Emanon
Mame
I was hoping to get some basic, beginner's advice on how to transform a large nursery grown tree into a bonsai. I'm new to bonsai. Up to this point I've only had trees that I began growing as seedlings. Doing so, I've been able to go slow and develop the trunk and roots from scratch. I'm comfortable with this approach. But... I just bought a nursery tree. And it is big. And it is not the best bonsai material (it has two straight trunks and I haven't checked the surface roots yet). The tree is a Cuyamaca Cypress (Cupressus or Hesperocyparis stephensonii). It is currently 4.5 feet tall and the trunk is 3.5 inches wide at its base. I was thinking that I should:
(1) Immediately prune (de-clutter/thin) the tree so more light is able to reach branches and interior foliage down low on the trunk. So, shorting long branches, removing dead stuff inside. I'm operating under the assumption that this conifer will have a hard time back-budding -- so less like a bald cypress and more like a Monterey cypress -- and I'll want to preserve any low branches and interior foliage.
(2) This next spring, root prune and repot in a large training pot.
(3) The spring after next, do any trunk chopping (pollarding, coppicing, or whatever it should be called), in an attempt to create taper and movement.
Is now (late summer) an OK time to start with the first step?
(1) Immediately prune (de-clutter/thin) the tree so more light is able to reach branches and interior foliage down low on the trunk. So, shorting long branches, removing dead stuff inside. I'm operating under the assumption that this conifer will have a hard time back-budding -- so less like a bald cypress and more like a Monterey cypress -- and I'll want to preserve any low branches and interior foliage.
(2) This next spring, root prune and repot in a large training pot.
(3) The spring after next, do any trunk chopping (pollarding, coppicing, or whatever it should be called), in an attempt to create taper and movement.
Is now (late summer) an OK time to start with the first step?