I will be buying and planting a 3 foot DH Cypress tonight in my garden. I want it to have the bonsai look where the trunk is contorted. From what Ive read, the best way to do this is to plan it at an angle and shape the trunk with wire. My second choice is to buy a 3 foot juniper tree. Im not sure which will best give me the 'Japanese bonsai' look, or which one will meet my ideal requirements for height (under ten feet) and for how easy it is to shape or have nice extended limbs... Since Im brand new to all of this, Im checking to see if Im on the right track. Of course any hints or suggestions on how to accomplish this look for this type of tree would be appreciated. Thanks!
For genuine bonsai you often start with a smaller specimen and train it into a preconceived shape. You will not be able to bend stems that have become rigid, with or without wire. You can take a 3' plant and "poodle" it with shearing the foliage.
As Ron says, trying to bend anything nearly that heavy is not for beginers. On something like that, even if you could use wire the results wouldn't be what you are looking for. On heavy material the method for imparting "movement" the the trunk is though a series of "trunk chops". The tree is grown and then chopped off at some point and one of the branches will become the new "leader" or top of the tree. For something as large a landscape tree the process would take may years. Junpers are certainly a better choice, but even if you don't already have a very large established tree to cut back then you are looking at a very long term project. Check this out: http://www.bonsaiprimer.com/trunk/trunk.html
Hi Clarence , You can take a look at some of my trees and shrubs that I have trained over the years on my website you will also find some hints and tips, http://koi-z-are-us.20m.com George.
