Ancient Trees And Their Upkeep

Maineward

This may be a really stupid question, but what kind of upkeep do really ancient trees require? are they ever wired? repotted?

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TreeBay

By "ancient" do you mean "too old to be alive?" Some trees like Japanese Plum (ume/mume) can actually enjoy longer lives as bonsai given the benefit of great care and an occasional rejuvenating repotting. In any case, the time scale for a tree is much longer, so what would be a very old age for a human might not even bring the maturity of a tree.The frequency of repotting may diminish somewhat as the tree ages, but it is still necessary to replace soil because it wears out over time and drainage becomes a problem. Because the tree is a living organism, it will shed twigs and branches from time to time, and portions will die, necessitating some redesign and shaping of other branches.

Collectors (of California Juniper on the west coast, and Bald Cypress in the Gulf state area, and Mugo Pines in the Alps) routinely collect trees of unbelievable age. It is not extremely rare to encounter a collect-able juniper that is several hundred or even 1000 years old! However, these trees are just beginning their lives as bonsai, and you can follow that genesis as material is worked at California conventions, or in the pages of bonsai magazines like Golden Statements, Bonsai Today , and even here on bonsaiTALK in some of Walter Pall's posts.

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Bart Thomas(deceased)

If, by "Ancient" you are talking of those very old japanese trees whose age is expressed in terms of years in training, there are frequent articles in the magazines, particularly Bonsai Today.

These are regularly repotted, and new growth wired as needed. From time to time, they need to be restyled, as actual growth may have either detracted from the original design or opened up new possibilities.

As for just plain old, collected trees, they are treated just like nursery trees (well, perhaps with more care) once they are established in pots (normally a year or more after collecting - the presence of new growth and its vigor are the test).

Last weekend, I was in two workshops with collected trees. The (conservatively) estimated age of the Black Hills Spruce was 125 yrs; The Rocky Mountain Juniper was 250-300.

We chopped, and wired and bent (where we could) almost like any other tree. On the juniper however, cleaning the bark was too much for a hand held wire brush, as it was too thick. We pried off loose pieces and will later wire brush.

It was a shame to lose that magnificent old bark, but our Master, Shinji Suzuki, pointed out that, in the moister lowlands (these trees were both collected from an elevation over 6700'), all sorts of bad insects could hide under the bark flakes and severely damage the tree.

I Intend to post before and after photos, but I will do more work on the carving this weekend, and also want to take a photo of the tree after my midnight carving spree (mentioned in another thread).

K.A. Rutledge

Hi "Maineward" (??),

Just as Matt (TreeBay) replied, yes. All bonsai, no matter the age, have to be maintained as bonsai. The good thing is that after they have become established bonsai, their age is far less a factor for them than it would be for the same tree growing in nature.

Ancient trees in nature have the natural characteristics of age, including dead and, rotting areas, insect infestations, a large and extensive network of roots that is dying off here and there, fungal attacks from the root zone, minute traces of nutrients in the environment, etc...

With bonsai, an ancient tree may have dead areas, but the rotting is kept in check so as to bring little or no harm to the tree. We keep them free of insect infestatinons and the roots are often little more than just the healthy, young feeder roots. This offers the tree a very efficient and strong root system without the huge network of old-wood/dead-wood root structures in a network that is spread out over a large area in order to support the tree. And, we can offer an environment rich in nutriment. In short, the elements that in nature continue to "age" the tree and bring it closer to death are either not present or are kept healthy by our machinations.

Just as Matt alluded to, bonsai (that are kept by skilled and conscientious people) may expect a much longer and healthier life than they would in nature. Old bonsai are much "younger" than they appear.

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
www.bonsai365.com/
zone 8, Texas

diatribe

do bonsai ever just die of old age? given proper feeding pruning repotting etc, would it be possible to keep a bonsai alive forever? this may sound a bit utopian but it intrests me.
thanks in advance.
peace,
Diatribe.

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rockm

"do bonsai ever just die of old age? given proper feeding pruning repotting etc, would it be possible to keep a bonsai alive forever? this may sound a bit utopian but it intrests me."

Interesting question. Nothing really dies of "old age." Plants and animals are usually killed by disease. Plants, in theory, can live forever, as they regenerate themselves every year or so. As they age in the wild, though, they reach physical limits of their ability to function--roots get less and less efficient, upper growth extends to the limits of the tree's ability to nourish it.

In bonsai, we limit the amount and subsequent stress, of all that extension growth. We renew the root system every few years with hard pruning, forcing the tree to push more efficient feeder roots.

As for older trees requiring special care---the one I have really doesn't. I have a collected live oak that is probably well over 100 which is somewhere in mid-adulthood for the species. It is repotted every four years or so. It has been in a container for almost 15 years. It is more vigorous now than when I got it six years ago. I feed it as I do my other trees in the late stages of development.

Vonsgardens

Well technically they do senesce and die, perhaps not from "old age per se" but from the absence of growth and cellular renewal in support structures. This can weaken them and facilitate their demise by "natural" or "unnatural" causes. ever notice where the truly old trees live (let alone the aspen clones- are they still the original tree?)- harsh climes with short growing seasons (high deserts, mountains...)- fewer cell cycles perhaps? If you want to see something really amazing go see the forests in the far norhtern tier- Alaska, Far Northern Canada, Europe- where the trees are gowing up close to the tree line at near sea level- some of the old black spruce forests are old and only a few feet high. I have seen the Adak National Forest http://www.orneveien.org/adak/contr...neyshupp/03.htm, and this is really a "southern" tho still extreme example of "dwarfism" in Sitka Spruce. John

diatribe

thank you both for your responses.
I have actually seen some alaskan trees, quiet a few, in fact an anciant hemlock that i found growing up by the treeline in a pass i was snowboarding this past weekend made me think of this question.

haha. snowboarding in july! thats AK for ya. quite a hike and the snow is crap but its pretty country.

peace,
Diatribe.

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andrew lenden

dear john, i,ve always been led to believe that plants and trees specifically do not have a predetermined amount of cell cycles and can be likened to a coral reef where the oldest living parts are only at most a few years old but rely on the structures of their ancestors for support. at altitude could it be the reduced amount of bacterial, insect or fungal threat to the support structures that lead to increased longevity? i,d be delighted if you or any other member could put me in the direction of any further reading on the science behind the longevity of plants/trees, kind regards andrew