Killing the branches for dead wood?

GOZTEK

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Hi all, next week i will be in my first year in Bonsai and really proud of it. Anyway i have some questions and as this is my first year in bonsai i am not an expert but i have an idea and i wanted to know what you think. I have been seeing some great trees with lots and lots of dead wood in them and have seen alot of working done to trunk. I have 2 privets that have some natural dead wood which i find fantastic. So here is my question, instead of working and carving some wanted dead branches what if we try to cut the vein from where we want the branch dead and then leave it to die naturally, the bark will come of by its own in some years and the dead wood is naturaly and you don't have to grate, carve, sand, fire and everything else we do to kill a trunk or branch?
i wanted to know if anyone tried this before
Thanks
Noel
 
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It will rot before it becomes anything interesting... hence why all the other steps you mentioned need to happen. Bark on deadwood means rot. Unless you live in the desert, and plan on living a really long time to see it become something groovy. :)
 

GOZTEK

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that is strange to understand because most of the trees in the wild do this, and you see trees with perfect dead wood in them as i said i have these 2 privets that has this natural dead wood, these 2 trees were left unwanted by everyone in large pots as shrubs so the dead woon in them is natural and it is perfectly healthy i never put in anything to them, and i have them now for about a year
 
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Some woods are more durable than others certainly... but I think about making deadwood to last decades not years... to preserve them at their best, getting them dried out and exposed to air rather than the moisture that bark will trap against them, is generally always your best bet.

Soft wood trees like pines, fir, and a lot of deciduous trees are particularly susceptible to rot... I think yew would endure a nuclear bomb very nearly... so that practice would likely not hurt it. Cedars are pretty tough as well due to the resins in them. But then again, it won't degrade into anything visually appealing in a score of years either. So why wait? Using tools to expedite the process - be they hand or power - is generally an acceptible way to give visual interest in your deadwood areas. So I am curious as to what intrigues you about making it die and degrade "naturally". Do you not enjoy the scuplting process? Or are you trying to approach this from a unique purist ideal? No wrong answers in this... I'm just curious about your motivations.

There is certainly nothing wrong with experimenting, I just don't know that I would do it with anything I actually cared about.

Congrats on your 1st year btw... I hope it's been an enlightening one for you.

Kindest regards,

Victrinia
 

Redwing

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So I am curious as to what intrigues you about making it die and degrade "naturally". Do you not enjoy the scuplting process? Or are you trying to approach this from a unique purist ideal? No wrong answers in this... I'm just curious about your motivations.

Well, Vic, I'm a bit of an old-school hand tools sort of guy when it comes to deadwood, but I have to admit I'd follow Goztek's protocol before I'd let Dan Robinson make my tree look like it had been devoured by a mound of giant termites on acid.

Fondly but only somewhat kidding,
rw
 
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Well, Vic, I'm a bit of an old-school hand tools sort of guy when it comes to deadwood, but I have to admit I'd follow Goztek's protocol before I'd let Dan Robinson make my tree look like it had been devoured by a mound of giant termites on acid.

Fondly but only somewhat kidding,
rw

Hahahahha.... but my dear friend... you are leaving out the part that you wouldn't follow that protocol if Daniel wasn't a 100 miles in sight of your tree. I will definitely give you points for making me laugh though. I will also give you points for totally comprehending Daniel's aesthetic, even if you don't like it... termites on acid... that's so funny I'll have to tell him the remark.

Warmest regards,

V
 

Redwing

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Hahahahha.... but my dear friend... you are leaving out the part that you wouldn't follow that protocol if Daniel wasn't a 100 miles in sight of your tree.

True.

Thanks for taking my remarks as intended -- with good humor and no malice.

-rw
 
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True.

Thanks for taking my remarks as intended -- with good humor and no malice.

-rw

No worries my friend... I know how to "read" you... you even have a voice over in my head. lol Very Denis Leary... gritty and sarcastic, but very endearing. :D

V
 

Redwing

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No worries my friend... I know how to "read" you... you even have a voice over in my head. lol Very Denis Leary... gritty and sarcastic, but very endearing. :D

V

Yep, you pretty much got me pegged. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQxgv4QtKM8 (Adult language)

"You wanna break the rules? It's fine with me...pay the price."
 
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