The fastest way to develop deciduous bonsai: Walter Pall's hedge pruning method explained

[Walter Pall]

Right! My point is that if my goal is to achieve that type of, what's commercially considered, Japanese bonsai artistic movement, well I will tend to implement those techniques but if my goal is towards the naturalistic movement, well I will try it's techniques.
'Highly refined' wasn't used completely incorrect, I think that word doesn't apply to what Mr Pall or the naturalistic movement implies.

The Hedge Pruning Method has nothing to do with style. It is a method. It can very well be applied to orthodox bonsai with great results. It can also be applied to hedges.and topiary trees

 

[leatherback]

It can also be applied to hedges.and topiary trees

Great! My trees are not much more than that, so I can use your technique on my trees too

 

[Driftwood]

At the moment I disagree with Mr. Pall last comment, anyway! I guess the next link qualifies as hedge pruning with scissors, kind of the way Rafael was doing?

 

[Trenthany]

On facebook a discussion has started about this video. i think I share one answer here:

"don’t you sacrifice delicacy of the branch tips by letting the growth extend 6 weeks?"

Well, much to most people's surprise the opposite happens. First I let grow freely with lots of fertilizing and watering. The shoots get coarse and often internodes are long. Don't worry. After six to eight weeks most of this is cut off like a hedge. Then usually the tree explodes into many more buds than it would have ever made otherwise. The second flush appears. it is much finer, long internodes are rare. you let this grow again freely another six weeks. Then hedge again. The third flush is very fine and dense. You then wait until the foliage is off. You have a problem. There is too much ramification. There are too my shoots. But most of them are delicate. Some in between which have long internodes. Some too fat. Many in the wrong places. Anyway now you edit carefully taking away everything that you don't like. The result is a MUCH denser tree with very delicate branches. And then the next year. After a few years you have a much better tree with very delicate ramification. In the meanwhile the nebari and the trunk got a lot bigger.

Big drawback: During all these years your tree did not look right most of the time. But in the end you will have a much better tree than you ever could have made with conventional methods over decades.

So this method is for developing raw material but also improving already very good masterpieces.

Why do the big name nurseries not do it? Why do the Japanese not do it? Because they want their tree to look good all the time . They need to sell. They cannot afford to have untidy looking trees in their garden. So this method is for amateurs who want to have the best trees around and are ready to pay the price for this. The price is that the are ridiculed for many years. - until the results cannot be ignored.

Funny: I have to explain the hedging method in a thread that started out to explain the Walter Pall hedging method but somehow it did not come across.

Thank you for the explanation of the explanation! Lmao. I had actually gotten that and am reading the debate. There several people that deserve a ton of respect in here, all of the “grays” deserve it just about (I am guessing very few “grays” Take up the hobby so most have 20-62 years experience. Far more than my bald self. Lol. So thank you to you and all the others that share their wisdom across this marvelous internet that I grew up watching develop. Without so many of us would have no way to learn from you guys and thank you for being a part of it so we can learn. I know I question a lot of best practices and wonder about exceptions but that is my nature. I’m trying to find limits and variations. I’ve always been an iconoclast at heart but am smart enough to avoid being a true rebel. I don’t want to get hedged! Maybe just ramified! I appreciate those like me that question because we are going to be the future and those like you guys that share your knowledge to make sure we don’t wreck the future!

 

[Trenthany]

i was at Rosenberg two weeks ago for first time.. i don't know about going to Lufkin.. LOL

Texans willing to drive three hours to get to the next town. Has to consider overnight trips to get across state. People just don’t understand! I get people in Florida saying but it’s an hour drive! In Texas that might be across town!
Sincerely, TX expat living in FL.

 

[Mikecheck123]

Has anyone actually seen pollarding bulges from doing this? And can someone please tell Bjorn how to pronounce it?

 

[sorce]

If they have, the practitioner doesn't understand the method.

Which is rampant.

Sorce

 

[jerzyjerzy]

That was my question as well when listening to the podcast. I think this is a pure rhetorical twist to help to prove his thesis, but it is simply not true, because you are supposed to correct visible faults every fall. It would never happen in reality.