How to train Swamp Cypress Bonsai
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- čas přidán 25. 06. 2021
- In this video Terry Erasmus of Bonsai Tree, does a makeover of a customers' swamp cypress.
To read the accompanying article for this video which delves deeper into the makeover, please visit: www.bonsaitree.co.za/blogs/tr...
To order Japanese Kaneshin bonsai tools: www.bonsaitree.co.za/collecti... - Jak na to + styl
Great transformation! Would love to see more of your work. Thank you so much!
Thanks so much! Very generous of you. There are over 200 videos on my channel and if I dare say so myself, this one was not one of the best but I am sincerely glad you enjoyed it.
Our swamp cypresses and bald cypresses in the UK are like this on dry land: heavy foliage weighing the branches down. Some have deadwood carved by nature, as do some of the dawn redwoods that were planted in the park across the road from my house 30 years ago. They are still young but are developing beautiful trunks now! Bonsai is artistic license, whether you want to create a work of art from a specific species or take the natural route of clipping and growing. However, cypresses are definitely one that can benefit from a helping hand along the way to get things set while growing in pots! I love it and love the natural look! I'm looking to take on one that's needing a chop, but I just need some advice first before touching it! If you can help, that would be great!
Thanks so much for sharing those comments about the swamps and how they grow where you are. That’s helpful and interesting to me.
I agree completely with your comments about bonsai and artistic license. I guess if you opt for a more “contentious” route you should prepare yourself for criticism.
Starting a swamp is not too tricky as they are very strong growers. You can do a hard cut of the trunk in late spring and select one vigorous shoot as the new leader or continuation of the trunkline . That can be developed for a season. Clean up the trunk chop and taper it into the new leader. Develop your branches from the plenty of buds which form on the trunk. If you’d like to discuss this in greater detail please book a consultation here: www.bonsaitree.co.za/products/consultation
Great work! Thank you for your videos! Would love to see how you do your wedge cuts.
Thanks Daniel! Mmmm ok I will try to get that on camera next time. Thanks for commenting
Anyone watching Terry's videos, also have a look at Bonsai Mirai's BSOP series. Really jam packed with info.
From this Cypress, to the Yamadori Juniper you repotted, I continue to be delighted with the amount of great material we have here in South Africa.
Yes indeed we do have great material and many wonderful bonsai artists locally. Just a pity most are too shy to share any of their knowledge.
Your tutorials are so well explained and enjoyable.
Thanks Bill. Awesome to know you are watching 😊
Agree. Great depth and great teacher 👍😎
Great work on a beautiful specimen. Thanks
Thank you so much Matt! I am very confident it will only gain in splendor in the years come. Hopefully I will be part of the process all the way.
Terry, , just wow, I don't know where to start - the techniques and process you explained here as well as seeing the before & after has me very excited, I might need to book more than an hour for July-ish, :( given the level 4 Cyril communicated yesterday. I am so proud to be watching a South African Bonsai professional on You Tube, please keep up the videos and do a few on our beautiful indigenous trees. The Jacaranda and Monkey Thorn are 2 I am struggling to find any material on. Amazing content! Piano in the background a nice touch!
Thanks Wesley! I am blushing :) I like the piano too - dont understand it when bonsai growers use some metal or heavy rock as music for their video. I guess different strokes for different folks, but working to that I'd probably rip the tree to pieces
nice explanation and styling Mr T
Thanks Captain for watching and the compliment! When can I get you in front of the lens or are you chicken?
@@TerryErasmusbonsai Always willing and able. So lets chat and make a date.
Awesome work, keep posting please
Thank you Ryno, appreciate it!
Well done. First I have seen of the technique.
Thanks so much Robert. I hope you can use this information.
Great work. 👍 super impressed
Thank you DD, much appreciated!
Great change on the design and and the result is overwhelming my dear friend. The tutorial and tips are so elaborate. Good job and fully watched my friend.
Thank you so much, very encouraging. I often wonder whether people watch an whole video or not, but bonsai cannot be explained in a 60 second clip. And the trees deserve more screen time I think :)
@@TerryErasmusbonsai you are welcome my dear friend. I think you are correct on saying bonsai needs more screen time. Same thru when your dealing with it, it takes long period of time to actually compose a good finish bonsai my friend.
Such a beautiful job
Thank you Joel! 😊
Fantastic work 🙏 I just subscribed.
I have a couple of swamp cypress I'm developing here in west wales, uk. Amazing trees they are.
Welcome aboard! Thanks for watching. Thats fantastic, yes they are indeed. Tough too!
Good work!
Many thanks.
I have two bald cypress, both at least as thick as the one here, I chopped it about 8” up the trunk some years ago, the new leader has given them both great taper, hopefully this fall I will wire and select branches!!
Great vid! Thank you!
Sounds great DCM! They are such strong growers.
@@TerryErasmusbonsai almost too strong, multiple shoots at every cut!
@@dawud7791 yes. You need to stay on top of this species if you are feeding and watering well for sure.
Beautiful work love your explanations
I don't know the speceman, we have not that tree in North Africa
Thank you so much for the great informations
Thank you very much for watching and commenting. It is certainly my intention to keep creating more of the same. Please share my channel with your friends too if you think they might enjoy the videos too please. Thank you and take care.
Excellent Sir
Thanks Bakul!
I love your design, seriously. great presentation. I want to watch 200 videos of you styling trees and explaining the process
Wow, that’s such a nice compliment. Thank you kindly.
Thanks Terry. Really enjoyed that video. Your article mentions when assessing a tree it can have all roots growing on one side, which is a problem with a 4yo swampy I have. Or rather, there is a distinct lack of roots on one side of the base. Short of trunk chopping and laying it over, what is the best way to build roots on that side? I’ve tried wounding and using rooting powder with lots of sphagnum moss, with no luck. Could grafting be the answer? Any advice would be much appreciated. I’m in Sydney.
Thanks for watching and for the question! Yeah that’s a though one with swamps, they can often have really “ugly” roots.
It’s a risk but I’d layer the tree. It’s a risk because if it does not root you would need to try again until you get it right as the base of the tree will have a ring around it now and not look very nice. I call this ground layering as you layer near the ground and not up in the air. You can create a side wall using plastic or other material and fill this with your chosen medium like sphagnum or other, water as normal. However there will be more detailed explanations on the web I’m sure.
Nice one... 👍👍👍
Many thanks for watching and for the compliment!
Oh, please also do follow up's so we can see how this one progresses !
Thanks Welsey, well the customer was happy with the result so I am sure it will be back in the studio next year for some more work, perhaps sooner. Thanks for asking :)
Good job
Thanks so much, appreciate the comment.
thank you, i learned one method of bending difficult to flex branches....
Glad it helped!
Brilliant transformation. You really converted an ugly duckling. These trees don't grow where i live. A friend has one next to his poind that has lot's of knees comming out of the ground. I have never seen a bonsai Swamp Cypress form knees. I have a few that are young that i dont do any thing with. they sit in water all year so watering takes little time. They do not like getting dry but seem to bounce back even if they loose their foliage temporarily. These trees do limit what can be done and it seems like all of them eventually get chopped and get that odd rapid taper at the top. Your demonstration on branch position is very useful and when the time comes I may try to mimic what you did. I don't have that much experience but often practice bonsai techniques for the sake of learning. I have enough trees so loosing some for the sake of learning seems reasonable. I'm curious if it would be possible to split branches or the trunk to help bend them? Obviously what you did looks quite ideal but I see videos by Sr. Stemberger who pushes branch bending to a different level. The owner should be quite pleased with the changes to his tree. Best.
Mats H.
Thank you kindly Mats for your well considered comments. There are not many of this species where I grow either but there are a few around, they are certainly lovely trees. They seem quite adaptable with regards to the manner in which they are watered, I have never stood them in water I just water them along with the rest of my trees. It is certainly possible to split the branches however the resulting scars might time to heal. However once healed the branches will retain their position. Wiring mature branches will not have a long term effect, especially if you wish to wire them down.
wonderfull Good job i am in south america
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Thank you Maria, hope you are safe and well in South America. Thanks for watching.
What is the best season of the year to do these little wedge cuts on a bald cypress?
Best time would probably be just as the tree is waking from dormancy to take advantage of the strong sapflow. Otherwise any time during active growth will be good.
@@TerryErasmusbonsai Thank you!
your tutorial is very informative. I am uma from Bangalore, India. i read all your mails. i have this plant. i have a query for you. Do you recommend keeping the swamp cypress pot in shallow water.
Great question! I don't stand mine in water and they grow just fine. If you stand them in water they also grow just fine. So in my opinion it makes no difference if you do or don't. Perhaps a more practical consideration is that they do like a lot of water so if due to your work or other schedule you cannot water them manually enough, then standing them in some water will help.
@@TerryErasmusbonsai I appreciate this video was made some time ago, but as I have been revisiting the oldies again, thought I'd throw a comment in for you and your other viewers. I am from Australia and have grown a few Swampies over the years. The way I develop my trees is to grow them in large plastic storage containers, with NO drainage holes. I plant them in a very gritty mix of up to 6mm size grains. I fertilize them heavily, as you said they do love a feed. Water wise, I fill the container with water to the top and then allow the water to evaporate and be drank up by the tree until the soil surface is nearly dry, before filling the container with water again. That continues until the tree has reached the stage of development I am after. When I pot them into a Bonsai pot I fill the drainage holes with an epoxy glue so the water can't leak out before planting the tree. I have also found it helpful to sit the potted Bonsai tree in a shallow tray of water, as the extra humidity seems to help when they are in our smaller pots. Hope this helps someone out.
Hello Terry, what mix do you use for the Substrate for Swamp Cypress, considering their water loving nature??
You could use 100% akadama if you want. Or you could use something like 100% coarse perlite (sift all the fines out) just use some kind of top dressing as this will want to float or fly away in the wind. Both are water retentive and retains some structure long enough to last roughly 2 years or so for a developing tree.
Hey Terry, julle winters daar onder is nie baie koud nie? myne se blare was al brons in april en alles af begin junie
Actually this tree was very sheltered. However sometimes this happens with some species, even maples, they dont drop their leaves prior to spring - so you can simply defoliate. Thanks for watching.
Won't defoliating the tree so late in the growing season force new buds to break in the Fall or Winter?
No, because the sap is receding already. So there is no chance of this happening.
No
Hi, Can you give me some information on hard pruning one these im thinking of taking on from a friend he has got it looking great but its still very tall 4ftish beautiful trunk on it all the growth is up top i do have a 10 year old one i grew from seed but know whare ready to be worked on as bonsai yet, my younger has loads buds on the branches already in june in full growth how do they bud back though is what im wondering if i done a major chop on this other other other one and when would be best time about November?
Hello and thanks for the question. They cut probably be cut back hard anytime during active growth as they are generally so strong and will easily bud back. Digging out would be same time as you would repot, at bud break.
I would cut back hard to roughly where you think the chop should be (depends on the design you have in mind). Then allow it to bud and select a single strong shoot to develop as the new trunk line. Once this is broom handle thickness or so then shape that original trunk chop to a nice angle tapering into the new trunk line. They do heal large scars but the larger the scar the longer it will take of course. You may end up having to fill the cavity which forms with cement in order to give it a good base for callous formation.
I don’t want to refer to a date as your climate and seasons are different to mine.
What's the best time of year to prune a cypress?
Great question. Answering on the BEST time, I’d say this would be after the spring growth has had time to put energy back into the tree, so late spring. Again in autumn when the tree is changing to autumn colour and sap is receding OR in very early spring BEFORE growth starts. All superfluous growth can be removed at any point as these are really strong growers.
When is the best time of year to collect a bald cypress from the wild?
I would suggest the best time would be early spring just as the tree begins to grow/bud.
Beautiful 💕
Glad you like it!
In nature especially in the swamps and river banks they naturally form a flat top canopy but if in dryer ground they have a different style of canopy. I’m not in the swampy part of Arkansas but I’ve seen them beside the Arkansas river and beside large lakes. They make a great bonsai that you don’t have to worry about over watering . I’ve seen them grow in a bucket of water
They are absolutely wonderful species to grow as bonsai - I find them to be very strong growers if you fertilize and water well! Thanks for sharing that info on the way they grow where you are. Where I am, farmers often plant them in areas close to ponds and rivers where they can get ample water. They all tend to grow in the same way though which is a more upward tendency. With regards to the bucket growing - do you change the water or just keep it from by topping up or what?? Thanks!
@@TerryErasmusbonsai
Yes I’d change the water, but you could temporarily grow one in a bucket. I know the regular bald cypress likes some moving water and the pond cypress varieties can handle more stagnant water.. Course they will definitely be healthier with fresh water. But can definitely survive what would drown most trees. I bought a sapling size bald cypress, I cut the top off with a angled cut and stuck it in a separate pot and it sprouted roots in a short amount of time . They can grow in colder climates but they won’t produce cones to reproduce in colder climates. They are native as far north as St. Louis, Missouri in nature . They definitely grow all over my state of Arkansas in the wet areas. I’ve been told if you plant them in your yard make sure that they are not near your water pipes. They will wrap their roots around them especially if they are leaking and break your water pipes.
@@aikidragonpiper71 very interesting. Thanks for that info. By the way I enjoyed my time in Arkansas when I was there years ago. I was fly fishing in one of the gold medal streams there. Beautiful place. Enjoy.
@@TerryErasmusbonsai
We do have some very hot summer's. Usually July and August can be 105 to 110 Fahrenheit. Then last winter we hit down to -10 Fahrenheit with that bad winter storm that even dropped snow I south Texas.
Is the time of year the same for DRW to prune branches?
I'm sorry Mark but what is a DRW?
@@TerryErasmusbonsai Dawn Redwood. Sorry about that.
😃 I knew it would be something like that! I honestly cannot say for sure as I’ve never worked on one as we don’t have them here. However I believe they are related? If so then the timing would be the same.
I was looking for a certain type of tree and thought it was a pond cypress, but after looking at this tree, I'm sure it's not the one I was searching for. This tree is beautiful, and I wouldn't mind growing one though. I was looking for a type that grows its foliage quite close to the trunk and compact. It looks like it's moss growing along the trunk. If anyone can help me find out what that type of tree that is,
I'd appreciate it.
Could it be Hinoki Cypress?
@TerryErasmusbonsai That may be the cypress I saw. I think the owner might have kept the branching really short, which accented the beautiful trunk an amazing base and taper. Thank you for guiding me in the right direction.
Glad to help!
When is a good time to prune/style a swamp cypress?
Good question! When it’s growing is a good time. Not before the spring leaves have hardened off though or you may break them off. I don’t think during dormancy is a good time either.
@@TerryErasmusbonsai I live in Minnesota...sounds like I should maybe wait till next summer? What are your thoughts on Montezuma Cypress?
@devincates5083 wait till latter spring, not necessarily summer. I have no thoughts on it as I’ve not worked on montezuma, we don’t get that where I live to my knowledge.
Why do you bend your branches so low? Swamp Cypress do not grow like. The lowest branches would be closer to horizontal and maybe slightly downward while the upper branches would be reaching upward.
Thanks Simona for watching. Would you say that you have done an exhaustive search to see how swamp cypress grow globally, that there is no chance they grow different to how you perceive them? Have you read the article linked to in the text? Lastly as I am the artist if I want to make this tree look like an African Baobab I could not so? Would not be natural but please tell me what about bonsai is natural, nature inspired at best.
Beau travail compte tenu du matériel existant (branches). 👍👍👍👏
Merci d'avoir reconnu les limites actuelles, et je suis sûr que vous pouvez également visualiser l'avenir que j'ai en tête pour cela.
Beautiful drama you've created
Thanks so much!
Wow
Glad you enjoyed it Kamrul.
I planted one many years ago to fatten up. It's now about 18ft high so I think I've let it go too far. Whoops!
Ha ha. Yeah, just a tad perhaps. Maybe you can use seed from it to start again.
I'm trying a small air layer this year and will try a larger one next year if this is successful. That's if I can reach of course!
I’d say it’s at a perfect point to chop down this coming winter
so this is the Chinese Swamp Cypress? not the Bald Cypress in North AMerica
Taxodium distichum is the botanical name.
John Naka did not style the cypress in Bonsai Techniques 1, as a naturally occurring "swamp cypress". That Montezuma cypress (taxodium mucronatum) is styled as an Alpine tree. However, you can style your trees any way you please. Just be ready to defend your tree. I've done "incorrect styling" before and put up with insults and/or laughter. Which tree at R44 and Dorp are you talking about? On Google Maps I can see a tall columnar tree that looks like a pipe cleaner. That's the only tree that remotely looks like your swamp cypress. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Bill. Yes, I do understand he did not style it true to the natural form of this species, and despite that I enjoy it and like the appearance. I am happy to have a discussion with anyone about the styling of my trees. As an art, I agree with you; people can style their trees any way they like. If the execution is good I dont have a problem with it. If someone wants to style a trident maple as a pine I don't care, if its well done and I can enjoy it. Maples are not indigenous where I live and I have never seen a trident maple growing wild before - so I think some license is permitted. I am not trying to produce nature in miniature. I thinks its very easy to caught up in your underwear in this debate :)
Yes, sounds to me like the tree I was referring to. I pass there fairly often, its a stunning tree.
Nowhere will you ever see a bald cypress take this form. Bonsai are supposed to look like trees, trees are not supposed to look like bonsai.
Read the article linked to on the video description and you will see the photos of the trees I used as inspiration. Apology accepted.
Are you based in South Africa?
Absolutely - more specifically the best city in the world which is of course Cape Town. 😀
Can we use the same technique by cutting a little the base of a thick branch to make apex on disedius trees?
Good question. If you can cut the wedge accurately then you should be able to do this with any tree. Trees which heal easy like Chinese maple and others will work better than others like Celtis which is more difficult to heal.