Giant sequoia pruning

[Crazy Diamond]

I need some advice, as I am new to bonsai, I got this giant sequoia from a nursery online, I live in east coast, I want to create a bonsai out of it. I understand it will be years before it becomes a bonsai. But I want to start the wait in a good direction. Attached are the images. should I chop the trunk from the red mark and use the new growing bud as new leader? Or try to reduce the branches from the top and wait if it create any more new buds near bottom as there are not many branches. This is 36 inches in height and 1-1/4 trunk width, 8 x 8 root ball. Any suggestion are highly appreciated, also is it a right time to just put it in a bigger container without pruning any roots.View attachment 281219View attachment 281220 Thanks in Advance.

Nice job they did there, off the small pot into the big one some new dirt around and let it go!! haha

 

[PA_Penjing]

Are any of these near you?

I'm impressed, there were 3 or 4 legit old sequoia on that list. So it's possible, I concede there.

The list did include a lot of small trees that very well may die, seems like 5feet and just above is where I've heard most folks start complain of dying off. And it had a couple doubles of the real trees. So I'll admit it's possible but there's certainly hurdles, as I said I have never seen one with my own eyes. Not even at the arboretum, but I will check out the one in wilkes barre if I find myself near the area that was the only one nearby-ish. Most of these locations are in cool parts of PA, lower summer temps than me and colder winter temps. talking like handful of degrees though.

Also, sorry OP, I'm carrying your thread away from your original question. I hope you're at least finding this interesting. I'll stop with the weather logistics

 

[Tieball]

Well. You could just let it grow...taller...taller....that will thicken the trunk below. And, definitely nurture that lowest branch developing. Unless you’re satisfied with the trunk's general thickness now. You’re going to have a chop scar to deal with anyway. Chop when the trunk is right for you. Chopping that above growth off now does slow down the thickening process a few seasons.

 

[LittleDingus]

Also, sorry OP, I'm carrying your thread away from your original question. I hope you're at least finding this interesting. I'll stop with the weather logistics

The OP was last seen Feb 2020

I hope they see all this traffic and come back at least long enough for an update!

 

[LittleDingus]

Well. You could just let it grow...taller...taller....that will thicken the trunk below. And, definitely nurture that lowest branch developing. Unless you’re satisfied with the trunk's general thickness now. You’re going to have a chop scar to deal with anyway. Chop when the trunk is right for you. Chopping that above growth off now does slow down the thickening process a few seasons.

The lower branches need sunlight and room to turn their tips up. My experience is shaded branches die off. But put the trunk back in the sun and it will back bud some...at least while still young.

 

[Syedabrar]

Any updates? Did it get chopped, or partly jinned this winter? If neither, maybe you could "split the difference" between keeping/chopping the top, by vertically splitting it, and removing the side of the top that lines up with the first branch, but leaving the other side? That would add taper, deadwood, and leave at least one branch feeding the roots on the one side, and some other high branches feeding the roots on the other side.

It had nice growth in the summer, in late summer I jinned up the top and kept the lower mid trunk branch, ended up killing the it. This is the draw back of being a rookie bonsai enthusiast with minimal patience. I should have let the lower branch get more strong and then chopped it.

 

[Rivka]

I know this is is and older thread, but keeps popping up in searches becasue it does have some good info. But also some big myths.
I'm glad it has finally been said a bit, but this myth that Sequoiadendron is not cold tolerant is so far from the truth, as folks have pointed out, they grow in the mountains that regularly get large snow loads all winter. It is drying out from low winter humidity and wind that likely kills long before temps do.

The other thing that happens as the sotries move from person to person is that
Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) gets easily mixed up with the more common bonsai subject, the
Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) which confusingly has its cousin's name clearer that even he does! the Coast Readwood as the name implies is a low coastal speseis and does not tolerate nearly as wide or as cold of range as the Giant Sequoia.

Let's not even get me started on the feisty rebel of the family (subfamily in this case). This final cousin of the Redwoods gets all punk and is deciduous, possibly just to freak out 10s or 1000's of casual gardeners each fall!

Here is a great primer on the 3 unlikely cousins of the Subfamily Sequoioideae:
Comparison of Redwood Species

 

[yosemitesamiam]

@Syedabrar
You found the "ultimate references" in that Craig Cousins, the artist in the Bonsai Empire article has (had) one of the best known sequoia bonsai. Notice, that neither the Bonsai Empire article, nor the giant-sequoia.com website mention "Trunk CHopping" a sequoia. I believe trunk chopping would be ill advised.

If your tree was mine, I would keep it tall, I would not attempt reducing the height as you initially proposed. They are giant trees, and even as bonsai tend to be large trees.

However if you do want to reduce the height, I suggest you "jinn" the top, rather than cut it off. Remove the bark from the point at which you intended to cut at, and strip the bark of upwards to the top.. Allow the created deadwood to dry out, then reduce and carve the deadwood feature to fit with the scale and design of your future tree. Initially start with deadwood feature being much longer than the design calls for, you can always reduce the deadwood later. It is difficult to add the deadwood back if you cut it too short initially.

The reason to create deadwood instead of a typical pruning chop is that the wound healing and growth pattern of sequoia is similar to juniper, and for that matter bald cypress, dawn redwood and coast redwood.

Flush cuts do not heal over very rapidly at all. Decades are needed. Slowly as the trunk expands, it may cover the wound where a branch or trunk was cut flush, but usually the wound remains. Callus does not roll over the flush cut the way it would in an apple tree or an oak tree. In junipers, we handle this by creating deadwood features, jin, as the wound would otherwise always be there, the tool marks of the flush cut stump always being a reminder that the "hand of man" was used to create the image. Deadwood features can be made to look natural enough that the "hand of man" is disguised. In bald cypress and dawn redwood, such flush cuts are carved deeper to create "uro" or hollows in the trunk. I haven't work with coast redwood, so I am not very familiar with their wound healing pattern, but because of their relationship with the others, I assume they respond like bald cypress and dawn redwood.

So if you do want to reduce the height, don't "trunk chop", instead create a long jin (deadwood feature).

Thank you for commenting on this. I just registered because of this thread. I too have bookmarked and saved the Craig Cousins post for years now. I started a sequoia from a sapling about 11 years ago now….it now stands nearing 9’ tall (minus the pot) with an almost 8” diameter base. It’s only been up-potted twice and am getting ready for a major transplant the next couple weeks. I have chopped some lower branches over time, leaving some length sticking out to some mid-height ones (sorry I’m unfamiliar with official bonsai jargon). I haven’t decided how to keep it from continuing its push upward however. I am a little scared of just cutting the top out of the tree and using a top branch to hide the scar. However I am wanting the base to continue to expand some more so will let it grow another season since it’s needing transplanted anyhow. Too much all at once.

@Syedabrar
You found the "ultimate references" in that Craig Cousins, the artist in the Bonsai Empire article has (had) one of the best known sequoia bonsai. Notice, that neither the Bonsai Empire article, nor the giant-sequoia.com website mention "Trunk CHopping" a sequoia. I believe trunk chopping would be ill advised.

If your tree was mine, I would keep it tall, I would not attempt reducing the height as you initially proposed. They are giant trees, and even as bonsai tend to be large trees.

However if you do want to reduce the height, I suggest you "jinn" the top, rather than cut it off. Remove the bark from the point at which you intended to cut at, and strip the bark of upwards to the top.. Allow the created deadwood to dry out, then reduce and carve the deadwood feature to fit with the scale and design of your future tree. Initially start with deadwood feature being much longer than the design calls for, you can always reduce the deadwood later. It is difficult to add the deadwood back if you cut it too short initially.

The reason to create deadwood instead of a typical pruning chop is that the wound healing and growth pattern of sequoia is similar to juniper, and for that matter bald cypress, dawn redwood and coast redwood.

Flush cuts do not heal over very rapidly at all. Decades are needed. Slowly as the trunk expands, it may cover the wound where a branch or trunk was cut flush, but usually the wound remains. Callus does not roll over the flush cut the way it would in an apple tree or an oak tree. In junipers, we handle this by creating deadwood features, jin, as the wound would otherwise always be there, the tool marks of the flush cut stump always being a reminder that the "hand of man" was used to create the image. Deadwood features can be made to look natural enough that the "hand of man" is disguised. In bald cypress and dawn redwood, such flush cuts are carved deeper to create "uro" or hollows in the trunk. I haven't work with coast redwood, so I am not very familiar with their wound healing pattern, but because of their relationship with the others, I assume they respond like bald cypress and dawn redwood.

So if you do want to reduce the height, don't "trunk chop", instead create a long jin (deadwood feature).

I registered to the site to reply to this post.

I too bookmarked the Craig Cousins Sequoia in hopes to create that look some day. I’ve been growing a sapling purchased at the Drive Thru Tree in Leggett CA for 11 years now as it is near “home” for me. The tree today stands 9’ tall above dirt and in near 8” in diameter. It is currently in an old whiskey barrel where it’s been happy for years, only being up-potted twice, but is due for a major repot.

I have chopped some lower branches over time and kept some length on some mid-height branches…sort of stumps sticking out. I apologize for not being up on my bonsai jargon.

I do want to limit the tree’s upward growth, though I know that’s a monumental task with these. I was curious to learn more about what you describe here, to jinn the top.
I am planning on the repot this year first (see cedar box photo, though will be two boards shorter). Perhaps start the next process next year of hard pruning. Thank goodness for 10’ garage doors. I do bring it in for the winter (I’m in Spokane WA and we see enough hard freeze that I’ve actually brought in, wrapped the base, and ran a small space heater most of winter every year to be sure a small amount of water can run freely through its soil).

Also I would like the trunk to fatten up some more as well. So not sure if the process of jining would stop it from all growth as would topping?

I look forward to your replies.
Sam

 

[yosemitesamiam]

It had nice growth in the summer, in late summer I jinned up the top and kept the lower mid trunk branch, ended up killing the it. This is the draw back of being a rookie bonsai enthusiast with minimal patience. I should have let the lower branch get more strong and then chopped it.

Bummer!!!

 

[19Mateo83]

Thank you for commenting on this. I just registered because of this thread. I too have bookmarked and saved the Craig Cousins post for years now. I started a sequoia from a sapling about 11 years ago now….it now stands nearing 9’ tall (minus the pot) with an almost 8” diameter base. It’s only been up-potted twice and am getting ready for a major transplant the next couple weeks. I have chopped some lower branches over time, leaving some length sticking out to some mid-height ones (sorry I’m unfamiliar with official bonsai jargon). I haven’t decided how to keep it from continuing its push upward however. I am a little scared of just cutting the top out of the tree and using a top branch to hide the scar. However I am wanting the base to continue to expand some more so will let it grow another season since it’s needing transplanted anyhow. Too much all at once.

I registered to the site to reply to this post.

I too bookmarked the Craig Cousins Sequoia in hopes to create that look some day. I’ve been growing a sapling purchased at the Drive Thru Tree in Leggett CA for 11 years now as it is near “home” for me. The tree today stands 9’ tall above dirt and in near 8” in diameter. It is currently in an old whiskey barrel where it’s been happy for years, only being up-potted twice, but is due for a major repot.

I have chopped some lower branches over time and kept some length on some mid-height branches…sort of stumps sticking out. I apologize for not being up on my bonsai jargon.

I do want to limit the tree’s upward growth, though I know that’s a monumental task with these. I was curious to learn more about what you describe here, to jinn the top.
I am planning on the repot this year first (see cedar box photo, though will be two boards shorter). Perhaps start the next process next year of hard pruning. Thank goodness for 10’ garage doors. I do bring it in for the winter (I’m in Spokane WA and we see enough hard freeze that I’ve actually brought in, wrapped the base, and ran a small space heater most of winter every year to be sure a small amount of water can run freely through its soil).

Also I would like the trunk to fatten up some more as well. So not sure if the process of jining would stop it from all growth as would topping?

I look forward to your replies.
Sam

I have a customer whose late husband purchased a sequoia at the drive through tree also, but he purchased his around the time of the Mt.Saint Helen eruption in 1980. It was planted in their yard in Winston Salem, North Carolina shortly after he brought it home.. (Zone 7B). It’s trunk is around 36 inches in diameter but has only reached about 30-40 foot tall. Her yard is kind of in a low area and the new growth that sticks above the surrounding landscape trees freezes off every year. Definitely a unique tree. It’s a good thing you can wheel yours in the garage. ALSO…. Welcome to the nut house!

 

[yosemitesamiam]

I have a customer whose late husband purchased a sequoia at the drive through tree also, but he purchased his around the time of the Mt.Saint Helen eruption in 1980. It was planted in their yard in Winston Salem, North Carolina shortly after he brought it home.. (Zone 7B). It’s trunk is around 36 inches in diameter but has only reached about 30-40 foot tall. Her yard is kind of in a low area and the new growth that sticks above the surrounding landscape trees freezes off every year. Definitely a unique tree. It’s a good thing you can wheel yours in the garage. ALSO…. Welcome to the nut house!

Ha!! Thank you for the welcome! My other thought is to buy it land and plant it and forget about trying to keep it “tiny”. Lol. Dunno. I would be forever sad if I killed it. This much I know.