Chop-Chop "Make Room for Daddy"

[docs_bonsai]

"Make Room for Daddy" In 2006 I added a second lath house for my growing collection...Had to remove several 15 year old field grown Tridents...Gave most of them away, but I did save three trunks for this project…These are the last of the Tridents, three to be accurate...They are about twenty feet tall now...They provide all the seeds that I can use...The parents of all the seedlings I've grown...Nice smooth bark, small leaves and branch heavily with pinching.

 

[docs_bonsai]

Notice the fence post in the upper left of the picture...It's 6" in diameter..."Big thick trunks"...This double trunk base is 8 plus inches with two 4" spars...Try digging one of these out of the ground

 

[docs_bonsai]

Two years have gone by and they are still pushing new buds...The two trunks on the left are hollow trunks...The one on the far left is six inches in diameter and ten inches tall...That's the one I will focus on in this series…Hollow trunk chop.

 

[docs_bonsai]

Constant carving on the hollow...First wiring of some the new branches...The green dot on the apex at the second bend is where I broke the branch...Repaired the break with tree seal.

 

[docs_bonsai]

Following spring…The break healed in the new apex and it looks like it is going to be fine...The tree is getting stronger...Still have to reduce the size of those leaves though.

 

[docs_bonsai]

End of the season, looking good and ready for the next pruning...Yeah I did a lot more carving that year...You can see something new on the right side of the trunk...A window in the trunk…That portion of the bark died back during the previous season… I carved the area out between the live wood … It add more detail to the appearance and helps symbolize how tough nature can be.

 

[docs_bonsai]

Side shot showing the crack in the trunk...I'm going to widen it every year...Limbs were popping all over.

 

[docs_bonsai]

Down the throat of this monster...That was a lot of work...She's still kicking.

 

[docs_bonsai]

Hard pruned it again, and a little more work on the interior and crack..."Open wide baby".

 

[docs_bonsai]

Following spring and it's really starting to shape up nice…Getting excited!

 

[docs_bonsai]

First bonsai pot 4" x 14" mica drum...Notice the small stick in the soil to the right of the trunk...That's a root graft...You can't see all of them but I put down four grafts while I transplanted it into the pot spring of 2010... Gave it a hair cut too.

 

[docs_bonsai]

Spring 2011, I hope you enjoyed the shots...

 

[Jake]

really interesting progression shots! thanks for those

 

[woodguy]

Coming along really nicely. Thanks for sharing the progress.

 

[art-rodriguez]

trident

it's looking good doc !
what's your soil mix ?

 

[PaulH]

Looking good Doc!

 

[Brian Underwood]

Very nice progression. I'm all about the hollow trunks!

 

[docs_bonsai]

Soil mix is crushed lava, small amount of organics and peat..

 

[jkd2572]

Very nice. What are you doing to widen the crack?

 

[docs_bonsai]

I'm using a dremel tool to widen the opening. You can use just about any type of die grinder. Originally I used a 2" drill bit to go down the center of the trunk then the dremel to carve the rest. I do this work during the growing season to keep a balance in the sap flow. Too much carving and the tree will slow growth in that particular area and I have to work another area to maintain that balance.