NATIVE BONSAI
October 2010. During the second growing season the tree
grew even stronger. Only the wooden box started to fall apart
so it was necessary to do something. At that moment, such a
large bonsai pot was not available, so a new wooden box was
made
October 2010. Look at the root ball after two
years in a modern substrateJanuary 2011. The tree was wired for the first time;
some branches were pulled down with guy wires. It
is a very quick and efficient way to pull the branches
downwards. The cuts were done with power tools
and made irregular, with the aim of achieving a more
natural look in the futureFebruary 2016. The pot no longer looks too big since
the crown is becoming wider and denserNovember 2012. The tree was transplanted into a bonsai pot Buds and female flowers
at a workshop with Walter Pall. The crown becomes denser
every year. After repotting, all the branches are cut back and
only 2-3 buds left, to obtain a dense ramification
that if you cannot save the root ball
while collecting, you have to cut
the majority of small branches with
buds. This way you will be able to
keep all the primary branches and
trunks in the crown. This is a good
way to avoid problems. If you don’t
have good roots and the crown is
too big with many buds, it's quite
possible that the tree will not be
able to support it. So, it’s better to
choose and cut off what needs to
be cut and not to wait for the tree
to balance itself.Primary branches
When the starting material has
only primary branches and trunks,
there is a task in front of you, a task
of building the crown and it will
take about 5-10 years. Hornbeams
react very well to pruning and they
ramify easily. After collecting, many
of the new buds appear on primary
branches. New branches develop
from all the buds. The first season
after collecting, I let the tree grow
freely without cutting anything.
Then, in winter, it was necessary to
prune back every branch leaving 2-
buds, to get the ramification denser.I usually cut back the new growth
twice during vegetation, but be
aware I live in a sub-Mediterranean
climate where a vegetation period
is longer. When the shoots reach
50 cm, I cut back for the first time14 Bonsai Focus