Working on some forests...

Adair M

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Let’s start with the Dawn Redwood. Bill Valavanis @made me an offer I couldn’t refuse” last December at the Winter Silohette Show. See the broken pot? He told me that’s what my knees would look like if I didn’t take it!

I repotted it about two weeks ago.

Before:

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This one was so “Redneck” it wasn’t even held together with proper duct tape!

After:

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So, this forest was created about 12 years ago, and kept by one of Bill’s customers. Unfortunately, they allowed the tops to become knobly, which is hard to fix. I may end up having to chop out all the apexes and start it over. But, first, I’m going to let it settle into it’s unbroken pot. There was about two inches of solid matted roots with no soil on top of the broken pot.

Today:


image.jpg

it’s leafing out all over, even after I removed about 90% of its roots:

In about 2000 years, I expect it will look like this:

A3584B46-8059-4B38-8BAF-C12A31BF428A.jpeg
 
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are all these branches coming from the same locations starting to create noticeable inverse taper or is it just the angle on the photos?
 

Adair M

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Next up, a Japanese Maple forest. This is another one I bought from Bill V two years ago. Every year, he makes a dozen or so. He uses seedlings from the same batch of seeds, and tries to select trees of different heights and calipers. He grows them for a year, then sells them. These are excellent starters, and with careful pruning and by letting a sacrifice branch grow where needed, you can develop a pleasing forest in a couple years.

Before:

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As you can see, Bill starts these in a fairly deep pot, for a forest. That’s fine to get it started, but you don’t want to keep it in there too long or else it will be difficult to get it into a thinner pot. I estimate these have been growing in the pot about two years. One with Bill, one with me. So, the roots have pretty well intermingled, and it’s a good time flatten it out.

the After:
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image.jpg

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When I got in there, I took the opportunity to cut out a fair amount of wood off the bottoms of the trunks. Also removed some crossing roots that were growing across the top.

Here’s a really nice example of a forest grown by Tom Bjornholm over the past 20 years using seedlings. Judicious pruning and growing sacrifice branches will allow you to have different sizes of trees creating a very natural appearance. American Hornbeam:

CB6D2B94-596A-4F42-8823-BEC9DF1F9F81.jpeg
 

Adair M

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are all these branches coming from the same locations starting to create noticeable inverse taper or is it just the angle on the photos?
Yes, as I mentioned in the text, the previous owner had allowed it to become knobby. Dawn redwood has this tendency to backbud at the base of existing branches. If you don’t remove those buds, they will put on wood, which creates the knobs. It looks like that is just what happened. (By the way, trident maple will do that too, if you keep pinching back to the same place.)
 

penumbra

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Gotta love those forests. I will be starting a Hinoki Cypress one this week and will update with pictures.
 

Adair M

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Here are a couple more:
Thus is another Japanese Maple forest. Much like the other maple forest, but with more trees, and hopefully greater differences in calipers of trunks.

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This one is a little too young to repot. We’ll do that next year. For now, I’m trying to direct the growth of a couple of the trees so that they don’t cross. I’m using skewers to prop the trees into better positions. There’s one in front that is a little too much in front of the main tree. I may have to dig it out and place it somewhere else.

For now, I’ll let the roots grow in together.

And, finally, here’s a clump of JWP. Just imported from Japan. It was still barerooted in spaghnum moss when I got it. Now potted up in Boon Mix. I’m beginning to see green in the buds!

You didn’t think they would all be deciduous, did you?

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It’s a clump. All the roots are connected.
 

Crawforde

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In about 2000 years, I expect it will look like this:

That is going to be an expensive pot.
 
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Yes, as I mentioned in the text, the previous owner had allowed it to become knobby. Dawn redwood has this tendency to backbud at the base of existing branches. If you don’t remove those buds, they will put on wood, which creates the knobs. It looks like that is just what happened. (By the way, trident maple will do that too, if you keep pinching back to the same place.)
I thought you got them from Bill Valavantis.
 

Wilson

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Here are a couple more:
Thus is another Japanese Maple forest. Much like the other maple forest, but with more trees, and hopefully greater differences in calipers of trunks.

View attachment 289084

View attachment 289085

View attachment 289086

This one is a little too young to repot. We’ll do that next year. For now, I’m trying to direct the growth of a couple of the trees so that they don’t cross. I’m using skewers to prop the trees into better positions. There’s one in front that is a little too much in front of the main tree. I may have to dig it out and place it somewhere else.

For now, I’ll let the roots grow in together.

And, finally, here’s a clump of JWP. Just imported from Japan. It was still barerooted in spaghnum moss when I got it. Now potted up in Boon Mix. I’m beginning to see green in the buds!

You didn’t think they would all be deciduous, did you?

View attachment 289092

View attachment 289093

View attachment 289094

View attachment 289095

It’s a clump. All the roots are connected.

The pines look amazing! I just got back from a winter trip into the mountains, and this looks like it could be copied right out of the landscapes we were in.
 

Adair M

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I thought you got them from Bill Valavantis.
Yep! Bill has been making these for years! He’s very good at it.

I enjoy having trees with “provenance”. Oh, I know that after a couple years they can change quite a bit, and good designs can be ruined with neglect. But I prefer to think that I can start with a tree with “good bones” and take it to the next level. At least, that’s what I strive to do.

There’s lots of ways to enjoy bonsai. Some like to propagate, starting with cuttings, layers, and seeds. Some prefer to use nursery stock. Others like to collect from the mountains, others find treasures digging old landscape trees. I prefer to take existing bonsai and refine them. When I first started bonsai, I started with rough stock, but could never get them refined. I didn’t know how. But now, that’s what I enjoy doing. That, and showing. I’d rather have a small collection of really nice trees than a large collection of “project” trees. But, others are just the opposite, and that’s ok! This hobby is supposed to be fun!
 

Adair M

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The pines look amazing! I just got back from a winter trip into the mountains, and this looks like it could be copied right out of the landscapes we were in.
Thanks! I’ve always wanted something like this. JWP on their own roots are rare in the US. Brussel just imported this and I grabbed it quick! It has some issues, but my main concern (heck! My ONLY concern at this point) is to get it growing again after being quarantined and bare rooted.

In one of the pictures, you can see the heavy root crossing right over the center of the root ball. Well, that’s got to go... eventually. Right now, I carefully potted every root. Fortunately,JWP does great at my place, so I’m pretty confident it will be ok.
 

Toraidento

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Here are a couple more:
Thus is another Japanese Maple forest. Much like the other maple forest, but with more trees, and hopefully greater differences in calipers of trunks.

View attachment 289084

View attachment 289085

View attachment 289086

This one is a little too young to repot. We’ll do that next year. For now, I’m trying to direct the growth of a couple of the trees so that they don’t cross. I’m using skewers to prop the trees into better positions. There’s one in front that is a little too much in front of the main tree. I may have to dig it out and place it somewhere else.

For now, I’ll let the roots grow in together.

And, finally, here’s a clump of JWP. Just imported from Japan. It was still barerooted in spaghnum moss when I got it. Now potted up in Boon Mix. I’m beginning to see green in the buds!

You didn’t think they would all be deciduous, did you?

View attachment 289092

View attachment 289093

View attachment 289094

View attachment 289095

It’s a clump. All the roots are connected.
Love the JWP clump and the JM forest with more tree looks way better, than the first. The different sizes, placement, and over all arrangement is just so much more attractive to me. I just think the different caliber and trunk sizes, make a forest planting so much more attractive. At least to me
 
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Dav4

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Looking good, Adair... even the redwood forest with the knobby tops! By the way, you're doing a great job with that palmatum forest that SHOULD be in my back yard!
 

Adair M

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Looking good, Adair... even the redwood forest with the knobby tops! By the way, you're doing a great job with that palmatum forest that SHOULD be in my back yard!
Well, the Japanese do call them “Mountain Maples”, so it’s well suited for your back cliff!
 
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