I spent a couple of hours Saturday at my new favorite nursery. This nursery
is quite a few acres of field, all planted with landscaping material. Some
of the plants have been there for 15-20 years and kept small and compact by
the owner. I saw a small Taxus with a 3+" nebari that stood less than 1 1/2
ft. tall! Apparantly, about 15 years ago an elderly Japanese gentleman came
and "cleaned him out" as he said, for Bonsai stock. Anyway, I spent all of
my "allowance" on 2 really nice Taxus (plural Taxi ? ;-)), a twin trunk
boxwood (that looks 10 - 15 years old), and a Chinese Juniper. One of the
Taxus and the Juniper are so compact and dense with foliage that it is
really hard to see what to cut away. My question is this: does anyone have
some practical advice, after doing this for many years, on how to deal with
this situation. I don't want to just go in there and start hacking away,
but these two treees are SO dense; I can't see into them well enough to
visualize where I'm going. Now this is mostly from the halfway point and
above - I picked them for the roots, trunk and primary (lower) branches.
However, now that I've "neatened up" the bottom third, I'm stuck.

Thanks,

Jeff Isom
Cleveland, OH / Sunset Zone 39 - and sunny now for the 3rd day in a row

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Jeff:
I think it is time to join a club and get some help from seasoned
Bonsaist. There must be a club near you and if I was in your position,
that is the way to go.

Carl L. Rosner - near Atlantic City zone 6/7
http://bmee.net/rosner
http://www.jamesbaird.com/cgi-bin/Ja...d=00000068 48


Isom, Jeff (EM, PTL) wrote:

I spent a couple of hours Saturday at my new favorite nursery. This nursery
is quite a few acres of field, all planted with landscaping material. Some
of the plants have been there for 15-20 years and kept small and compact by
the owner. I saw a small Taxus with a 3+" nebari that stood less than 1 1/2
ft. tall! Apparantly, about 15 years ago an elderly Japanese gentleman came
and "cleaned him out" as he said, for Bonsai stock. Anyway, I spent all of
my "allowance" on 2 really nice Taxus (plural Taxi ? ;-)), a twin trunk
boxwood (that looks 10 - 15 years old), and a Chinese Juniper. One of the
Taxus and the Juniper are so compact and dense with foliage that it is
really hard to see what to cut away. My question is this: does anyone have
some practical advice, after doing this for many years, on how to deal with
this situation. I don't want to just go in there and start hacking away,
but these two treees are SO dense; I can't see into them well enough to
visualize where I'm going. Now this is mostly from the halfway point and
above - I picked them for the roots, trunk and primary (lower) branches.
However, now that I've "neatened up" the bottom third, I'm stuck.

Thanks,

Jeff Isom
Cleveland, OH / Sunset Zone 39 - and sunny now for the 3rd day in a row





************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

One of the
Taxus and the Juniper are so compact and dense with foliage
that it is
really hard to see what to cut away. My question is this:
does anyone have
some practical advice, after doing this for many years, on how
to deal with
this situation. I don't want to just go in there and start
hacking away . . .

Does it matter at this point? You certainly weren't going to put
these in a bonsai pot right away, were you?

Cut everything back to near stubs, or 2-3 inches, always leaving
_some_ foliage. Chances are that will let you get a glimpse of
where the branches leave the trunk and you can make your choices
then. Next, remove the most obviously poorly located branches
and let everything start to re-grow.

While this is happening, study the existing branching carefully.
Chances are, MOST of the branches will really be too fat for
branches on a bonsai and will have to go anyway and you will grow
new ones. Look at the fat ones as future jins.

Trees like those you describe are purchased for the base and the
trunk. You almost always have to re-do all (or most) of the
branching. This could take several years, but will be worth it.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Our life is
frittered away by detail . . . . Simplify! Simplify. -- Henry
David Thoreau - Walden

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++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++