work on trees in early development

Gary McCarthy

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How much work do you do on trees in early development that are being grown out to thicken the trunk and that will eventually be cut back to a short stump once the trunk has thickened?

I know it's recommended to keep working the roots every few years. But is there any benefit to cutting, trimming or wiring branches? Or is it pretty much the case that the more growth, even if it's wild unbridled growth, the quicker the trunk will thicken?
 

Dav4

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In my yard, ground growing is mainly for root and trunk development. All of my tridents planted out in the yard have their initial root work done as 1-2 yr old seedlings, and then they're planted on a tile to grow wild for several years before being dug up for more root work +/- a trunk chop. I did do a thread graft on one of these tridents this past winter... my dogs broke it off... c'est la vie!
 

coh

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If you're basically going to cut off "everything" there's not much point to wiring or trimming any of the top growth...just let it grow. Especially for deciduous trees where you can usually get new buds to pop on the trunk. Dav4 mentions planting on a board or tile after sorting/arranging roots and that works very well, but you will need to dig them up and work the roots every couple-few years or they can get out of control.

If you're developing a pine, you probably want to preserve/maintain some low branching while you let the top run wild. So you would candle prune the lower branches to encourage short internodes and branching. This way, when you eventually cut back the top you have branch options - one would probably be used for the next trunk segment and one for the first branch, etc.

Edit to add...thinking some more about this, you can certainly try to preserve branches on deciduous trees in develoment if you think they might be useful in a final design. So in that case you would keep them trimmed back to maintain compact growth. In that case (and this would apply to pines as well), you would need to take care that the branches don't get shaded out by the foliage mass above them, or they'll weaken and die back.
 
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GrimLore

Bonsai Nut alumnus... we miss you
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How much work do you do on trees in early development that are being grown out to thicken the trunk and that will eventually be cut back to a short stump once the trunk has thickened?

I know it's recommended to keep working the roots every few years. But is there any benefit to cutting, trimming or wiring branches? Or is it pretty much the case that the more growth, even if it's wild unbridled growth, the quicker the trunk will thicken?

I grow Fruit trees and different types of Elms here in rather large pots as our soil is clay and stone.

I top them all keeping them 5 foot tall or so and trim back a few wild horizontal branches as they get in the way. The rest of each just grows wild, most of them 5 years from saplings. They trunk up from pencil thin anywhere from 3 1/2 to 5 inches and then get chopped. So for 5 years they look like shrubs and them "wham". I half fill the containers with stone from the start, pull them early Spring, and just cut away any excessive vertical root growth.

Here is a quick example of a Crabapple in its second grow year. It was a sapling and this early in the year it is a solid 2 1/2 inches at the base of the trunk. Nothing fancy complete with weeds :p Crystal usually plants flowers in them contrary to what others say and they grow anyways -IMG_2047.JPG

So here I guess it is safe to say no, I don't train while growing out :)

Grimmy
 

Paulpash

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My advice is never to wire anything in the ground. Unless you have a photographic memory there's a really good chance that you will end up with a badly scarred branch / leader once you find the wire hidden under a ton of foliage. I've lost count of the shit I've had to lop off & start again in the early days. Use poles, guy wires or frames to loosely guide new leaders into the right position - they are much more forgiving to slight negligence.

Part of the skill of ground growing is positioning - knowing if the tree you're growing out will tolerate full sun, wind or needs a lot of moisture. For example, I wouldn't grow pines in the same location in my yard as a Japanese maple. Another is knowing your trees. For example, Hawthorn is a tree that I would initially grow in a pot & get a fibrous system then escape grow it. Hawthorn hate root disturbance - just lopping off the ground roots that have escaped & having the fibrous roots to fall back on is much more efficient than trying to dig a solely ground grown tree. With elm I'd not bother doing root work ever - dig then ground layer - faster, more even looking nebari & a better quality in the end. I could waffle on for ages - love ground growing stuff out.
 

Stan Kengai

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This may not be exactly what you are asking about. But I have felt the need to share this for a while, and thought this might be an opportune time. Many bonsai growers, even professionals, grow what I call "baseball bats". By that I mean ramrod straight material with very little taper. Anyone can do that. The trick to growing good trunks is to wire them BEFORE you put them in the ground. My method of growing stock is below.

Pre-wire cutting material. After new growth extends in the spring, but before it lignifies, wire material you want to take cuttings of. Make extreme bends, these will be softened by growth later. Strike cuttings in late spring or early summer, after the branches have lignified (or if your prefer, after the leaves have "hardened off" :p ). The next spring, plant these cuttings in a shallow pot, making sure that the trunks are not emerging perpendicular to the soil line. The plants won't grow much in the shallow pot, but you will get a good start on the nebari and you will have lots of low buds/branches to work with in the future. Be sure to wire the trunk extension and any long branches you might get. You never know when an alternate trunk line might develop. The next year, pot the plant in a deep container, like a nursery can, and feed heavily. You're looking to develop a strong root system. If the plant is growing strongly, you can plant it in the ground the following spring, oR move it to a lager pot.

Yes, this takes more time that plopping a seedling or cutting in the ground. But then you're not growing baseball bats.
 

petegreg

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Maybe not what you want to hear, but if needed, I use Wire hooks to keep the top growing vertically. ?to keep my trees away from my sister raging with a grass mower. ?
 
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