The second technique I recently am trying out (NOT something I have used for a long time. This is the FIRST and only example I have, so attempt at your own risk!)
It is a little wild because you basically take a tree (in this case a Cupressus macrocarpa "Wilma") and literally split it all the way to the roots providing that you have two (or sometimes more) split trunks.
I split mine months back to see how they would survive. Unfortunately one of my pots couldn’t make through the winter but the rest did just fine.
I covered the split with wound paste and then I enforced it with gardening tape to hurry and plant them back into the soil.
This armature is actually wire wrapped with a flexible contouring tape and filled in with foam (for needles to comfortably push into)
The rest of the steps I am just skipping through because they have been pretty often practiced by many very valuable enthusiasts. And most of the have generously shared their methods with us.
As I have seen it first done with Doug, I usually call it “
Doug’s method”.
For those unfamiliar:
You basically mount each tree close to each other and allow them to grow into one another. In time they graft into a single tree.
DO care to follow the
Dugz Bonsai link above... I guarantee your time to not be wasted browsing through his influencial projects...