Deadwood, Natural or created?

BuckeyeOne

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I've always wondered when viewing many trees with deadwood/live veins, are these natural occurring or manmade?
I understand that deadwood does occur naturally, but how does one determine what can be made into a shari?
In some species, the roots may connected directly to one branch as in Mugos. If you cut a branch close to the trunk, the associated root may die.
If I had a pine or conifer that had no deadwood, how do I determine where to create a shari, without harming the tree?
Thanks in advance!!
 

leatherback

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Young trees do not have deadwood.
More mature trees you can usually spot the dead sections in the bark, because they seem depressed and might have cracks along the edges.

First thing to do it to establish whether there are dead sections.

In general, man-made shari are created one step at a time. First opening up a narrow strip. Alway moving WITH the grain of the bark. As long as you can trace from the branch down to the roots, there should be no issue. Also conifers can to a certain extend move their sap around to respond to damage.
Once you have established the shari you want, over the years you can expand it.
 

BuckeyeOne

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Ahhh! Thank you!
I don't have any material that is displaying much age as of yet. The closest may be a few mugos and spruce.
As they are young and not of much value, I may try your suggestion of starting thin shari and try to develop them over time.
 

WNC Bonsai

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If it is yamadori the deadwood probably is natural or “enhanced”. If nursery grown or from someone’s yard then probably not natural. I‘ve seen a lot of carving videos on YouTube and most do not end up looking natural even if they started as yamadori. There are a few masters of carving that can do a very nice job but most look fake and overdone to me.
 

leatherback

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There are a few masters of carving that can do a very nice job but most look fake and overdone to me.
Most deadwood needs time to age. Very few can work on wood and make it look good directly out of the box. However, as it ages (untreated) nature does wonders fixing out abilities.
 

Shibui

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Dead wood on bonsai can be either natural or man made.
Dead wood can be made to soften or hide large scars from trunk chops or branch pruning.
Dead wood on the trunk can help give the feel of taper where there is none after thick trunks have been chopped.

Most trees do not have direct connection between a branch and a root. Most trees can reroute sap paths to cope with lost branches or lost roots so I have no problem carving spiral shari up an otherwise straight juniper trunk. Older trees probably have more defined sap flow and may also have less ability to change flow but younger trees generally have no problems. The biggest catch when making dead wood is hidden areas of already dead wood. On slow growing species the bark will cover dead areas for a number of years so if you don't check carefully can get caught. @leatherback has already mentioned there are some telltale signs to look for but sometimes not as obvious.

Plan the shari and dead wood more to enhance the design and trunk lines than for other factors.

Building dead wood a little at a time over years can give wonderful fluted texture to exposed dead areas.
 

Shibui

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removing bark to make dead sections is one thing. Actually carving the dead wood is another kettle of fish.
Good carving takes plenty of practice to make it look natural. I suggest studying real, naturally formed dead wood in trees to see how the hollows follow the grain of the wood. Closely examine good examples of carved trunks to see how experienced people get their work to look natural. Practice with the tools on spare pieces of wood and younger trees before trying intricate work on good trees.
When using power tools to carve go slowly. It is easy to go well past what was intended with some of the modern carving bits and it is difficult to put all the sawdust back after. Small slip ups can usually be incorporated with a slight change in plan but bigger problems are just that.
 
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Young trees do not have deadwood.
More mature trees you can usually spot the dead sections in the bark, because they seem depressed and might have cracks along the edges.

First thing to do it to establish whether there are dead sections.

In general, man-made shari are created one step at a time. First opening up a narrow strip. Alway moving WITH the grain of the bark. As long as you can trace from the branch down to the roots, there should be no issue. Also conifers can to a certain extend move their sap around to respond to damage.
Once you have established the shari you want, over the years you can expand it.
Hi Leatherback/all

Just on the 'always move with the grain' topic, is it possible to create some (limited) movement in a straight trunk by curving the shari around the trunk?

I'm not talking Turkey Twizzlers here, but over time could you say, direct a live vein from one side of the trunk to the other - which would cut through the grain?
 

Potawatomi13

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Hi Leatherback/all

Just on the 'always move with the grain' topic, is it possible to create some (limited) movement in a straight trunk by curving the shari around the trunk?

I'm not talking Turkey Twizzlers here, but over time could you say, direct a live vein from one side of the trunk to the other - which would cut through the grain?
In a word, Yes. Do you have Mirai live subscription or Bonsai Techniques by Naka by chance. Ryan explains how Master Naka wrapped wire around trunk several strands side by side until bark underneath dies. Then wire is removed. Voila: spiraling shari ☺️. Nutshell description only. Go to source: https://live.bonsaimirai.com/library/video/ponderosa-pine-styling for proper understanding.
 

Shibui

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Just on the 'always move with the grain' topic, is it possible to create some (limited) movement in a straight trunk by curving the shari around the trunk?

I'm not talking Turkey Twizzlers here, but over time could you say, direct a live vein from one side of the trunk to the other - which would cut through the grain?
You can certainly cut across the grain when making shari. Young trees do not have defined 'live veins'. While sap does flow as direct as possible trees do have a fallback where sap can start to flow across to nearby sap paths if necessary - otherwise large sections would die after any damage.
I have carved corkscrew shari on shimpaku trunks and they just adapt. No need to make wire damage just go straight to it.
While the trunks of these shimpaku have been bent and twisted I have not necessarily followed the 'grain' when adding the shari later.
twisted shim 2 2018 4 2.JPGtwisted shimpaku 1 2018 4 1.JPG
I have done other shari with more twists that this but can't find photos now.

Provided there's no hidden damage and provided each branch has a continuous bark connection to the roots you can make shari go anywhere you want on younger trees.
The second tree above proved to have damage hidden under the old bark so when I widened that shari further a couple of years ago the top section died off due to no viable connection to the roots.
IMGP0052.JPG

Older trees may have developed stronger live connections to individual roots and may have more difficulty making new connections. That's when problems can occur but generally you should be able to spot raised parts of the trunk showing where more sap flows and therefore more trunk thickening or conversely sunken sections indicating very low sap flow. Beware of crossing thicker and thinner sections of older juniper trunks or previously damaged trunks.
 
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