The second of two videos where I take a tree I collected 22 years ago and FINALLY come up with a plan.
Part 1 deals with cleaning up the tree to get it ready to take to a bonsai club meeting for advice.
You can find that video here:
• Bald Cypress Bonsai - ...
The tree's name is "Briseuse de Coeur" or "Heartbreaker". I have had various plans over the years and because I was a beginner when I collected this, I did everything wrong and nearly killed the tree on several occasions.
In this video, I attempt two techniques to drastically change the tree.
Thread Grafting is an intermediate level technique. If you've ever struggled with getting a branch to pop out somewhere, anywhere, near a target location, this technique will work for you. I had several long "whips" growing out from the tree and selected one (in the last video) to be the feeder branch for the graft. This procedure has a pretty good success rate.
Heartwood Removal is an advanced level technique. The tree has a heavy branch that I need to turn more than 90°. With this technique, I use a carbide carving tip to remove the hard heartwood of the branch. This makes the branch very pliable. This is the first time I have ever attempted this with a tree. If I'm not careful, I could remove too much of the sapwood and kill the branch. Since the branch is wrong for its location, branch death isn't the worst end result. I have hopes that I was actually successful.
I also discuss drowning the tree to fatten up some of its radial roots. Bald cypress can be submerged for months or years with no harm to the tree. The benefits of drowning are the creation of aerenchymal tissues. These structures are created by the tree so that the tree may supply oxygen to the roots. Many think, incorrectly, that supplying oxygen to the roots on a bald cypress is the function of knees. It is not. As aerenchyma are created, the roots fatten up. This is a a good way to correct an uninteresting base. It is also a good way to develop knees on potted bald cypress. I'll leave a presentation on creating knees on bald cypress bonsai for a future video series.
The success or failure of each technique will be evaluated later this year, or as early as a few months from now. If either of these techniques fail, I will create a follow-up video where I attempt a post-mortem on either of the branches. It is important to everybody to learn from their mistakes. It's safer for you to learn from mine.
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Y'all take care now!
22 окт 2024
