Larch bonsai - training stage one

Published by neil on May 6th, 2007

Last week I talked about the first stage recovery of a neglected Japanese maple bonsai. This week, it’s the turn of what was once a very attractive larch. Like the maple, several years of neglect have resulted in runaway growth and branch die-off.

This picture (click for a larger version) shows the larch before pruning and wiring. Larch tend to grow far too enthusiastically at the top, while leaving lower branches to die-off, so it can be tricky to maintain a balanced bonsai tree over an extended period of time without constant attention to annual growth. This particular tree is somewhere between 30 and 40 years old, I have no formal record of its age. The bark is beautifully mature and, like the maple, overall tree health is relatively good with one or two cones being formed every year now. The root-ball is dense - perhaps a little too dense - but May is too late in the year to deal with that properly. Repotting a Larch should be done in early spring.
The soil in the pot, having not been changed for three years or more, was in a poor state, so I first scraped away as much as I could without disturbing the new root growth, then added some new soil/grit mix to fill the pot as much as possible. Within a week, this has helped the tree by encouraging some new growth shoots in the upper branches.

UPDATE (May 2008): Unfortunately, this larch did not survive the winter and will be greatly missed. The combination of the stress over the pruning and wiring described here, and it becoming a little too dry during the winter, have led to the loss of this tree. There will therefore be no more posts regarding the development of this bonsai.

The greatest disappointment for this tree was the die-back of a large primary branch (the stump to the lower right), which was once a broad canopy of green. The secondary branch behind and almost at the same level, itself has partial die-off, but, with some careful attention, my be encouraged to grow and extend once more to compensate for the damage at this level - it’s worth a shot! Mature Larch, however, can be notoriously difficult to encourage lower branch growth. The key is to keep pinching out new growth at the very top, and hope for the best.

The clear Y-fork in the main trunk growth just above that point produces a challenge in deciding which element should be developed into the main trunk. It was decided to make the left branch a layered canopy at that level, and encourage the right branch to continue to grow as the trunk and crown of the tree. I am yet undecided as to how high I will cultivate the crown.

Initial pruning and wiring has resulted in the image on the right (click to view larger). Here, the lowest live branch is being trained down and to the right so as to help balance that side of the tree with green. The left side of the upper fork has had some significant pruning, and been flattened to produce a second layer at that level. Larches work particularly well when distinct layers of green are created. The right of the fork remains untouched at this time because some decisions still need to be made about its development, and I’ve abused the tree enough for one week! Vigorous feeding over the next few weeks should encourage new growth - hopefully in the areas I need it. Updates as and when progress is made.

---

Related Posts:

1. Japanese maple bonsai - the first steps
2. Japanese maple bonsai - starting afresh with a neglected tree

Tags: playstation, ps3, sony, TechGeek
Posted in TechGeek |