"Trunk Fuse" Blue Prints (Warning: Embedded Pics)

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Don’t know if I am posting this in the right section, but shall I be wrong ; please move it to where fit.

I came across this thread that cost Juliet a series of extra work through her stating that she is not too capable of sculpting. At the time as odd as it may have sounded… once I got into it I noticed how dramatically important it is to sculpt the base of the tree correctly.

For those unrelated to the matter.. it is about fusing a series of seedlings into a single trunk. An experiment very successfully practiced and bettered by Doug Phillips. Please care to visit His Site where I am SURE you will find your time well spent.


I have in plan of this year doing a few tests with a common hedera, a Goldcrest cypress, European beech and a Japanese maple… And I prepared construction wires for them.
Remembering the thread, I thought I would share the wires with those interested.

My apologies for the nasty trimming on the images, as they were a LOT less vivid without my cutting them out (please appreciate that it was NOT easy!). The second tree base displayed is a 3D model as thee is no wire of it yet. And fortunately the best looking one … It is the one I am planning for with a hedera (Myogi with branching from the outer bends).


The fourth one seems like another view of the third tree, but it is not. That one is a pretty much upright form with little movement and not twists. (Sort of what you would expect from large cypress in swamps)

The last one was the most costly one since I had to use copper and actually solder them… but none the less they were all very low cot to model out.

The gap between each layer so to say is (as best as possible) 3 cm in my version… (you may of course play with this scale at will)… and they all average to about a foot in height.
(The plan originally was to go for a shohin but a few tests proved the gap too tight to be able to work neatly)

Below I am listing the wires with photo’s for your attention... you can benefit from the images or either of the file formats below the images for a vector file version of them:

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"I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life.
I don't mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting actually is very helpful toward recovery,... "

Christopher Reeve
25 September 1952-10 October 2004

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This is the first tree in the image above. It was influenced from a large beech in a wild area close to the rails (I had sketched it variously to my fortune before high winds literally “repotted” it to a log style ).


*.Eps File

*.ai File

__________________
"I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life.
I don't mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting actually is very helpful toward recovery,... "

Christopher Reeve
25 September 1952-10 October 2004

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My hopefully massive trunked hedera2B.
The files for the second tree from the image above.



*.Eps File
*.ai File

__________________
"I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life.
I don't mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting actually is very helpful toward recovery,... "

Christopher Reeve
25 September 1952-10 October 2004

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Influenced from a variety of junipers I have seen to date… no particular influence in the making of this guy. But I plan to leave it pretty thick at the top to be pretty creative in bending the juniper into a shape I have in mind.



*.Eps File

*.ai File

__________________
"I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life.
I don't mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting actually is very helpful toward recovery,... "

Christopher Reeve
25 September 1952-10 October 2004

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The fourth tree… I hope to achieve a nice looking Cypress from this guy some day (I have heard dreadful stories of their ability to “fuse”… I plan on prvoking it by splitting the seedlings and giving the living tissue to the exterior of the wires. I hope for it to work.



*.Eps File

*.ai File

__________________
"I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life.
I don't mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting actually is very helpful toward recovery,... "

Christopher Reeve
25 September 1952-10 October 2004

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Last but not least… What I thought I could use for a maple… it has a VERY odd shape in compare to the rest, and additionally it seems as if the wire at the most bottom is a little narrower, but the whole model was very thoroughly thought over with the knotting of the seedlings held in mind as well as how I would like to later tie seedlings for the branch formation.



*.Eps File

*.ai File



A few last words…
These were trees I have considered fo particular cultivated seedlings already in growth and observation… But this does not mean that they can not be used for literally any species you would wish to go for…

And do not worry that shall you used the same trunk with some one else, that you will end up having the same tree… it is technically almost impossible. By the time they have grown to be fused; you can bet that your trunk will start displaying a character unmatched by any other tree.
Lastly: you can ofcourse modify ANYTHING of it to how you will. How you see your bonsai is what you shape it to mature into… this is simply no different. Nothing here is “rules” nor obligations… they are just guids for those that may need.


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__________________
"I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life.
I don't mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting actually is very helpful toward recovery,... "

Christopher Reeve
25 September 1952-10 October 2004

rockm

This technique isn't really suitable for trees that are reluctant to fuse or take an inordinant amount of time to fuse, like conifers, or even Acer Palmatum, or alot of others.

Trident maples are excellent candidates, as they have very little trouble callusing and merging growth.

Even so, Doug is using this in California, where the growing season is longer than most other places in the US. Here on the East Coast, the results that may be obtained with tridents on the West Coast can take double or triple the time or even longer...

PeterW

Hope youve got a LOT of saplings ready! I have done one frame and it took one hundred and seventy nine saplings! http://www.bonsainorthsidenursery.com.au/projects.htm

They fuse quickly so you must keep a check on any wire used to tie them to the frame and get it off when ready.
Good luck with it.
Peter.

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Originally I wished to keep this thread to presenting the blueprints only, my sapplings success to come out of it being another voyage.
But I will care to updat you shall you wish me to.

I wouldn’t agree more...
This is more an experiment that I am hopping to note down the results of.

The thread on the other hand is intended or giving a so called “Trunk” for those that might want to give it a try and lack the ability to create their own from sculpting.
These lines aren’t going to make it an easy task, but one you can build on technically without aided sculpting ability.

I have not yet bound anything to the cages… still months for my attempting per tree. But when I do I plan to use something I use pretty often when I break a twig while wiring (must have happened to all of us): A drop of Super Glue.
It is pretty clean and you get to mount the seedlings VERY close to each other...

I have tried with a few cuttings, and I got very encouraged with the results… the trunk-base being of wire enables me to put a drop of glue behind the saplings. In my tests it was not as difficult a number or size… sooo... don't know yet.

Honestly:
As much as I am looking forward to this; I am also pretty scared of a massacre.

Edit;
Peter... I can not pass by without crediting your site and projects, as I must admit that it has had inspired me to ideas at many times.

__________________
"I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life.
I don't mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting actually is very helpful toward recovery,... "

Christopher Reeve
25 September 1952-10 October 2004