BonsaiCollector -- Bonsai How-To Articles

Early in the spring of 91, I stumbled across an area where many small Larch seedlings grow underneath the larger trees. Click thumbnail images below to see an enlarged image...
	I brought one small plant, cut of the deep center root and planted it in a wooden box. The picture was taken one month later. Please note the small low branches, they will be important for the future development.

	One of the few problems with Larch is its tendency to favor growth in the top of the plant and thus cause increased thickness of the top branches and the upper part of the trunk. That does not look good and needs to be corrected. On this plant, I let selected low branches grow freely to increase the girth of the lower trunk and root buttress. The picture is shot only half a year after collection.

	This picture is from the spring of 93, the plant has got a larger wooden box and grows in a mixture of cat litter and houseplants soil. During 92, I continued hard pinching in the top and free growth low on the trunk. Additionally I wired the trunk straight and bent some of the branches into position. The top looks strange, I do not care since I expect to exchange top many times in the future, as the top branches become to thick.

	During 93 and 94, I gradually started pruning some of the low sacrifice branches. This was done to prevent the wounds to become to large and unsymmetrical growth to develop. In the picture, you clearly see that the stump to the right comes from o big branch, it was about 1 m. That branch was causing uneven growth of the lower trunk and roots. I will now encourage growth a little higher on the truck to smoothen out the taper. The plant, no tree :-), have got a bigger container and a course mix of soil and gravel. In combination with heavy fertilization, this gives explosive growth.

	In the spring of 96, I considered the basic growth strategy to be done. I made a coarse pruning and re potted the tree into a rather big bonsai pot. (Should I have waited another year?) The pictures are taken before (from the back) and after this operation. Up to now, I have feed as much as I dared and re potted every year. A fast growing Larch develops a massively dense root mat in a short time and towards late summer, one notice the surface rising in the container. I have re potted early in the spring and without problems been removing ¾ of the old roots. From now on, I will fertilize and water more carefully. In the autumn of 96 and spring of 97, I shaped the tree with wire and by making thinner jins of some of the old stumps. In total, I probably removed 60% of the branches.

	In the spring of 98, it actually stats looking like a bonsai. It is only a little taller then when I collected it seven years ago. Now, I focus on increasing the twigginess and to protect the tree from using all energy in the top. I pinch much harder in the top as compared to on the lower branches. The goal is to have a few hanging branches on a thick well-tapered tree. That way it will look tall and old. This Larch is not there yet, but it is on its way!

	Since this tree still grows vigorously, it had started callusing in around the jins. In the spring of 99, I did some serious surgery with the help of a router to prevent this. I also tried to make the middle part lighter by carving, I do think the taper looks better since. I also lowered a few of the branches with wire, they were beginning to show a tendency of reaching upwards. It is easy to wire a Larch while the buds are still dormant.

	The spring of 2000 was the earliest and warmest in recorded history, we had 28 C in Gothenburg at the end of April. Unusual temperatures even at the height of summer… This heat wave resulted in all of my trees needing repotting more or less simultaneously, this larch will have to wait until next year. This tree is about 13 years old and now flowered for the first time. The red flowers are female and will turn into cones. The male flowers are pointing downwards and are marked by the white lines on the magnified picture. I removed all but four of the female flowers on the strongest branches. I think the cones will take energy away from growing. The second photo is from 10 May 2000.

	This is what the tree looked like at the time of the exhibition at the annual meeting of the Swedish Bonsai Society in Gothenburg in August 2000. It has been repotted in a nice handmade pot by the German potter Gabriele Wirth. Now I no longer think it looks to great with an accent plant with the same height as the tree. Well, you learn as long as you live! In the spring, I once again carved out all the shari and jin parts, the tree calluses something incredible. In the coming period, I will concentrate on developing the branches on the right side, one-third from the top.

	This picture is from end of July 2001. As you see it grows very well, that is thanks to heavy fertilization last year, bone meal over the winter and continued feed without re potting this spring. The intention is to strengthen the plant and add girth to the trunk and the lower branches. In line with these goals, I let the summer growth grow freely. This tactics work fine, I have had to remove lots of wire that started to bite and the trunk is for the first time cracking open. Early September, I plan to prune it in preparation for this year's annual meeting and exhibition in Stockholm.

	The second growth spurt is about to start early July 2002, I let the new shoots grow freely where I need to fill out the silhouette. Just like last year, I let them grow for a while on the lower branches. In the top on the other hand, it is very important to immediately nip this new growth, the top braches thicken excessively anyway. In a couple of years time I need to drastically redo the top due to this larch characteristics.

	The spring came unusually early to Gothenburg in 2003, I repotted already 5 April. Later would have been OK but since I have some disturbing business trips this spring, I decided to seize the opportunity. I tried placing the tree further to the right to avoid the "centre of the pot" position. I removed some wire and pruned a bit. Especially in the top, I am very careful never to allow three twigs from one point. I also wired the new long shots into position to fill the "hole". The day after the repotting, we got strong night frost! Well Larch are hardy, I hope it will be OK. The picture was taken one week later, the mild weather has just returned.
	© Strand Bonsai