EBIHARA BRANCH RELOCATION

[sorce]

”That branch would look so much better over here,

Hold my beer.

Sorce

 

[ABCarve]

What fun Serge!! I want to try this just for the challenge. Great horticultural skill and even more joinery. Really interesting. Can’t wait for the next steps.

 

[MACH5]

It’s such a crazy technique, and cool to see another example of it, hope it works out. I remember when it came out in BT and almost couldn’t wrap my head around it. Nice maple too, BTW!

Me too Bri! I could not wrap my head around it either. Although Ebihara had a lot more tricks up his sleeve, this was one that always fascinated me. This is what I term "horticultural acrobatics". Only from the mind of a brilliant mad scientist!!

The next phase will be the REAL challenge. It will require near surgical-like precision. Hope I can pull it off. If not, I will try and have another branch ready.

 

[MACH5]

There is a video that exists of Mr Ebihara performing this technique. When I first saw it years ago I was so stunned that I watched it maybe 5 times in a row.

I did not know there was a video made of it? Do you have the source or link perhaps?

 

[MACH5]

Nice Sergio !
never heard of this technique before thnx for sharing!

Oh yes, by now a relatively well known technique although not widely practiced. In part because you have to have the right tree. I suspect done a lot more these days in Japan. I saw it first hand on my first trip to Japan when I went to visit Taisho-en. Mr. Urushibata was giving it a go on a multi-trunk Japanese maple. He was grafting another trunk instead of a branch but same principle.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Me too Bri! I could not wrap my head around it either. Although Ebihara had a lot more tricks up his sleeve, this was one that always fascinated me. This is what I term "horticultural acrobatics". Only from the mind of a brilliant mad scientist!!

The next phase will be the REAL challenge. It will require near surgical-like precision. Hope I can pull it off. If not, I will try and have another branch ready.

That’s what would make me nervous, 3 different steps, each more critical than the last. 3 operations with only one bite at the apple!

 

[MACH5]

What fun Serge!! I want to try this just for the challenge. Great horticultural skill and even more joinery. Really interesting. Can’t wait for the next steps.

Yep... right up your alley!

Phase 2 will be the real challenge! Phase one by comparison easy peasy!

 

[MACH5]

That’s what would make me nervous, 3 different steps, each more critical than the last. 3 operations with only one bite at the apple!

My escape hatch will be then to just do a thread graft and move on.

 

[MACH5]

Well done! Can you take a photo with the whole tree in the frame and the branch in the new location? I can't really tell where in the tree you are placing it.

The plan is to graft it here Juds (red arrow). Green arrow indicates where the branch originated from. Not the whole branch just a portion of it.

 

[ABCarve]

Yep... right up your alley!

Phase 2 will be the real challenge! Phase one by comparison easy peasy!

Experience starts when you begin and you have a great beginning!

 

[MrWunderful]

Excited to see you give it a shot.

Outside of Ebihara, and Merrigioli talking about it in Bonsai Maples, I dont know if its been attempted or documented in the west.

It will probably make a good article one day

 

[Clicio]

This is amazing, Sergio!
Can't wait to see the results!

 

[davetree]

I did not know there was a video made of it? Do you have the source or link perhaps?

I have looked and looked to find it and I cannot. It was in black and white. I can tell you that the peg was carved to fit the tree perfectly. It looked like he was making furniture. The branch that he moved was completely developed too. I couldn’t believe that he did it. It also looked like the branch was bigger than the whip, maybe twice as thick.

 

[MACH5]

Excited to see you give it a shot.

Outside of Ebihara, and Merrigioli talking about it in Bonsai Maples, I dont know if its been attempted or documented in the west.

It will probably make a good article one day

Perhaps Boon may have done it already? Tagging @Adair M here. But at least I wanted to document my process clearly for the greater good hopefully.

 

[MACH5]

I have looked and looked to find it and I cannot. It was in black and white. I can tell you that the peg was carved to fit the tree perfectly. It looked like he was making furniture. The branch that he moved was completely developed too. I couldn’t believe that he did it. It also looked like the branch was bigger than the whip, maybe twice as thick.

Thanks anyways Dave. I am familiar with the technique as I have seen many photos but a video would have been ideal. I do know as well that the branches Ebihara normally used were more developed as opposed to mine which is a younger branch, although that should not impact the outcome.

The process requires lots of precision!

 

[LanceMac10]

 

[Saddler]

I look forward to seeing this happen. I have been wanting to try this on a tree I don’t care much about but can’t currently afford the room for such a tree. Even though I am very good with a knife, the patience needed to trim sliver after sliver to get the peg to fit perfectly isn’t something I want to do unless someone is paying me. When the day comes I think I’ll buy a tenon cutter to get that perfect size to match my drill hole.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/hand-tools/dowel-and-tenon-cutters/44248-veritas-mini-tenon-cutters

I’ll practice with some branch cuttings first to get a feel for it. Can anyone see a reason why it wouldn’t work?

 

[MACH5]

I look forward to seeing this happen. I have been wanting to try this on a tree I don’t care much about but can’t currently afford the room for such a tree. Even though I am very good with a knife, the patience needed to trim sliver after sliver to get the peg to fit perfectly isn’t something I want to do unless someone is paying me. When the day comes I think I’ll buy a tenon cutter to get that perfect size to match my drill hole.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/hand-tools/dowel-and-tenon-cutters/44248-veritas-mini-tenon-cutters

I’ll practice with some branch cuttings first to get a feel for it. Can anyone see a reason why it wouldn’t work?

Pretty nifty cutter. My two worries would be, you would be working with green wood rather than dried so the cut would probably not be really clean. The second, working with power tools on such delicate material could not afford you the control you'd have if done slowly by hand.

 

[coh]

As I mentioned to @MACH5 privately, I had one of these going on a trident maple. I thread grafted a seedling up through a branch last year and it had completely grafted by early summer this year. I was thinking about removing it but was feeling very uncertain about my ability to successfully reattach it elsewhere on the trunk. I put the tree on a turntable and looked at it for a while from all sides and eventually decided to change the front I had been planning, which made moving the branch unnecessary. So, I cut off the seedling.

Basically, I chickened out!

Wish you luck with this Sergio! I may eventually try it especially if you get it to work. No pressure, though!

 

[0soyoung]

One more question, why are you waiting until spring to 'plug it in'?
Is it just going to be in the way of your doing other things with the tree in the meantime?