Yin and Yang - A Tree's Balance

Will_Heath

The principle of Yin and Yang is as old as time itself it would seem and existed long before bonsai has. I am quite positive that the Chinese and Japanese practitioners of bonsai recognized the balance that is inherent in trees and plants when they first started practicing bonsai.

As with all living things, trees have a natural balance that they depend on for survival. We often hear references to this balance in such statements as "The top of the tree mirrors the bottom" "as the roots grow, so does the foliage" and other such words. I do not believe that most of us use this knowledge to it's full potential in regards to bonsai.


Cutting Back and Root Pruning

If you prune back foliage on a bonsai the tree will be out of balance and will respond by stopping root growth and put all energy into creating new foliage until balance is once again achieved. The opposite is also true when you root prune, the tree will stop foliage growth and divert energy into root growth until balance is restored.

Often we are informed to cut back the foliage on a tree that we just root pruned to restore this balance but I believe that we can not ever know precisely how much to cut back and may end up cutting too much back reversing the unbalance to the other extreme or not cut back enough accomplishing nothing. By cutting back foliage on a recently root pruned tree we only create wounds that now also be healed, taking valuable energy away from the trees attempt to balance itself.

With collected trees (in Michigan zone 5/6) I have found that by not cutting back the foliage at all the tree responds quite well and new root growth is maximized. After a year from the time I potted the tree I start cutting back the branches. At this point the tree is once again out of balance, but now it responds by pushing out new growth in order to archive balance again. I have had good success getting pines to back bud on old wood using this thought process.

There is a saying in bonsai that hits upon this very thing, we have all heard it used. “Never cut the top and bottom at the same time.”


Shaping The Tree

Every leaf, branch, root, and twig on a tree knows it’s rightful place. The tree grows in a precise pattern that it has evolved to in order to receive maximum sunlight, nutrients, and water. The tree is hard wired to do this and every single tree of the same species without outside influence would look exactly alike if allowed to.

When an outside influence acts upon a branch be it snow, it’s own weight, another fallen branch, wire, guy wires, strings with weights, a eagles nest, whatever, the tree will be out of balance. The tree will respond by creating cells and tension that are designed to bring the tree back into balance.

The tree is patient and will always strive to be in balance. Even after many years of snow on the end of a pine branch, the tree stills tries to lift itself up, maybe only succeeding with the very tip, but it never gives up.

When wiring we find that we are always rewiring the same branches throughout time. We cheat and make wounds that will cause the tree to self graft to itself, holding the branch down and with other methods, but the tree will keep on trying.

I have given only two examples of a trees need for balance here, there are others. I am sure we all can see this need for balance in plants; I hope we can start seeing how to use it better for our advantage in bonsai. I am very interested in hearing others thoughts on this.



Will Heath

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Cre8tive

Will,

Is it possible that if you root prune without removing foliage, some of the brances could die prior to this balance you speak of being acheived? If so, could it not then be benifical to make the decisions of what we are willing to lose instead of having nature decide for us?

Just a thought.

Mark

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Will_Heath

Excellent question and you are quite correct.

If for some reason (Lack of sun, water, food) the tree can not balance itself by throwing out new roots then it must sacrifice branches in order to achieve balance. This however is a last resort as it makes no evolutionary sense at all to sacrifice branches. Normally a tree will only take this course if a branch is manufacturing less energy than it uses.



Will

Cre8tive

Assuming that the tree was in balance prior to pruning the roots, wouldn't you know that it would be producing less energy than it uses after pruning? Again, wouldn't you want to make the determination of which branches were lost as opposed to letting nature decide in the event it were necessary?

Mark

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Joanie

It might be something to consider, that you can't know which branch could die off, and your pruning may take a branch that would otherwise live. Aren't the branches somewhat related to the specific roots that feed them? So if a root on one side is lost in collecting, removing a branch from the other side of the tree could mean more damage and still not save the branch related to that root?


Joanie

Will_Heath

Mark,

It has been my experience that after collecting a tree and potting it, a tree will stop further foliage growth and increase root growth until balance is restored. Trees do not drop foliage lightly as this is an extreme loss of expended energy and is counter productive to survival.

The pines I have collected and not cut back foliage on responded well and loss only a few of the smallest inner branches if any.

As I stated above, if the water, nutrients, and air are there for the roots to grow, they will as opposed to dropping branches. Trust me, if the tree declines enough to drop branches, it will decide on which ones, even if you have already removed some.

The key here is minimal root removal on a collected tree. In "Wild Collecting 102" I mentioned this as well as wiring back roots as opposed to cutting them to fit in your training box.

Remember, when you remove branches on a collected tree you add to it's chores. Besides simply pushing new root growth, now it also has to deal with healing wounds. That's a division of energy I personally prefer not to have.


Will

Vance Wood

You guys are arguing a wrong premis, that being; if you cut the roots you are going to lose branches. This is not necessarily correct though it is more likely to happen with a collected tree, most nursery trees can have the root mass reduced significantly without causing any visable distress to the top of the tree. This also brings us into the culture of bonsai itself. If you reduce the root mass at repotting by one third according to most of the literature you are not going to lose part of the top of the tree unless the tree is weak to begin with.

Will_Heath

Thanks Vance, your experience speaks volumes.

It should be noted that Vance lives in Michigan as I do and this information may not be true if you lived in a lunar colony.


Will

rockm

I think this can also depend on species and time of year. Japanese maples can stand root pruning in early summer/late spring after their leaves have hardened off. I've repotted and root pruned Japanese maples in June, reducing the root ball by half and had no ill effects. However, if you root prune them after leaves have just emerged, but before they have obtained leather hard texture, the tree will suffer.

Additionally, I've found that I can collect American hornbeam after they have pushed new leaves by trunk chopping and then collecting them with a bare bones root structure (by bare bones, I mean clipping roots six inches from the trunk on 2-5" trees and six inches or so down--much in the way Bald Cypress are collected). I've collected Hornbeam very late in the season this way with alot of success. The trick is to remove all top growth to minimize the load on the roots. You are right about top growth not resuming until roots become better established.

The key is to think of the relationship between roots and top growth as symbiotic. One can't live without the other, but the roots are the initiator of the whole process.