Ebihara maples

And I do love to teach. I only do bonsai because it's so attractive to all of the women!


Yeah, that glazed-eye look they get when you show them something the tree has done, screams, "Come hither, nerd".......:D:D:D:D:D:D


Not so sure it's amorous, though........pity maybe? :rolleyes::D:D:D:D:D:D
 
So what's with the three Parafilm wraps? Why are they there?

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He cleaned the wound and scraped the bark from the BOTTOM of the seedling where it exited the hole.
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And then forced the seedling against the bottom of the hole using chopstick wedges.
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He covered it all with cut paste and wired the new branch.
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All done with that branch.


Also what do you think about the branch wiring? Aren't the coils too close? Something else I notice the grafts have very fine twigs and small buds - wondering if this is genetic or technique? Thanks a lot for the posts, good inspiration and knowledge to advance the level of the art.
 
Also what do you think about the branch wiring? Aren't the coils too close? Something else I notice the grafts have very fine twigs and small buds - wondering if this is genetic or technique? Thanks a lot for the posts, good inspiration and knowledge to advance the level of the art.

Hi fh05. He's used two wires on that branch. They are not too close - he's wrapped one wire in between the loops of the other wire. When wrapping two wires on a branch, I do one of two things. 1) I wrap one wire right next to the other so the two wires are juxtaposed or 2) I wrap the loops of one in-between the loops of the other wire. When one does option 2, there is more support on the branch and almost as much strength as option one. It's a good choice for lignified deciduous branches that are prone to breaking when bent.

Scott
 
He may be wrapping the wound to help reduce the swelling when the callous tissue forms.

Scott
Yes. Matt Ouwinga does this with tridents. The callous spreads across the wound rather than expand out. But, it's very thin and delicate. So removing the covering is tricky!
 
Yes. Matt Ouwinga does this with tridents. The callous spreads across the wound rather than expand out. But, it's very thin and delicate. So removing the covering is tricky!
I've never heard of this technique before, I will have to try it now.

Is anything like cut paste (or the liquid stuff) applied before wrapping the wound?
 
I've never heard of this technique before, I will have to try it now.

Is anything like cut paste (or the liquid stuff) applied before wrapping the wound?

I believe that Mr. Ebihara used cut paste on the wound before he applied the parafilm (at least it looks like parafilm). The first time I heard of this technique was from Mike Hansen, the owner of MBP Bonsai Studio in Pflugerville, TX. He had a reciprocating chisel he used to clean the wound and then wrapped it tightly to prevent swelling as the wound calloused over. So I think it's a thing.

Scott
 
@markyscott I started notching some branches and shortening them similarly as in your pictures, but not quite as well. The details and your comments help clarify a lot.

Also, I'm wondering about the parafilm. Is it strong enough alone to prevent swelling? I'd probably wrap aluminum tape or electrical tape to protect from sunlight damage.
 
Not doing much commenting on this thread but following with great interest! Great golden nuggets of info here! Thanks Scott for the effort and detailed info. Ebihara is clearly an horticultural wizard!!

Hi fh05. He's used two wires on that branch. They are not too close - he's wrapped one wire in between the loops of the other wire. When wrapping two wires on a branch, I do one of two things. 1) I wrap one wire right next to the other so the two wires are juxtaposed or 2) I wrap the loops of one in-between the loops of the other wire. When one does option 2, there is more support on the branch and almost as much strength as option one. It's a good choice for lignified deciduous branches that are prone to breaking when bent.

Scott


I do occasionally the second one. Looks awful but works! Bjorn also explains this in one of his videos.
 
Not doing much commenting on this thread but following with great interest! Great golden nuggets of info here! Thanks Scott for the effort and detailed info. Ebihara is clearly an horticultural wizard!!




I do occasionally the second one. Looks awful but works! Bjorn also explains this in one of his videos.

Thank you Speed. He is my bonsai hero. So sad he has left the art. I'm just glad for the record of his work that has been left for us to learn from. Any wisdom or experience you have to share would be greatly appreciated.
 
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One more amazing thing I've studied that Ebihara has done. Perhaps the most amazing.

Ebihara-San had a technique (I believe that Mach5 pointed us to another author that had done this as well). This technique required multiple grafts. First, he grafted a seedling to a fully formed branch. Then he seperated the branch from the tree - while it was seperated, it was supported by the seedlings roots. He then grafted the branch onto another part of the tree - once that graft had taken, he removed the seedling he had originally grafted. Voila! Frankentree!

Here's an example:
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A fully formed branch with a seedling graft, keeping it alive.
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All the branches ready to go
 
This is brilliant. Really nice photos, Scott. It's really interesting how the stub behind the seedling/branch graft stays alive. I should've been able to figure this out with my experiences with airlayers. When I don't remove the stubs below where the roots grow, the stub can stay alive and even grow roots too.
 
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