If you brought this tree to a BYOT workshop, I think I would encourage you to introduce some movement into the lower trunk and put the tree in the ground (or leave it in the training pot and wait) to gain some caliper. If you apply the proportional guidelines for trunk caliper:height as your tree is now, your tree should be about 4" tall, maybe 6". The only possible style I see in/from your tree as it is, is bunjin (literati).

Al

How is a bunjin (literati) style possible with this tree? I don't see it. To me, the nebari doesn't lend the rest of the tree to be a bunjin (literati). Or maybe it does? But I'm not sure that I want it to be bunjin (literati). I'm still confused.

Gardener Guy

With the bunjin style - all the 'rules' go out the window. About the only thing required of the bunjin style is that it simple and expresses the struggle for life. Often, if you look closely at great trees, you'll find repeat patterns that are totally asymmetrical but somehow leave you with the feeling that it is as pleasing to the eye as a perfectly symmetrical tree.

I'm not suggesting that you rush out and create your tree in the bunjin style, only that to my eye it's the only possibility; and if you were determined to make a bonsai of it, that style make much more sense at this point than any other.

I would repot the tree into a more appropriate soil next spring, or put the tree in the ground now, so it can gain some trunk caliper. You need to encourage branching on the lower part of the trunk to help fatten it. You can wait until the tree is reestablished in its new home, and chop it back to the first two branches and tip prune those to force back-budding. Then, allow it to grow wild in -preparation for the first real trunk chop.

I'm not saying this to be disparaging or critical ..... not at all. I fully understand the want to 'make bonsai', but newcomers are always in a hurry to get their plants in a pot so they can call them bonsai.

Fortunately, I failed in my first attempt at bonsai about 20-25 years ago - simply hadn't paid the dues required to develop the skill set that would enable to keep my trees alive & healthy. I set the trees aside and began studying - hard. I studied mainly woody plant physiology and soil science, but along the way, I came to realize that putting a tree in a bonsai pot almost stopped the development of the tree in its tracks - other than fine refinement, ie. I probably have around 300 trees in some stage of development, some of them quite refined by most standards, but only about 30 are actually far enough along that I was comfortable putting them in a bonsai pot.

I always tell the anxious ones to slow down and learn to become a part of your trees' journey. Don't fight it. If you need to worry about a single tree and you're anxious to get it in a pot before its time, you simply don't have enough trees to satisfy your need to nurture.

When you have X amount of trees, so many that there is always something to do and progress always being made, you lose that drive to hurry things along; so, not only do your trees get more from the ride, but you do too. It's a much more relaxing way to approach bonsai, IMHO.

I hope that helped you understand where I was coming from. ;o)

Al

Al,

Thank you Al. You have helped a lot. Thank you. I kinda knew I would have to let the trunk thicken a bit. I just want to see a result in my head. The result doesn't need to be right away. For some reason the way the root flare looks and the way the trunk position is, it is somehow blocking a final image. I wont let that bother me. I will soon plant this in the ground. I just built some raised garden beds next to my greenhouse. I will fill the beds with dirt this week and then I will plant the Honeysuckle in it. I will give it time. Hopefully one day it will grow enough to become a great tree that creates much wonder and awe.

Gardener Guy

It will. It already has a LOT of character and great potential. If it was my tree, I would use the brad-point drill trick and rooting hormone to get roots to grow where I want them. I would change the planting angle just a little so the trunk was coming off the roots a little more upright and put it in the ground (any time) or in a really big training pot (next spring so you can bare-root & change the soil) with a well-aerated soil and feed the heck out of it. I would hope that you would get some natural breaks low on the trunk so you can chop it back in a couple of years to start building some taper w/o wasting a year because you had to prune it back hard to force the breaks.

Honestly, when you have a tree that young, it's all about the roots (nebari), so focus on that, and developing taper. You can always take a trunk with great roots and build a beautiful tree, but a beautiful top on ugly roots will always be a mediocre tree at best. I would also be thinking about starting (dormant hardwood) cuttings and grafting them to the base for their roots.

...... but like I said, you need more stuff to play with while you're waiting. ;o)

Good luck - have fun.

Al

Al,

Oh believe me; I have a bunch of tree to play with. I have, I'll give you a small list. I have two junipers, a Scots pine, three wild ashes, 5 three year old red maple seedlings that have totally different characteristics, a five year old red maple bonsai, Alberta spruce bonsai, and more. ThatÂs just a few of the plants I have to play with. Not to mention the giant garden and greenhouse I just built. So I have time to wait. Trust me.

Gardener Guy

Looks like you're having fun, and that's what it's about. ;o)

Take care.

Al

The story behind this Honeysuckle is really nice. I took a class through my collage. The class was called woodies 1, 2, and 3. The instructor was from our local Zoo and Botanical Gardens. First, my mom knew him from her childhood. He grew up a couple of doors down from her house as a child. That's a neat story. Anyway, one day we had class at this extremely popular cemetery. The plant we were trying to discuss was not the honeysuckle. The honeysuckle was blocking the Magnolia 'Jane'. The honeysuckle was 5 or so feet tall. He (the instructor yanked it out of the ground. Joking he says "Anybody want this beautiful honeysuckle?" And he laughed. I raised my hand and said I'll take it! He laughed again and threw it in the back of my truck. He then said to me, "You better not plant that invasive thing in the ground or I'll come after you!" I just laughed and kept it. That was in the spring of 2008. Now it looks pretty good.

Maybe one day I will post what the Honeysuckle looks like after it has grown in the ground. It should grow really fast with what I fertilize it with. I thank you for your advice.

I hope you are enjoying your bonsai,

Gardener Guy