Some general advice dawn redwood forest

Darran

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Hi

I’m new to bonsai and have been gathering a few cheap plants from my local nursery. I came across this dawn redwood forest and was attracted to the front tree with the slightly bent base of the trunk.

The rest of the forest seems very congested at the top and very little trunk showing. Some of the trees have long branches that have obviously grown this year.

questions I have for the more experienced are

Can I prune this at this time of year, and should I aim for the classic conicle shape around the outline of the forest by reducing the height of some of the trees.

I assume getting light into the branches is also key to a healthy forest.

what else should I be doing at this stage with this little group And what should I be considering next spring etc.

Finally anyone in the UK keeping these, if so do you keep them out all winter.
 

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Fidur

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Quite interesting. I also have one of these dawn redwood forests, and like you I am a beginner. So let's wait for someone else......
 

TinyArt

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And I'm curious, so I'll give a bump to stay on the first page!
 

Underdog

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You absolutely can and should be pruning D Redwood this time of year. Look for a caramel colored bud closest to the trunk to cut back to. Mine stay out all winter in zone 6
 

Haines' Trees

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I’m in Zone 5, I bury the pot in November and didn’t dig it out until the end of March this last year.

Nice looking group of dawns. I’m by no means an authority but I have seen branches shaded out on my group planting. I did an early summer pruning, just looking for branches that would eventually cross or are otherwise be a problem. I’ll likely end up doing a late season prune as well, probably next month.
 

Darran

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So I cut back some of the growth and can see al, the trees have upright growing branches. Question is how do I turn this little lot into more tree like structures.

also why do some of the branches have single long leaves and then change to the more heron bone shape.

looking for some guidance on how to improve this little group.
 

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I wait until the branches turn reddish brown before I prune so they don't fall off in the fall. Sometimes if your pruning green branch leaves you will lose them in fall and have to regrow them in spring.
 

LittleDingus

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That is much nicer than mine, with much more heronbone leaf structure and far less straight up branches. not sure how I get mine to that.

The lack of "herringbone" branches in favor of upright growth is likely due to new growth after the chops. Redwoods are apical dominant. Most new growth after a chop will tend to be upright as the tree works to establish a new leader. They want to get above the crowds! You can wire the growth you want to be branches (herringbone growth) horizontal and it will often convert. The young joint may be brittle though...wire with care!

The reverse is also true. Wire a branch so the tip is up and it will sometimes convert. Sometimes it will stunt though. It partly depends on how strong the tree is. This is from a much larger, stronger tree that has never been chopped.

20210713_204447.jpg

I'm not sure if it's a good illustration or not :( But the lower growth on that branch that is horizontal/weeping is what I believe you're referring to as herringbone growth. The closer you look to the branch tip...which is growing more vertical...the more the growth pattern changes.

You might just let it do it's thing the rest of this season. Wait to early spring. By early spring, it should be clear which growth is going to die back...there will likely be some...prune that and prune back to the leader you want to keep. These back bud profusely! With a new leader from go, you should get more branches next season.
 

Darran

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The lack of "herringbone" branches in favor of upright growth is likely due to new growth after the chops. Redwoods are apical dominant. Most new growth after a chop will tend to be upright as the tree works to establish a new leader. They want to get above the crowds! You can wire the growth you want to be branches (herringbone growth) horizontal and it will often convert. The young joint may be brittle though...wire with care!

The reverse is also true. Wire a branch so the tip is up and it will sometimes convert. Sometimes it will stunt though. It partly depends on how strong the tree is. This is from a much larger, stronger tree that has never been chopped.

View attachment 386233

I'm not sure if it's a good illustration or not :( But the lower growth on that branch that is horizontal/weeping is what I believe you're referring to as herringbone growth. The closer you look to the branch tip...which is growing more vertical...the more the growth pattern changes.

You might just let it do it's thing the rest of this season. Wait to early spring. By early spring, it should be clear which growth is going to die back...there will likely be some...prune that and prune back to the leader you want to keep. These back bud profusely! With a new leader from go, you should get more branches next season.
Thank you for that, my forest is still vey young and has been chopped by the looks of things. All my branches are growing vertical and are quite thick and green they do not bend much and forcing them horizontal to the trunk will snap them I’m sure. I will let it grow out this year and see what I have in March next year to work with.
 

Maw

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That is much nicer than mine, with much more heronbone leaf structure and far less straight up branches. not sure how I get mine to that.
I selected one branch(leader) to work with for almost al of the trunks. Still much work to do. But start there! Nigel saunders has a movie of how he started with his dawn redwood
. Its the second half of the video. The first part is about the sequoias
 

Maw

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Thank you for that, my forest is still vey young and has been chopped by the looks of things. All my branches are growing vertical and are quite thick and green they do not bend much and forcing them horizontal to the trunk will snap them I’m sure. I will let it grow out this year and see what I have in March next year to work with.
they bend when brown. Never whire or bend green branches because they grow way to fast
 

Darran

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we have had a lot of wet weather recently and this is how my forest is currently. Some new branches have been sprouting and the top as thickened up again.
 

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Darran

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Moving to Autumn
 

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Darran

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Well my redwoods look like they survived winter.
 

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IsaM

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Yep, I'm in London and have a 15 tree Redwood forest. I leave them outside all year with relatively limited/no protection.

Given we get lots of late frosts it's likely the leaves will go a light brown colour at some point in the next couple of months - don't do what I did the first year I owned these and fear they are dying, it's just the impact of the cold on spring growth.

I love mine, they are extremely low maintenance and you can cut them back hard as and when needed. Key is they like their roots wet, much wetter than 90% of other trees. Good luck with the progression!
 

Darran

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Yep, I'm in London and have a 15 tree Redwood forest. I leave them outside all year with relatively limited/no protection.

Given we get lots of late frosts it's likely the leaves will go a light brown colour at some point in the next couple of months - don't do what I did the first year I owned these and fear they are dying, it's just the impact of the cold on spring growth.

I love mine, they are extremely low maintenance and you can cut them back hard as and when needed. Key is they like their roots wet, much wetter than 90% of other trees. Good luck with the progression!

i am not sure what I would like to do with this little group. Last year they looked really wild when they were growing and then lost all of it during winter. I can find very little in the way of images or videos on developing a dw forest.
 
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