Last year, I said I would stop growing willow trees. So anyway, here are some of my willow trees.

[JackHammer]

Not sure what type this is but they have a very canonical shape in nature. Just a cutting so far.


This is a weeping raft. Just growing it out-- I am not sure what I am going to do with this one.

This is a weeping willow. It started as a raft and now I am just setting up a sacrifice whip. The new leader is currently being supported by a orchid clip because it is weeping too much. I will cut away that branch when the time is right.


Weeping raft.


This is probably the farthest along. Again, I am trying to put some structure in the trunk. I did have some die-off on the lower left but I am hoping that the bark will grow over that injury.

One thing I never understood in the bonsai world was people having trouble getting their weeping willows to weep. Some of mine are like rugs and I am having difficulty getting height out of the weeping cultivars.



This is a curly/dragon willow.


Curly/ dragon, not an olive.


I think this is a white or black willow. (Raft)

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I have very fond memories of growing up with willow trees in the midwest. I will be curious to see how you progress. Right now I see a lot of straight sections without any character that you are trimming back. I would recommend heavy wiring of the new shoots when they are young and supple, in order to give some movement to your future design.

 

[JackHammer]

I have very fond memories of growing up with willow trees in the midwest. I will be curious to see how you progress. Right now I see a lot of straight sections without any character that you are trimming back. I would recommend heavy wiring of the new shoots when they are young and supple, in order to give some movement to your future design.

This is good feedback and you are correct. There is quite a bit of movement in the green pot.

Many will be chopped in the spring. I see the extra straight growth as sacrifice branches so that is fine with me. Most of these are only 6 months old (green pot is 2 years). I am not really sure what to do about the rafts, yes, those are very straight. Aren't straight trunks common in forest plantings?

I lost 2 trunks on the white willow raft so that was not great. Chop them all lower? Grow them way out? Cut back to 1? Or maybe just try again with a different cutting in the spring? I have the ability to create movement in all of these but I am having trouble understanding how I should think about movement in the context of a forest raft. My brain goes to zigzags and that seems comical.

 

[Gabler]

I have the ability to create movement in all of these but I am having trouble understanding how I should think about movement in the context of a forest raft. My brain goes to zigzags and that seems comical.

I agree with Michael Hagedorn's assessment that movement is useful, but it's overrated. Movement, especially in branches, is a good way to make a tree look older, and movement in the trunk can make a tree very dynamic and exciting, but there's nothing wrong with stately formal upright trees. The problem is that in the short term, straight tress will look their age. They'll look young for as long as they are young. Curvy trees look older sooner, but that doesn't make them inherently superior.

I'm of the opinion that movement in a forest composition or, in this case, a raft should be subtle and irregular—if you are going to include any at all. You don't want to saturate the forest with extreme movement. The real highlight of a forest composition is the negative space. It's about spacing between the trunks and between the clusters of trunks. That's easier said than done, and I'm still learning myself, but if you look at good forests and good rafts, what draws you in is the space amongst the trunks where you imagine yourself walking, not the trees themselves, so I think it's readily apparent what we should be aiming for.