KAWA Bonsai- Crepe or Crape Myrtle Workshop with Bill V

drew33998 · Jan 19, 2015

This is the crepe myrtle that I worked on while taking the workshop with Bill V. The only main thing to see is the trunk and nebari. I was advised by Bill to leave the second branch on the left to help with healing. The branch on the right I feel is too heavy to be up there, but I left it since there were no other branches on the right. Hopefully I will get some more branches sprouting this spring on that side that I can utilize. Not sure if I would have wired the whole tree even the apex at this point in training, but Bill is the man and he told me to wire the whole thing. This is a very small tree being around 5 inches tall. It is a dazzle dwarf crepe myrtle (or crape depending on where you are from). The pot is from a local potter here in Jax who also practices bonsai. A very sturdy nice pot for the money IMHO. The nice thing about his pots is that he has 10-15 small holes in different locations on the bottom of the pot for wiring. Thanks for looking.

P.S. I did notice that the bottom left branch was out of shape after I looked at the pics. I actually pulled it down some like I had it when I wired itat the workshop. A car ride home moved the wire just enough to make it look off.

jk_lewis · Jan 20, 2015

That will be one fine tree. The 'dazzle' cultivars are ideal for bonsai -- if you like pink.

I'd advise listening to Bill's advice.

johng · Jan 20, 2015

I have been a long time student of Bill''s and I don't want to take anything away from him or his teaching. However, having a fair amount of experience with CM...the branches you left on are far too long....especially the 3 lower branches...apex may be ok...

What is going happen is that these branches will bud from the the ends or near ends of these branches. In the long term, that is going to put all your ramification and taper several inches from the trunk...I don't think you will be happy with this result....especially on a shohin size tree. For small size trees it is very important that branches begin to taper very close to the trunk, otherwise the scale will always be off.

I might suggest that at some point in the future...you could do it now, or you could wait till summer...that you cut your primary branches back to 1-2" long....be sure to seal them!!! This will allow the branch to begin its taper much closer to the trunk and 3-5 years down the road you will have a tree you are pleased with instead of one that needs to be redesigned.

Once your branches are setup, I think you will find that frequent pruning of the growing tips will result in fast ramification. I prune mine 3-4 times per growing season. Here is a photo to let you see what you can expect... I wish I had a winter shot,but I think you can see how nicely these are ramified....this is the result 3 growing seasons or less.

You have a nice tree...as Jim pointed out it could be very nice in the future.
John

johng · Jan 20, 2015

Lower branches are too long....

I have been a long time student of Bill''s and I don't want to take anything away from him or his teaching. However, having a fair amount of experience with CM...the branches you left on are far too long....especially the 3 lower branches...apex maybe ok...

What is going happen is that these branches will bud from the the ends or near ends of these branches. In the long term, that is going to put all your ramification and taper several inches from the trunk...I don't think you will be happy with this result....especially on a shohin size tree. For small size trees it is very important that branches begin to taper very close to the trunk, otherwise the scale will always be off.

I might suggest that at some point in the future...you could do it now, or you could wait till summer...that you cut your primary branches back to 1-2" long....be sure to seal them!!! This will allow the branch to begin its taper much closer to the trunk and 3-5 years down the road you will have a tree you are pleased with instead of one that needs to be redesigned.

Once your branches are setup, I think you will find that frequent pruning of the growing tips will result in fast ramification. I prune mine 3-4 times per growing season. Here is a photo to let you see what you can expect... I wish I had a winter shot,but I think you can see how nicely these are ramified....this is the result 3 growing seasons or less.

You have a nice tree...as Jim pointed out it could be very nice in the future.
John

Vin · Jan 20, 2015

jkl said:
-- if you like pink.

Well, we certainly know someone that does...

Mellow Mullet · Jan 20, 2015

Vin said:
Well, we certainly know someone that does...

I certainly do, reminds me of an Aerosmith song, "Pink is my favorite color...."

John

drew33998 · Jan 21, 2015

johng said:
I have been a long time student of Bill''s and I don't want to take anything away from him or his teaching. However, having a fair amount of experience with CM...the branches you left on are far too long....especially the 3 lower branches...apex may be ok...

What is going happen is that these branches will bud from the the ends or near ends of these branches. In the long term, that is going to put all your ramification and taper several inches from the trunk...I don't think you will be happy with this result....especially on a shohin size tree. For small size trees it is very important that branches begin to taper very close to the trunk, otherwise the scale will always be off.

I might suggest that at some point in the future...you could do it now, or you could wait till summer...that you cut your primary branches back to 1-2" long....be sure to seal them!!! This will allow the branch to begin its taper much closer to the trunk and 3-5 years down the road you will have a tree you are pleased with instead of one that needs to be redesigned.

Once your branches are setup, I think you will find that frequent pruning of the growing tips will result in fast ramification. I prune mine 3-4 times per growing season. Here is a photo to let you see what you can expect... I wish I had a winter shot,but I think you can see how nicely these are ramified....this is the result 3 growing seasons or less.

You have a nice tree...as Jim pointed out it could be very nice in the future.
John

Yes I know. I am sure he would have advised me to take them back further, which I also agree should be done. I will take them back once I see where it back buds this spring, to get my two x two branching going. I am sure that due to time constraints he couldn't spend all day on one tree making observations and recommendations.

drew33998 · Jan 21, 2015

johng said:
I have been a long time student of Bill''s and I don't want to take anything away from him or his teaching. However, having a fair amount of experience with CM...the branches you left on are far too long....especially the 3 lower branches...apex maybe ok...

What is going happen is that these branches will bud from the the ends or near ends of these branches. In the long term, that is going to put all your ramification and taper several inches from the trunk...I don't think you will be happy with this result....especially on a shohin size tree. For small size trees it is very important that branches begin to taper very close to the trunk, otherwise the scale will always be off.

I might suggest that at some point in the future...you could do it now, or you could wait till summer...that you cut your primary branches back to 1-2" long....be sure to seal them!!! This will allow the branch to begin its taper much closer to the trunk and 3-5 years down the road you will have a tree you are pleased with instead of one that needs to be redesigned.

Once your branches are setup, I think you will find that frequent pruning of the growing tips will result in fast ramification. I prune mine 3-4 times per growing season. Here is a photo to let you see what you can expect... I wish I had a winter shot,but I think you can see how nicely these are ramified....this is the result 3 growing seasons or less.

You have a nice tree...as Jim pointed out it could be very nice in the future.
John

Oh, I wasn't aware that it would just send out shoots from the ends of the branches. If I cut it back like I want to, and you advised, will I get new shoots from the ends of the cuts or does it depend on where the latent buds in the branch is? Either way I am glad you chimed in because I really felt that it needed to be done. How far out do you wire the branches? I am guessing that it would be a waste of time to wire the tertiary branches as fast as these grow, and just prune for shape anything after the secondary branching.

Wilson · Jan 17, 2019

Hey @drew33998 how is this one coming along?

drew33998 · Jan 28, 2019

I’ll snap a photo but it hasn’t done much of anything being in a bonsai pot. Very slow growth

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