What do I have?

[DavidBoren]

To illustrate her tenacity, this is her last week of growth since I cut a bunch of her upper branches back to the first pair of leaves...

 

[ShadyStump]

I wouldn't push it too far. I actually killed a Siberian elm once getting over zealous like that, and those things are darn near bulletproof. As much as people talk about the fastest way to get to a good tree, there's really no fast way to bonsai.

That said, because this thing has been growing new roots and building strength all year, I think you might actually be able to get away with a chop as long as you don't do it so early that it thinks it has time to sprout more leaves. That would burn up more energy than it's stored all summer, and it won't have enough to survive winter.

 

[DavidBoren]

I was thinking mid-September or mid-October... by the light of a full moon.

I keep telling myself to be patient, but I'm pretty sure I have ADHD [although I have never seen anyone about it]. I love to tinker, and something about it being alive fascinates me... "it's ALIVE!" *que lightning and maniacal laughter*

These trees are all just an outlet for my inner mad scientist... I get to fidget with something, then literally watch cause and effect in action. I love it. And there is something beautiful about a piece of nature refusing to die despite my best efforts. Lol.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Try building models so tree has time to breathe.

 

[DavidBoren]

Good training work done so far. That's gotta be some of the worst wiring ever on here.

Probably saved her life today by cutting all that BS wire off.

Things I was today-years-old when I learned:
1. Steel wire is even harder to remove than it is to apply [even applied poorly].
2. When you think it might be time to remove the wire, it's already too late.
3. I need better wire cutters.
4. I need better wire.
5. I need to practice wiring on things that won't die.
6. I need to leave room every so often to get the cutters on the wire.
7. I need to cut the wraps more often... better undetstanding of how to leave the right opening to get the coil of wire I just cut off actually off the branch/tree without damaging the tree... I hated cutting a section of wire free, just to have to cut it again to get it completely off.
8. I need another tool, maybe extra long needlenose, to hold/stabilize the wire I am cutting... I shook the everlasting p!ss out her trying to get that wire off of her... I kept telling her I was helping her, I promised the tree. Lol.
9. I can actually manage removing all that mess without causing further damage to the tree... I only lost the tiniest little leaf during all that wire cutting and removal [took over an hour of kneeling/laying on the patio trying to get the best angle at the wire].
10. I am going to spend the rest of this tree's life correcting my own mistakes.

 

[ShadyStump]

Probably saved her life today by cutting all that BS wire off.

Things I was today-years-old when I learned:
1. Steel wire is even harder to remove than it is to apply [even applied poorly].
2. When you think it might be time to remove the wire, it's already too late.
3. I need better wire cutters.
4. I need better wire.
5. I need to practice wiring on things that won't die.
6. I need to leave room every so often to get the cutters on the wire.
7. I need to cut the wraps more often... better undetstanding of how to leave the right opening to get the coil of wire I just cut off actually off the branch/tree without damaging the tree... I hated cutting a section of wire free, just to have to cut it again to get it completely off.
8. I need another tool, maybe extra long needlenose, to hold/stabilize the wire I am cutting... I shook the everlasting p!ss out her trying to get that wire off of her... I kept telling her I was helping her, I promised the tree. Lol.
9. I can actually manage removing all that mess without causing further damage to the tree... I only lost the tiniest little leaf during all that wire cutting and removal [took over an hour of kneeling/laying on the patio trying to get the best angle at the wire].
10. I am going to spend the rest of this tree's life correcting my own mistakes.

View attachment 451183View attachment 451184

Don't worry, you're not the only one here who needs practice wiring.

 

[Potawatomi13]

10. I am going to spend the rest of this tree's life correcting my own mistakes.

One valuable lesson to learn. Smooth barked trees should not have wire cut in before removal. Will take much time or never grow out. If tree will develop rough bark in reasonable time wire marks will grow out/be obscured in time. Ash are in middle ground here/will eventually get somewhat rough bark.

 

[DavidBoren]

I'm not even worried about the spiral grooves left by the wire... it was the uneven taper in parts that worried me that the wire was restricting flow. I grossly underestimated how quickly she would thicken up... I really thought I would have to leave the wire on longer. I wonder how well she will hold her shape, given that the wire was only on there a few weeks.

I'm not touching her for a good minute. Regardless of her tenacity thusfar, removing that wire was brutal... for both of us. How truly novice I am was readily apparent, and further work at this moment is rather intimidating.

 

[ShadyStump]

Regardless of her tenacity thusfar, removing that wire was brutal... for both of us. How truly novice I am was readily apparent, and further work at this moment is rather intimidating.

Our IMpatience teaches us that tenacity is a matter of patience.
She'll get there, and so will you.

 

[DavidBoren]

Moved everything up on to a table beside the house today. Gets good afternoon sun there past 230pm... most of those plants have been living along that side of the house already, so it's the sun they are used to getting.

 

[Paradox]

I keep telling myself to be patient

This is a hard lesson for most of us when we start doing bonsai. New people are enthusiastic and just want to do things.

I guarantee you that bonsai will force you to learn patience. If you can't, it will be a very frustrating hobby for you.

 

[ShadyStump]

Moved everything up on to a table beside the house today. Gets good afternoon sun there past 230pm... most of those plants have been living along that side of the house already, so it's the sun they are used to getting.

View attachment 451516

Nice!
I never went out of my way to make a special place for my trees until recently. People talk all the time about how it changes the way you interact with them, even if you're not slacking off, but I was surprised how much of a difference it's made for me.
You will likely feel like you're learning twice as fast now, like the difference between sitting in a class and reading a dozen books while lying in bed. Something about the class helps it stick.

 

[DavidBoren]

I do like her up on the table. I feel I can study her better in quiet contemplation.

And it's good to have a place where everything actually belongs, rather than a discombobulated assortment of trees in pots.

 

[Shogun610]

Well congratulations you’ve managed to get more activity than my posts do I’ll give you that, no offense but people on here are like general human instinct , they care more about the car wrecks .
Join the BSOP club.

 

[Paradox]

Well congratulations you’ve managed to get more activity than my posts do I’ll give you that, no offense but people on here are like general human instinct , they care more about the car wrecks .
Join the BSOP club.

What posts? Might be a timing thing and it got buried down the listof new posts. Or whatever you asked about was something that not many people can help or know about. Since you've restricted your profile, I can't search your posts

Love the dog in your profile BTW. I have labs/lab mixes as well

 

[Shogun610]

What posts? Might be a timing thing and it got buried down the listof new posts. Or whatever you asked about was something that not many people can help or know about. Since you've restricted your profile, I can't search your posts

Love the dog in your profile BTW. I have labs/lab mixes as well

Ah perhaps that’s why, thanks he’s a 7 y.o English lab

 

[DavidBoren]

Well, she is apparently waking up from the shock of being chopped in half a week ago. I know I said I was going to wait to chop the top half of the sacrifice trunk off, but I didn't... wait, that is. I did chop her in half by the light of the last full moon. Anyways, she is waking up, and pushing some fresh greens. The new growth low on the trunk I'm keeping is in a good spot, me-thinks... should give me something to work with down the road.

And that really low leaf is progressing a litlle, too.

I'm curious if I should pinch these buds growing near the chop on the sacrifice trunk. What do you think? Let the sacrifice trunk recover/grow wild as it will, or pinch the buds on the sacrifice trunk to encourage her to focus on what I'm going to keep? Does she need the new growth on the sacrifice trunk to fatten up for winter?

 

[ShadyStump]

Well, she is apparently waking up from the shock of being chopped in half a week ago. I know I said I was going to wait to chop the top half of the sacrifice trunk off, but I didn't... wait, that is. I did chop her in half by the light of the last full moon. Anyways, she is waking up, and pushing some fresh greens. The new growth low on the trunk I'm keeping is in a good spot, me-thinks... should give me something to work with down the road.
View attachment 452353
And that really low leaf is progressing a litlle, too.
View attachment 452354
I'm curious if I should pinch these buds growing near the chop on the sacrifice trunk. What do you think? Let the sacrifice trunk recover/grow wild as it will, or pinch the buds on the sacrifice trunk to encourage her to focus on what I'm going to keep? Does she need the new growth on the sacrifice trunk to fatten up for winter?
View attachment 452355

I figure there's no point in removing any growth from it this time of year. Even if you plan on taking the rest of that trunk off in the future, any growth on it will help thicken and strengthen the rest of the tree. So unless it starts getting in the way of growth you know you're going to keep, I'd just let it go until spring.
That and, frankly, there's no telling just how much the tree has left to give this late in the season. What's your best guess at when your first frost will hit?

 

[DavidBoren]

Probably late October at the earliest, but usually not until November... ish, you know how it is. I'm in Zone 8, depending on which map you look at. It could even be later. She has a little bit of time, yet.

I'm probably going to throw some more fertilizer at her next time she needs water. Besides removing a few leaves to get sunlight further into the interior, I am going to wait until winter for any sort of branch selection. I figure seeing her without her foilage will give me a better idea of what I have to work with.

I'm thinking about sitting down with a sketchpad... I need to get back into drawing, it's something I used to enjoy. And, maybe if I draw this same stupid car crash of a tree enough times, I might just actually get an idea of what I want to do with it. I can use drawings I am unsatified with to try different design sketches for various directions I could go with it.

I wired her without any plan or vision... just wanted movement, firgured I would see what I ended up with and go from there. Like I said earlier, I am going to spend the rest of this tree's life correcting my mistakes.

 

[DavidBoren]

I'm super stoked about this:

And these:

Should I worry about this bud [red] messing with that taper [green]?

Or should I keep it for a low branch on my main trunk?