Boxwood Question

saru

I have a quick Boxwood Question. After wiring every thing in place I noticed that since most of the branches had to be wired down (they were growing straight up) some of the branches the leaves are now upside down. Is this going to cause me problems in the future, Like upside down foliage pads or will it correct it self in time? You will have to forgive the stupidity of the question but I have never done a boxwood before and can’t find anything about this in my books or on the forum. I will post pictures later tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks

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TreeBay

A combination of growth and phototropism should help restore the balance before long.

But, an upside down bonsai would be a fun tree to make! It would require a lot of effort though, because the twigs that emerge from the inverted branches would assume a more normal relationship, requiring continuous attention (wiring and pruning) to promote the appearance of inversion.

Sounds like fun!


Regards,

Matt

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saru

Thanks,
That's kinda what I thought but I wanted to make sure before it was to late.
As I said here are is a pic of the tree. Maybe you Masters could give me some advice as to if I made a good chocie or some other options.
I'm not sure if boxwoods like binding jacks, as that is what I was hopeing on using on the upper part of the trunk to get that curve as in my virt.
All feed back will be apreciated.
Thanks

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	the dream (kinda).jpg (72.9 KB, 134 views)

TreeBay

Box is very hard and brittle. To get a curve like this, even with a jack you might well need to split the trunk in several places, even so it would be a challenge. Boxwood is notorious for eating bonsai tools.

Regards,

Matt

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DougDT

Saru the upside down leaves will burn when the sun hits them. But not to worry if your tree is growing strongly, as it appears in photographs, you will get buds at the bases of sunburnt leaves and just about everywhere else the sun hits. Leaves will re-orient themselfs to an extent but if they are flipped with there pearly white backside to the sun, well you know what is going to happen

rockm

I wouldn't worry about the upside down leaves. this will correct itself. Box is extremely tough.

You cannot use "binding jacks" to bend big boxwod limbs, or much else. Boxwood is among the densest woods in the world. It will not bend once it get past an 1" or so in diameter. Trying to bend bigger branches can result in disaster, especially if you've never tried it before.

This is a very nice start on this tree. I woudn't worry about the straight apex. It's fine. I would worry, however, about that huge jin on the left. It looks strange. I would remove the second trunk altogether, or if you have to have a jin, shorten this one by 4/5 and carve the remainder extensively. You are attempting to treat this design like a pine. Boxwood isn't a conifer. You Boxwood bonsai lie somewhere between the pine and deciduous trees design axis. Make it less stark more towards the deciduous tree design.

saru

Thanks,

rockm

You don't think the scar will be to big and noticeable? I originally wanted to remove the trunk on the left, but was afraid of having a big nasty scar.

bnsaijim

What would be more accurate is to shorten it consideraby and form a hollowed out secondary trunk. The texture should not be that of a wind blasted juniper ; it should be rough and grooved- more like a termite ridden hollowed trunk of a lowland tree. The interior would be darker- not jinned out white.

I've tried to show what I mean in the attached jpg.

jim

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rockm

"I originally wanted to remove the trunk on the left, but was afraid of having a big nasty scar."

Well, you either have a scar (which can be a plus when worked in the way Jim has illustrated) or you can have a big funny looking jin. for what it's worth, most old collected boxwood have drastic pruning that needs to be done, often resulting in a scar. Since boxwood is so dense, it is one of the few broadleaved trees that can handle deadwood treatments like a conifer. The wood does not rot and carves up well, if not easily.

ALL of the big (over 4 inch diameter) boxwood bonsai I've seen (and I have one with a 4" nebari myself) have deadwood treatments. My tree has a significant portion of deadwood on it's backside that's been carved to resemble not a windswept piece of driftwood, but an insect eaten, water damaged weatherbeaten stump--the wood is still VERY solid after six years.

I'd cut the long jin on yours back to about six inches, get out a Dremel (and several NEW grinding bits--you will need more than one, as the wood will dull them pretty quickly) and go to work. If you've never worked a deadwood treatment on a bonsai, I would practice carving, on a piece of separate deadwood, or old lumber before working on the tree. See what techniques work--drilling into the wood, then thinning it from the outside can create irregular weathered loooking "see through" knot holes, for instance. Of you can create irregular circular holes in the wood, along with crevices, etc. with smaller bits of varying sizes....

Or you could save the jin for carving work in a professional workshop. This could take some time if you haven't got access to such programs though.