Dawn Redwood Repot - May 2021

[Jan JC]

Hello everyone !

Today, 2nd of May 2021, I've repotted my Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) bonsai forest.

The previous pot was extremely tiny , so I chose a bigger one (despite not being the most appropriate for the type of bonsai) to let the roots grow more, as well as the trees themselves.
In addition, the old soil was a bad quality one, so I used Akadama and Kiryuzuna (in a 60/40 proportion) in this repot.

Here are the photos of the process:
** I know that the repoted metasequoias have a 'mountain' of soil in the center, that's due to the big size of roots I didn't want to remove, as I'm a bit scared of killing any tree by cutting too much roots **


The pot , white , 28cm wide aprox, it's a cheap and bad quality one, but it's fine:



Metasequoias before repotting (as well as a Ginkgo, Silver maple Hydrangea and Jasminum in the back ) :



Result:
** Notice the huge difference between the old and the new pot , talking about size **





Let's hope they survive and grow a lot this year !

Any comments or suggestions , please write them below , I don't know as much about bonsai so I may have committed some mistakes...

 

[LittleDingus]

Some of my favorite trees!

You mention the "mountain" due to not wanting to remove too many roots. If you do not already have one, get or make yourself one of these:

Amazon.com : root hook

The first time I used one, I was amazed at how much it helps untangle roots. With one of these, it's quite possible that you could have raked out the bottom of the root ball to untangle it enough to flatten out into that pot without having to cut very much.

While it's bare, you might want to take a pair of angle cutters and try and "smooth out" the transition from the last trunk chops and remove some of what might become troublesome branches.



Look for spots like I marked in red. This is an old chop point. Now that the new leader has established, you can use an angle or concave cutter and cut off the stub of the old leader. In most cases, you should be able to keep the bark around 3/4 of the new leader while trimming off the old stub that will not heal well. Of you can get that old chop stub off, the trunk should heal over much nicer. As the trunks thicken, the bend for the new apex will become less noticeable as well.

It's hard to see what is going on in the blue circle given the angle of the photo. It looks like multiple leaders have started at a chop point. If you can make an angle cut to clean out all but one leader, it will heal in time as well. You're likely to develop a knuckle or some inverse taper in these kinds of situations if you don't clean them up a little. If you can clean them up, the trees will have a much more natural look over time.

The areas circled in green might need some decisions as well. Dawns tend to bud under the arm pit of trunk branches. If the previous branch has died back or is very weak, the buds will often take over and form a new branch. If the branch is very strong, often the buds won't elongate. They may even die off over the next winter. On young trees, like yours, the tree will often hedge its bets and keep the branch AND bud out a new one! That can cause unwanted swelling and inverse taper in those areas. Also, redwoods are strongly apical dominant: they want to grow UP! The branch in the green circle on the left could easily become a second trunk....especially given that is it externally facing and likely to get more light than interior branches. The upward pointing branch in the green circle on the right: same thing. On larger trees, the apical leader would normally supress the tendency of the branch buds turning up. With a strong leader, the branches often have to grow more horizontal to get to the light. You'll want to make some decisions on whether you want to encourage the branches to remain "branch-like". That might mean wire to bend them horizontal to look more branch like or clip back to a bud node to remove the upward growth. New growth will be more shaded and thus tend to grow out first.

Tree placement wise? I'm guessing you purchased this planting in this configuration? It has that sort of pentagon shape (which is slightly better than the olympic ring shape!) that you see in a lot in mass forest plantings of dawn redwoods. You've just repotted, and you confess not to know much about bonsai so don't fret that now. Learn how the trees grow and react and focus on keeping them happy However, in your spare time, research "the fine art of tree spacing in bonsai forest plantings" There is a forest section to the forum to get some ideas. Make a plan for the next repot

Dawn redwood is pretty robust. Mine grow like weeds. Too dry for too long will kill them...but not much else! They will appreciate full sun most of the year. Fine foliage will dry and crisp if you get temps upwards of 38C unless you keep them well hydrated. They can live submerged for short periods. I try not to keep mine submerged...but mine do get overwatered from most people's perspectives

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Your arrangement is not bad. Better than most first attempts. So take heart in that, it is a serious compliment. The critique above by @LittleDingus is mostly on the mark. You can work the roots again next spring.

Dawn Redwood are very fast growing, and become robust trees rapidly. You may actually want to begin shopping for a new, larger future pot. For a 5 tree forest a 50 cm to 75 cm length pot would actually make it easier to keep the trees in check, because they would be able to grow out and up.

Dawn redwood are incredibly winter hardy. They survive -30 C without problem. Except at extreme elevation, most of Spain is mild enough that dawn redwood can be wintered in the exact same location they are grown all summer. So moving on to a larger contain should not pose too much trouble. No winter "logistics" because you really don't have to move the pot.

 

[Jan JC]

Some of my favorite trees!

You mention the "mountain" due to not wanting to remove too many roots. If you do not already have one, get or make yourself one of these:

Amazon.com : root hook

The first time I used one, I was amazed at how much it helps untangle roots. With one of these, it's quite possible that you could have raked out the bottom of the root ball to untangle it enough to flatten out into that pot without having to cut very much.

While it's bare, you might want to take a pair of angle cutters and try and "smooth out" the transition from the last trunk chops and remove some of what might become troublesome branches.

View attachment 372038

Look for spots like I marked in red. This is an old chop point. Now that the new leader has established, you can use an angle or concave cutter and cut off the stub of the old leader. In most cases, you should be able to keep the bark around 3/4 of the new leader while trimming off the old stub that will not heal well. Of you can get that old chop stub off, the trunk should heal over much nicer. As the trunks thicken, the bend for the new apex will become less noticeable as well.

It's hard to see what is going on in the blue circle given the angle of the photo. It looks like multiple leaders have started at a chop point. If you can make an angle cut to clean out all but one leader, it will heal in time as well. You're likely to develop a knuckle or some inverse taper in these kinds of situations if you don't clean them up a little. If you can clean them up, the trees will have a much more natural look over time.

The areas circled in green might need some decisions as well. Dawns tend to bud under the arm pit of trunk branches. If the previous branch has died back or is very weak, the buds will often take over and form a new branch. If the branch is very strong, often the buds won't elongate. They may even die off over the next winter. On young trees, like yours, the tree will often hedge its bets and keep the branch AND bud out a new one! That can cause unwanted swelling and inverse taper in those areas. Also, redwoods are strongly apical dominant: they want to grow UP! The branch in the green circle on the left could easily become a second trunk....especially given that is it externally facing and likely to get more light than interior branches. The upward pointing branch in the green circle on the right: same thing. On larger trees, the apical leader would normally supress the tendency of the branch buds turning up. With a strong leader, the branches often have to grow more horizontal to get to the light. You'll want to make some decisions on whether you want to encourage the branches to remain "branch-like". That might mean wire to bend them horizontal to look more branch like or clip back to a bud node to remove the upward growth. New growth will be more shaded and thus tend to grow out first.

Tree placement wise? I'm guessing you purchased this planting in this configuration? It has that sort of pentagon shape (which is slightly better than the olympic ring shape!) that you see in a lot in mass forest plantings of dawn redwoods. You've just repotted, and you confess not to know much about bonsai so don't fret that now. Learn how the trees grow and react and focus on keeping them happy However, in your spare time, research "the fine art of tree spacing in bonsai forest plantings" There is a forest section to the forum to get some ideas. Make a plan for the next repot

Dawn redwood is pretty robust. Mine grow like weeds. Too dry for too long will kill them...but not much else! They will appreciate full sun most of the year. Fine foliage will dry and crisp if you get temps upwards of 38C unless you keep them well hydrated. They can live submerged for short periods. I try not to keep mine submerged...but mine do get overwatered from most people's perspectives

Well @LittleDingus , first of all , thank you very much for your comments!
I also love Dawn Redwoods, specially because of their decideous foliage, "rare" in conifers.

About what you said of the bonsai itself :

•I'll try to correct those old chops marked in red, they're quite ugly, but as I don't have that tool it will be hard to do so ( I may have to look for one...... anyway.)

•Then, it's true that the organisation of the trees is quite poor.... actually , it's a 0 out of 10, but I was afraid of touching too much its roots. Nevertheless, seen It's such a hardy tree, in a future repot (maybe next year is Ok??) I'll just reorganise the trees, positioning the main one in the front and the others on the sides and so on, as well as I'll work more on the roots.

•Oh and another thing, I have a Kumade (actually it's an improvised one with a fork)...will it work in the same way as that hook you told me about?

•About temperatures...I don't care at all, as maximums here are 31°C in average and rarely exced 34°C, only in some Insane heat waves 37°C are recorded (Barcelona's wheater is quite mild).
I'm quite regular with watering, and even in some hot and dry days in summer I let some of my most water demanding plants submerged in water, same I'll do with this one.

Well...I think I've answered most of your corrections, and I'll try to fix them in a (hope it's close)future.
Thanks again and
See you!

 

[Jan JC]

Your arrangement is not bad. Better than most first attempts. So take heart in that, it is a serious compliment. The critique above by @LittleDingus is mostly on the mark. You can work the roots again next spring.

Dawn Redwood are very fast growing, and become robust trees rapidly. You may actually want to begin shopping for a new, larger future pot. For a 5 tree forest a 50 cm to 75 cm length pot would actually make it easier to keep the trees in check, because they would be able to grow out and up.

Dawn redwood are incredibly winter hardy. They survive -30 C without problem. Except at extreme elevation, most of Spain is mild enough that dawn redwood can be wintered in the exact same location they are grown all summer. So moving on to a larger contain should not pose too much trouble. No winter "logistics" because you really don't have to move the pot.

Hi @Leo in N E Illinois !

What you say about the pot...it's true that it's not the most suitable, and I'll get some other when the tree is more "mature", but I couldn't manage a bigger one as I don't have lots of space . The size I have now is more or less the most I can give to that bonsai.
If I could I'd have a huge one with plenty of metasequoias in there..... would be perfect...

Moving to the weather topic: I guess my climate isn't a problem at all for the metasequoia, neither because of the annual minimums (0°C to 5°C) nor the maximums (30°C to 34°C).
Barcelona is in USDA Zone 10a (some areas 9b)
and Heat Zone 7 to 8.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Jan JC]

I was just thinking....
Am I still intime to re-repot those metasequoias?? (Maybe it's a crazy idea)
I'd just reorganise the trees , so they could grow all this year in their future location.
Let me know what you think.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

If less than one week has passed since the initial repot has passed, you are probably okay. If more than 2 weeks has passed definitely wait until next year.

Dawn redwood are very vigorous, if they are grown with ample water. They can be repotted every year while young. As they develop, repotting frequency should go to every 2 or 3 years, long still for finished designs.

You can keep this planting small enough to remain in this pot as long as you like. You will simply have to be more aggressive with pruning. Initially, you won't have trouble. It is years down the road.

By the way, they love being moist. It is helpful to stand the pot in a shallow tray of water during the heat of summer. Especially if you find your pot needing water more than once a day.

 

[Jan JC]

Well, I was thinking again (I'm thinking too much today) and just got to the conclusion that maybe repoting again after repoting could be a bit stressing for the plant (they may fall into depression and need to go to a psychologist for a season)and I don't want that.

Anyways....I was just wondering if I could "tilt" a little bit the trees you see in this picture, in order to make the forest a more open space...or maybe It's a total mess , IDK!!


I know...my Photoshop skills are too good to be true.

Oh and another question!!
Is it normal for metasequoia to take soooooo long to shoot in spring? Every of my other decideous have already grown adult leaves back (A.palmatum, U.parvifolia...) but metasequoia hasn't yet,maybe due to this "cold" Spring we are experiencing?

 

[Jan JC]

If less than one week has passed since the initial repot has passed, you are probably okay. If more than 2 weeks has passed definitely wait until next year.

Dawn redwood are very vigorous, if they are grown with ample water. They can be repotted every year while young. As they develop, repotting frequency should go to every 2 or 3 years, long still for finished designs.

You can keep this planting small enough to remain in this pot as long as you like. You will simply have to be more aggressive with pruning. Initially, you won't have trouble. It is years down the road.

By the way, they love being moist. It is helpful to stand the pot in a shallow tray of water during the heat of summer. Especially if you find your pot needing water more than once a day.

I've just repotted it this morning .

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Ok! Let’s see some photos?
best
DSD sends

 

[Jan JC]

Ok! Let’s see some photos?
best
DSD sends

I'm sorry I didn't understand you.
Which photos do you mean to send?

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Oops, I thought you meant you just repotted again?

 

[Jan JC]

Oops, I thought you meant you just repotted again?

Oh no no
But I'm seriously thinking of doing so ...

 

[Jan JC]

Just imagine I decided to do so....
What do you think about this composition?!
.......thoughts?

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Well.... my limited experience has come to the conclusion that I’d rather rearrange and be happy with the layout, health considerations considered, than look at the arrangement I consider unsatisfactory... . and Dawn Redwood is really robust

 

[Jan JC]

Or maybe this one....2 on the left and 3 on the right...?

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Flip the second design around and see what it looks like. As Dawns grow so fast you might want the largest in the rear 1/3

 

[Jan JC]

Shouldn't the largest/main tree go in the front?

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

It can be either depending on the view, near or distant (landscape)

 

[Jan JC]

Actually, all trees are the same size now, so I could just put them in its place and then decide which one let grow the most.... Could I?
It's 20:40 right now....should I repot it before sun goes down?