Developing Trunk

[one_bonsai]

Just reading this article on trunk development:

http://bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATdevelopingtrunksforbonsai page2.html

It shows this diagram:



And says:

"The shoot a is chosen to be the new section of the trunk. It is left unpruned to accelerate its thickening which in turn will help to heal the scar caused by the trunkchop. The trunkchop can be tidied up into a diagonal cut now or left until mid Spring at which point it will heal faster.

Shoot b will be the first branch. Along with the other shoots that are retained, it is pruned back to 1 or 2 nodes or leaf joints. Pruning the future branching back this hard begins the process of building taper and natural movement to the branching. It also promotes further backbudding from the trunk the following Spring.

Shoot c will be the second branch and will be positioned on the outside of the trunk's bend to the left. It s growth will also help promote healing of the scar at the base of the trunk chop. For trunk that has been chopped to a third of its projected final height, c will be the first branch and b can be removed."


My questions is why is branch "b" removed". Is it used to thicken the lower portion of the trunk and once the desired thickness has been achieved it is no longer needed and is therefore removed?

 

[Gustavo Martins]

“For trunk that has been chopped to a third of its projected final height, c will be the first branch and b can be removed."

It is removed for stylistic reasons. They don’t want any branch lower than 1/3 of the final height of the tree

 

[one_bonsai]

It is removed for stylistic reasons. They don’t want any branch lower than 1/3 of the final height of the tree

So why is shoot B retained, why not chop it off straight away?

 

[Gustavo Martins]

it was probably left to help thicken the trunk. Now that the trunk has the required thickness it is chopped back for taper at 1/3 the final height and all the branches below that height are removed.

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

b is the first branch. It is allowed to thicken and is cut back to 2 or 3 nodes so you can start a good branch structure. It will not be removed entirely.

 

[markyscott]

I looked at the article and understood it to mean that in the tree he is developing by way of example, “b” would be the first branch. On the first page he says that he had chopped it to 2/3 the height of the final tree. It was planned for 18” so “b” is about 6” from the ground. If he were discussing a tree that was chopped to 1/3 of the final height, “b” would be 3” from the ground and, therefore, too low relative to the final height. So “c” would be a better first branch.

S