From: GreenLarry
Organization: posted via www.GardenBanter.co.uk
Newsgroups: rec.arts.bonsai
Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2005 16:34:49 +0000
Subject: Was a potential broom

I put this in the ground last year to err thicken the stem up, and the
central
leader has taken off and is really thick, maybe too thick for a
broom style
now.
Its a silver birch that i acquired a couole years ago as a tiny
sapling.
This is it now:
http://tinyurl.com/5vcdc

and this is how it looked last year before I got to plant it out:
http://tinyurl.com/526hb


--
GreenLarry

I have never tried a broom style tree but I read a lot and I believe that if
you continue to grow your birch another year or two you will still be fine
with the broom style. What you will need to do is to cut the central lead
at the point where the other branches join the main trunk. I have seen
pictures of this done and they cut a V-shaped notch out of the central lead.
This will encourage more branching due to the increased exposure of the
cambium layer. It should form a sort of knot at the cut where lots of new
shoots will sprout. Again, let me state that I have not tried this before
and I am only recounting what I remember from years of reading different
bonsai books.