Ceder Basic Maintenance.

Last week I posted a blog about a Ficus tree that I defoliated. To read more on that see the link below:

This week I thought I would show how I trimmed a Ceder tree that I have been working on over the past six years. Working on bonsai trees is not always as interesting as it seems. Some aspects of bonsai are very mundane and I for one lose interest if I have to do the same thing over and over again with out seeing results.

One of these mundane tasks are trimming back new growth on trees during the growing season. Many a day I have seen that a tree might be in need of a trim but I would put it off to the next available date. Before long you have more than just a few trees that need to be trimmed. You jump to action as you image you will never get to all the tree and spend half a Saturday trimming trees. In the back of you mind you know that this could all have been avoided if you have just listened to the little voice in the back of your head telling you to trim the trees but nope you choose to ignore it.

Here is a prime example of me neglecting a tree for a week or two.

You can see that the trees canopy is over grown and that the weeds have covered the entire surface of the soil mixture. This is not the worst thing that can happen with a bonsai tree but what you do not realize is that every opportunity that passes is a opportunity missed. If you keep your hand on your collection you will be more likely to see early warning signs and this will allow you to act swiftly. Keeping your collection neat and well groomed will also give you a sense of achievement that will encourage you to spend more time with your trees. You will also enjoy your trees more.

When ever I feel like there is something that I need to tend to I tackle it without thinking. This way the work gets done before I start making excesses as to why it can be put off. Here is the same tree that I just started working on regularly over the past few years and these are the results:

This tree might not look like much but you must see the tree’s progression to fully understand the trees journey.
Here is a link to the previous blog I wrote on this trees progression:

Cedar Progression: The journey to bonsai masterpiece.

The blog above is an article that I wrote June 27th, 2017. The tree has changed quite a bit since then but you will be able to see how the tree changed every time after I worked on it each year.

Here is a short video of the work I did this weekend:

A word of encouragement. Just because a trees appearance does not look dramatically different after you worked on it, that does not mean that the work you did does not have an effect on the trees development. Take time to photograph you trees before and after each session that you work on the tree. After a few years look back at the photos and you will be amazed at how each small step in development progress builds on the trees progression.

Hope you enjoyed the blog. If you have any comments or questions please post them in the section provided below.

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