In a message dated 6/15/2005 1:26:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
writes:

Is there a way to grow a branch where you need one?


As in all things Bonsai the answer is maybe and it depends. Forcing
branches is easier on some species than on others. And there are techniques for
adding branches by different grafting methods depending upon the situation.
All this also depends upon your skills as a grower.
If you can be specific as to species maybe we can suggest some sources
of information.
I don't think I would try to explain any of the techniques on line,
preferring to suggest books that would guide you or better yet, of course, would
be local experts.
It would also help to know in general where you live. (See my sig line
for example.)

Billy on the Florida Space Coast

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In a message dated 6/16/2005 4:56:39 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
writes:

Thanks for your offer of help. I have a thirteen year old star
magnolia. I'm in the Seattle area.

The tree grows branches freely. I spend the summer pinching them off.
The branches, however, do not grow in the harder wood areas, which is
unfortunately where I want a couple to be.

I am not familiar with the species "Star Magnolia."
Some species never pop new growth on old wood.
One fairly harmless technique you might try is the slit method. Take a very
sharp knife or better yet a strong razor cutter and make a deep horizontal cut
about 1/4 or less around the trunk just above where you want a branch. The cut
needs to cut through the cambium layer below the bark. This is the layer that
generates growth. The idea is that stopping the flow of sap up the cambium
layer at this point will cause a branch to pop just below. The idea is make a
fine slit that will either cause a branch to pop or heal over without a nasty
scar.
Billy on the Florida Space Coast

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In a message dated 6/16/05 12:18:04 AM, April Ann writes:
Is there a way to grow a branch where you need one?

As the others wrote, it depends a great deal on the species, more than where
you live, although the further south you are, the easier it will be.
If the tree does not bud back easily on the trunk, the simplest method is
thread grafting. In the spring, you allow the tree to grow long stringy shoots.
Then you drill a hole all the way through the trunk where you want the branch
(don't worry; it is harmless). Remove all the leaves from the section of the
branch that will go through the hole. Make sure the hole is clean so the cambium
(the green layer) is exposed. Bend the shoot around and thread it through the
hole, with the tip of the shoot where you want the new branch. Seal the back &
front with cut paste or something similar. To keep the arrangement immobile &
prevent evaporation, I also bandage the site with florist's tape.
It takes one to three years for the graft to set. You can tell it is working
when the new shoot starts to grow. You know it has taken when the new branch
coming out is thicker than the back end going in. One expert advised, if you
want to be absolutely safe, girdle the back end to see if the new branch wilts,
before you cut it off altogether.
I did this with a crabapple three years ago & it took in one year. I have two
grafts I just did on a red maple (Acer rubrum) and they are coming along
well. I also have five grafts on my Acer palmatum 'Arakawa.' This is the rough
bark maple. Once the trunk starts to produce adult bark, it can't bud back. In
addition to two branches on the same tree, I am using three branches from
another tree of the same cultivar. I have the two pots taped together. Rube Goldberg
does bonsai. I am hoping the maple grafts will be done by the end of next
summer or the following spring.
You can find the instructions in Colin Lewis' book or on his Web site.
http://www.btinternet.com/~colinlewi...ng/Thread.html
Iris


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Billy M. Rhodes wrote:
I am not familiar with the species "Star Magnolia."

Magnolia stellata. Of all the magnolias, it's the only one you might
possibly want to try as a bonsai, but I doubt it will cooperate about
branch placement. Original poster: is this really about needing one
branch, or is the trunk too long? You might need to "top off" the
plant to fix this, only I don't know what a magnolia will do if you top
it off. Plants that top off well have an abundant supply of bud
primordia in the trunk, just waiting for something to trigger their
growth. Maple is an enthusiastic producer of bud primordia; that's why
it's so easy to top one off.

The idea is that stopping the flow of sap up the cambium
layer at this point will cause a branch to pop just below.

Actually, the idea is to cut off the supply of the phytohormone auxin
coming down from the apical meristem. Lateral branching is inhibited
by auxin. So the farther from an apical meristem a lateral bud is, the
less auxin it is exposed to, until finally the bud breaks and a new
lateral branch forms. Cutting the cambium above a bud severs the
phloem, and reduces the amount of auxin flowing downward. However,
there needs to be a lateral bud. Doing this on a trunk without bud
primordia won't have any effect. SOme trees have lots of bud primordia
(maple) others have little or none (fig). Notice that "topping off" a
tree is a more radical way to reduce auxin flow to bud primordia: you
are removing all the apical meristems.

When I was at Cornell, I had access to a book called "The anatomy of
economically important plants"; it would tell you about bud production,
root anatomy, branching, etc., on a bunch of plants, mostly crop
plants. I learned an amazing amount about grapevines; the reason you
have to prune them a certain very specific way in order to get grapes
is that they don't produce an infinite amount of buds.

Nina wrote:

Magnolia stellata. Of all the magnolias, it's the only one you might
possibly want to try as a bonsai, but I doubt it will cooperate about
branch placement. Original poster: is this really about needing one
branch, or is the trunk too long? You might need to "top off" the
plant to fix this, only I don't know what a magnolia will do if you top
it off.



....deleted lots of good stuff as usual from Nina.

Topping, or chopping Magnolia stellata will produce dozens of new shoots
on the main trunk, but the tree has to be healthy and growing
vigorously. I dug a 'Waterlily' from the ground when I moved from the
old nursery. I chopped a ten foot tall tree with a six inch trunk to
about four feet tall and headed back all the branches to about two feet
long. Then I put it in a large pot. The trunk was so covered with new
growth the following season you couldn't see it.

And yes, I agree it's a candidate for bonsai, but only in larger sizes,
around 3 feet tall and an appropriate trunk size to accommodate the
three to four inch leaves and flowers. It will never ramify properly,
so it would usually be shown only when in flower, which is spectacular.

Brent
EvergreenGardenworks.com


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Nina wrote:
Billy M. Rhodes wrote:

I am not familiar with the species "Star Magnolia."


Magnolia stellata. Of all the magnolias, it's the only one you might
possibly want to try as a bonsai, but I doubt it will cooperate about
branch placement. Original poster: is this really about needing one
branch, or is the trunk too long? You might need to "top off" the
plant to fix this, only I don't know what a magnolia will do if you top
it off.


It will sprout all kinds of buds below the trunk.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Nature
encourages no looseness, pardons no errors. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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