Advice needed for metasequioa

Rene_Voortwist

Hi,

This is my metasequoia glyptobostroides (..) I styled it during a metasequoia workshop at the local club. I really dislike the apex because it makes a bend while the rest of the tree is straight. I think I'm going to cut it off and grow a new one. What do you think ? Also the foliage grows in all directions exept the right one. How to prune / pinch it ?

regards, René

Advertisement

TreeBay

Could we see a closeup of the apex please, where the bend is?

__________________

Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today!

bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!

Carl_Bergstrom

Rene,

I'm about to try to style my first metasequoia (see the "species specific" forum "dawn redwood trunk chop" thread).

What do I need to know to work with this particular species? Anything you learned at the workshop, or wish you'd done differently?

Thanks in advance,
Old Mister

__________________
In love with trees

Rene_Voortwist

Matt,
Here's a detail of the bend I was talking about. This picture also shows the way the foliage grows in all directions. I have no idea how to control this.

OMC,

This tree was grown by someone else before we bought it to use at the workshop. He grew it in stages, where the trunk was chopped and a new leader developed several times. This has resulted in a tree with good taper. (the tree is 8 years old)
From what I have heard at the workshop this type of tree is very apical dominant. You must constantly prune back growth in the top to make sure the lower branches keep developing. It also constantly makes new shoots on old wood and on the trunk. You should make sure to remove this unless you want to develop a new branch (or leader as I am planning to do right now) What I should have done at the workshop (I guess) is remove the "crooked" top and wire up a branch to form a new one. But maybe it's not too late.. Do you have a picture of your tree ?

René

TreeBay

I don't think you have a big problem here.

Redwoods and metasequoia in particular are more flexible than they let on.

Wire the tree with a good stout wire ( aluminum is okay, copper would be better) then grab the coil just above the offending point with a set of jin & shari pliers and twist the living daylights out of it until it is as straight or crooked as you would like it to be.

The bark on the opposite side will probably make some nasty cracking sounds and may even show some signs of partial separation, but as long as it remains fairly intact on one side, you're golden.

This actually looks pretty good, IMHO.

Regards,

Matt

__________________

Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today!

bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!

Rene_Voortwist

Hi Matt,

Lett's see, it's 9:30 AM here. You're in California, that's 8 or hours earlier.... Wow Matt, when do you sleep ?? Just kidding, thanks for the advice. Do you really think I can be that rough on this poor sequoia ?? I will have to make a really heavy bend to make that apex straight....
What can I do about the foliage that grows in all wrong directions ? From what I read I should prune all foliage that grows up or down ? is that a good idea ?

thanks, René

TreeBay

I get up very early to polish my klomps before work



At this point, you should do some branch selection. You don't want too many parallel or "bar" branches, so reduce some of those. You can have a few near the apex. I am suspecting you are leaving the apex tall to help heal a wound near the top? Otherwise you could reduce it by quite a bit and wire up a new branch as the apex.

You can pinch the growth back quite a bit everywhere. Grasp a branch between your fingertips and pluck out the fan shaped bit within any one of those lobes.

You can cut back most anywhere where the branch is green and get new growth.

If you have branches growing straight up, cut them off or wire them down. If they are growing down, definitely remove them, and if they are budding from the base of another branch or between existing branch forks, pluck them out.

__________________

Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today!

bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!

Rene_Voortwist

Matt,

The apex is growing so tall to let it hicken a bit, but since I don't like it I will cut it and wire up a new one. (have a decent branch selected allready) I will follow your advice about the foliage pruning and plucking. It will make the tree look a whole lot better !

Thanks Matt, the advice is very much appreciated !!

René