prevent a huge straight taproot or not. I hope so. Last summer it got pretty big, but was still spindly. I was just glad that it didn’t die, given that I was kind of busy with a 1 year old and 2 year old. This summer it has really gotten huge. I took a tape measure out there. It is over 8 feet tall from the top of that plastic “pot” to the still-rapidly-growing tip. Near the base it is as thick as my wrist!!
Meanwhile, the deck is getting decrepit enough that we need to replace soon. So the tree is going to have to be moved anyway in a few months, probably.

Air layer? Hard trunk chop while it still has a while to recover? I want to make sure that it survives getting moved and/or moved into a real pot. Thanks!

My guess is that the roots finally got out of the container and thickened the tree. Since the tree is going to have to be moved anyway in a few months, I would leave the roots alone for now.
You described it as a twig so there must not be much taper. I would chop it hard whenever it gets moved.
I wouldn't call wrist-size huge. To me, that is the minimum size for starting a dawn redwood bonsai. It is really tough to get a realistic looking bonsai with a trunk smaller than that. It can be done but one will have to aggressively control the growth of the tree. A small size redwood bonsai, if well fed with nutrients, can suddenly sprout a shoot that upset the balance of the tree easily.

 

[dbonsaiw]

I'm in the same boat with a redwood I've been growing in a 10 gallon pot that definitely escaped the pot. My plan is to leave it be for the remainder of this season and take some airlayers next spring. I'm aiming for a larger trunk so there will be a chop lower down and I will grow a new leader off the 1.5" thick trunk. I'd like a 4" trunk, so should have plenty of time to heal the scar.

Query whether the tree can be slip potted into a huge pot and still airlayer the same season?

 

[Cajunrider]

I'm in the same boat with a redwood I've been growing in a 10 gallon pot that definitely escaped the pot. My plan is to leave it be for the remainder of this season and take some airlayers next spring. I'm aiming for a larger trunk so there will be a chop lower down and I will grow a new leader off the 1.5" thick trunk. I'd like a 4" trunk, so should have plenty of time to heal the scar.

Query whether the tree can be slip potted into a huge pot and still airlayer the same season?

Don't know about redwood but I have done that to BCs a few times without issues.

 

[dbonsaiw]

Don't know about redwood but I have done that to BCs a few times without issues.

I'm kinda treating them the same (and following your posts on the BCs for guidance btw).

 

[Icarus]

Nice tree. I am a newbie only been doing bonsai for about three years. Tried English oak but now only have giant redwood Sequoiadendron giganteum.

I have cut down a six foot tree and other smaller saplings.

My advice cut it down near the end of the growing season. Make the cut where there are two strong branches. Wire the best angle as the leader. At 8 foot tall I would cut to five feet this year. Try and let as much light as possible get to the lower branches.

I grew from seed and still have about 24 so I have had a bit of practice.

First attempt looked like a telegraph pole. Learned my lesson.

 

[dbonsaiw]

My advice cut it down near the end of the growing season. Make the cut where there are two strong branches. Wire the best angle as the leader. At 8 foot tall I would cut to five feet this year. Try and let as much light as possible get to the lower branches.

I have some questions on this - First, why cut at the end of the growing season? I generally make all major cuts before or during the growing season so the growth can help with healing and prevent dieback. Is there something different about sequoias? Second, what is the purpose of staging the chops? Redwoods are some of the toughest trees I've worked with and can be severely reduced in one go. I have zero hesitance lopping off over 7 feet from my 8 footer, especially if there is a branch there. Should I be hesitant? I know folks will severely reduce the tree and roots in one go with no hesitation on this species. With a healthy root system, especially growing in the ground, I am working on the assumption this could even be cut down further.

 

[Ininaatigoons]

A few months would put it at fall/winter. Perfect time to relocate it! It might help to chop a few feet off when you move it, but since you want a trunk 3 times thicker you'll want to keep as much as possible and grow on from there. The base should be done before you chop to the height of the first segment. So 10 years base chop, 3-4 years middle section chop, and a couple years for the apex. After all segments are roughly chopped leave for a year or two to recover and faster healing in a training pot or ground. To give a rough idea of how it works. Ideally...

 

[Srt8madness]

I have to disagree at cutting it to 5'. There is really no reason to do so on this species, unless you want the final height to be 7'+.

The purpose of a chop is to introduce taper, and/or to start building out the apex.

Envision how tall you want the final tree, and chop below that point.