Yes, new shoots will pop right at the chop. Probably not from below. Maybe a few directly off the lower trunk, but most will be right at the chop.Hi Adair M,
I have a couple of questions for you with one simple and the other a bit more not so simple. I think I might be safe from the “it depends” lol.
1. With Zelkova serrata, I think that these don’t sprout from the chop, so is this correct? And how might this work from an elegant broom perspective?
2. When building a broom style bonsai, why would I bother putting “wiggles” in the branch design? rather than pruning shifts ( left/right) for movement. It begs the question, movement or not?
Hope this is not to confusing to answer?
Charles
With brooms, you can put in a little, subtle wiggle in the branches, but not a lot. You don’t want perfectly straight branches, and you don’t want wildly wiggly branches. Just enough curve so that they don’t look ruler straight, but still look “almost” straight. Google “broom bonsai”, click on images, and you can see many examples. One thing to note is the branches should have taper. Which means as they are getting built, they get cutback, and new leaders have to be wired to continue the “straight line” of the branch. That joint is where a lot of the wiggle comes from. Here’s a picture of one of my favorite brooms:
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That lowest branch on the right was grafted on!