What do I have?

[DavidBoren]

I'm not sure what kind of tree it is myself, but oh how I love Portland. Have you checked that massive used bookstore for any vintage bonsai books? Seems like a fun way to spend a cool day reading in a weird coffee shop to soak up some info. Keep it weird, because I hear Portland is changing, at times for the worse. Long live TDW. Best of luck and have fun!

Chris

Yeah, I love Portland, as well. It is changing, though. And I cannot say it's for the better. I'm bouncing out of this mess before it becomes any worse... I don't want to raise my girls in this BS. Portland isn't wierd anymore... it's dirty and anxious and turning into a cesspool... the inept local government blatantly refuses to do literally anything about the homelessness crisis or crime. The police force is horribly understaffed and disfunctional, not that they were ever worth calling in the first place... Portland police are more dangerous than most criminals, you KNOW the cop has gun, you can take your chances with most random criminals, though. At least you might be able to reason with a criminal.

Time to buy a house away from the city. Part of me wants to entrench, and try be part of preserving what made me love Portland to begin with... but what am I going to do? Join the city council or Portland's version of the free masons? Doubtful. Portland is a sinking ship, and I have no obligation to go down with her. I'm leaving with the rats.

I will check out Powell's for some books on bonsai. That is a great suggestion. There are a few nurseries around here that I plan on checking out, as well. They advertise bonsai tools and such, even though I have been making by just fine with my wire cutters and little grooming scissors. My kit will undoubtedly grow, I like buying tools.

 

[El Triminator]

Yeah, I love Portland, as well. It is changing, though. And I cannot say it's for the better. I'm bouncing out of this mess before it becomes any worse... I don't want to raise my girls in this BS. Portland isn't wierd anymore... it's dirty and anxious and turning into a cesspool... the inept local government blatantly refuses to do literally anything about the homelessness crisis or crime. The police force is horribly understaffed and disfunctional, not that they were ever worth calling in the first place... Portland police are more dangerous than most criminals, you KNOW the cop has gun, you can take your chances with most random criminals, though. At least you might be able to reason with a criminal.

Time to buy a house away from the city. Part of me wants to entrench, and try be part of preserving what made me love Portland to begin with... but what am I going to do? Join the city council or Portland's version of the free masons? Doubtful. Portland is a sinking ship, and I have no obligation to go down with her. I'm leaving with the rats.

I will check out Powell's for some books on bonsai. That is a great suggestion. There are a few nurseries around here that I plan on checking out, as well. They advertise bonsai tools and such, even though I have been making by just fine with my wire cutters and little grooming scissors. My kit will undoubtedly grow, I like buying tools.

I didn't want to knock it too bad, but it w a s pretty grimy last time I visited. Best of luck on your journey

Chris

 

[DavidBoren]

Little update... it has survived the winter, and two late frost/snows.

 

[DavidBoren]

Here she is today... thickening up nicely, lots of growth up top to work with. One side outgrew the other due to her position in relation to the sun, so I flipped it around when I moved the pot today.

 

[DavidBoren]

Do you trim and wire these things at the same time? I'm going to cut her back a little in the fall, and I want to know if I should throw some wire on her at the same time. The trim is to establish some form/shape, and hopefully encourage some back growth lower down... as well as keeping the growth new/small, overall.

I will repot her next spring... hopefully the trim this fall will establish some shape, and give me an idea for a good matching pot.

Regardless, she is getting a haircut this fall... do I wire her up at that time?

 

[DavidBoren]

Decided to throw some wire at my Ash tree... this is the second time I have ever wired a tree (both were today after work). What I wired will probably end up being the main trunk, with the larger [unwired] vertical trunk to be sacrificed at some later time.

 

[DavidBoren]

This is what I'm kinda thinking...
I'm going to wire the two ends [as shown by the yellow arrows]. This will add two more stands of wire around my new main trunk, and allow me to finish the bend I want [as shown by the green arrow]. The rest will be chopped [at the red line].



This fall I am going to cut the sacrifice trunk back to about half its current height... hopefully this will promote some backbudding/denser growth in the spring. The following fall [2023], I will chop the sacrifice trunk off entirely, following outside angle/curve/line(s) of the new trunk.

 

[DavidBoren]

I thought about starting a new thread for this thing's progression, but figured I already had this one going... so what h3ll, right?

I wired those two ends up today when I got home from work. Definitely bent the top one a little too far. Whoops. Small tear in the bark on the outside of the curve, with a kink on the inside... I backed off the bend until the split in the bark closed. Hope for the best, I guess. Still couldn't get too much more of a bend to stay in the main trunk [probably because I used smaller wire for the 2nd & 3rd wraps].

I also dug up a bunch of the soil around the outside edge so the leaves wouldn't touch the ground. I decided to continue digging with my fingers until I found roots all the way around the edge... I am happy to find roots a good 6" away in a complete circle around the tree. I only dug down about two inches, and removed about half an inch of soil off the top around the base of the trunk. I replaced the soil I removed with homemade bonsai soil consisting of aquarium gravel, dry sweep, and potting soil [4:1:1].

Not sure what to do with that new bud way down low, but I'm excited about it...

 

[ShadyStump]

Looks like it's doing alright.
That new bud at the base can be left to help thicken the trunk and cut off after a couple years.
That split should heal pretty quickly. By the end of summer you should barely notice.

 

[DavidBoren]

Yeah, every branch I wired is already pushing more/new growth since the pictures were taken. I think she'll be fine.

I did cut off this dead branch... I had wired around it, so the wire is a little loose there, but whatever. I didn't seal the wound, in hopes that the healing process would either encourage new growth from that location, or leave a cool scar.

 

[Shogun610]

You live in Portland / PNW one of the majors hubs right now for Bonsai in the US , join BSOP.

 

[DavidBoren]

You live in Portland / PNW one of the majors hubs right now for Bonsai in the US , join BSOP.

I will have to put away some dollars under the matress, and I will join when I actually have something that counts as bonsai...

I'm hoping to put this Ash in a real bonsai pot next spring, but I do not have any other trees that are any closer than this Ash to being stuck in a bonsai pot.

 

[Shogun610]

I will have to put away some dollars under the matress, and I will join when I actually have something that counts as bonsai...

I'm hoping to put this Ash in a real bonsai pot next spring, but I do not have any other trees that are any closer than this Ash to being stuck in a bonsai pot.

Dude , you don’t need to join if you don’t have a bonsai .. simply exposing yourself and using it as a learning tool can be better than any bonsai you’ll purchase at first

 

[DavidBoren]

Some pictures of the new growth. I also cut back a bunch of the upper half's branches to their first pair of leaves... probably 20% reduction in overall foilage.

 

[DavidBoren]

Some ideas I have been playing with will be [poorly] illustrated for you with these pictures... I am thinking of bending that other trunk to follow the trunk I already have wired. And growing that super low branch out until it can also follow the same path as the other two trunks. I don't know, though.

What do you think?

 

[Potawatomi13]

I will have to put away some dollars under the matress, and I will join when I actually have something that counts as bonsai...

I'm hoping to put this Ash in a real bonsai pot next spring, but I do not have any other trees that are any closer than this Ash to being stuck in a bonsai pot.

Good training work done so far. That's gotta be some of the worst wiring ever on here. Offense NOT intended. Sometimes must just laugh at what life presents. Because leaves compound/large, small tree can not look correct. Plan on larger tree at least 3' tall. Wasting money on Bonsai pot now is only impractical waste and crowding roots in small pot only impedes trees growth to final size needed for leaves to be reasonably scaled. Join local club and begin personal help/mentoring of helpful members please. You will not regret meeting them.

 

[DavidBoren]

The wiring IS bad. It's also the second tree I ever put any wire to, and with random/junk steel wire to make it all that much easier on myself. Next time I will wire the tree when it's naked so I'm not fighting all those leaves as I wrap the wire... hooefully I will have the correct wire by then.

 

[DavidBoren]

My plan right meow is to not do anything except fertilize and water her until she loses her leaves in the fall/winter. Then I will give her a good chop, and rewire her. I'm going to chop off everything above the lowest growth on the sacrifice trunk... not planning sacrificing that whole trunk until fall/winter 2023.

I still want to repot her into something smaller this next spring, probably the smallest pot her roots will reasonably fit into without any root pruning. I feel it is definitely time to get her into the proper substrate, regardless of the size of pot she ends up in.

 

[ShadyStump]

You're making some good progress here.
Just a note, trunk chops are usually best done when the tree is a bit more awake. Spring or fall depending on species. The tree is better able to fight infection and heal the wound, so you end up with less die back or other potential damage.

 

[DavidBoren]

Good to know.

I will chop the top off the sacrifice trunk this fall, before she goes to sleep. I can straight up guarantee that I am not patient enough to wait until spring. Lol.

I do have full faith in her ability to take it in stride... she has taken all my abuse and tinkering with both style and grace. She is a trooper. She would probably take being hacked in half tonight, and still power through this upcoming 10-day heatwave of 90+ degree weather... I'm not going to do that to her, I do trust she could take it.