First time trunk chopper

bonsaibandit05

thanks Little John,

that is helpfull !

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rockm

The method described in the linked article wouldn't really be appropriate for bald cypress. Broom styles are suited more to deciduous broadleafed trees. The style looks very strange with conifers. Additionally, the techniques used in that article probably aren't needed with BC. If you use the "V" chop technique, for instance, you will wind up wiht an extremely unsightly bulge down the road, as BC produces thick heavy scar tissue in closing wounds. The initial trunk chop should be FLAT across. After a year or two, you choose the new leader, then do another chop downwards from the apex shoot angled down the trunk. You should probably carve out the wound to make it a bit concave around the edges and raised a bit in the center. This will allow scar tissue to grow in flush with the trunk.

As for styles, look to Gary Marchal's webpage, or here (halfway down the page): http://www.lcbsbonsai.org/Gallery/B...1/Gal_BbAW1.htm for some ideas. There are several different "variant" styles that can be made with BC. "Flat top" is the more naturalistic, with the typical triangle conifer style another option. The taller and thinner the trunk, the more experienced BC folks lean towards flat top styles. Shorter, thicker trunks lend themselves to younger looking BC styles.

This doesn't mean you have to stick to style "rules," but that the material itself to these kinds of treatments. BC is a native tree with distinctive natural growth habits. Forcing a broom style on them might not give you satisfying results.

bonsaibandit05

Thanks Rockm, that is very helpfull. Do you have to treat the wound?

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rockm

I haven't treated a chop wound on this species--but you might want to any any. I have heard that sealing the wound can prvent a bt of dieback at the wound site, although this species is so vigorous, dieback is a relative thing. Typically these trees will push alot of new growth directly at the chop site.

You really don't have to worry about rot setting into the wound without sealing it. Cypress wood is extremely resistant to decay, although older specimens have the most resistant wood. The rot resistance is what made bald cypress wood so desireable in building material and what has driven the logging of most of the old growth cypress in the South.