For our May General Meeting, Gordon Deeg made an appearance to speak to members about the general culture and care of deciduous trees as bonsai. As you can imagine, this topic is quite encompassing, however Gordon covered some of the basic deciduous tree growing habits and highlighted a few of the many popular species that adapt well to bonsai culture.

As a demonstration, Gordon brought along a young trident maple and prepared it for its future growth as a bonsai. The young trident maple, approximately 3-5 years old was started from seed and maintained in traditional bonsai soil to promote fine feeder roots. Gordon transplanted the sapling into a deeper terra-cotta pot to allow stronger growth.
The tree was allowed to grow a single long leader to help build a strong base and trunk. For his demonstration, Gordon removed the leader in favor of a new smaller branch that will serve as the new top of tree. Cutting the tree at this time accomplishes two main goals. First, cutting the tree now adds movement where the original leader grew tall and straight. Now, the trunk moves laterally to one side. Second, by removing this leader, taper was introduced to the trunk. The lower trunk now blends into the smaller diameter branch. This taper will remain as the diameter of the trunk increases. Because the cut was made on a very young tree, it is very unlikely that a serious scar will remain. The tree should heal quickly within a few years and will not be noticeable.

Gordon recommended planting the tree in the ground. The unrestricted growth of the tree’s roots will lead to a rapid increase of trunk girth. In fact, the diameter of a young tree’s trunk may increase 5-10 times over 3-5 years. Unfortunately for many San Franciscans, open ground for growing trees is very limited. As an alternative, the tree should be planted in a much larger pot. By letting the tree grow freely for a few years both the trunk and health of the tree will benefit. If you transplant a young tree into a very small bonsai pot, you will slow its growth and development. The trunk will remain small for many years and ramification of the trees branches will be much slower.

Gordon repotted the tree into fresh potting medium. The roots of the tree were combed out and the lateral roots saved. Any large roots growing straight down from the trunk were removed. By preparing the roots while the tree is young, the nebari of the tree will develop early. Transplanting the tree into a shallow bonsai pot will be much easier in the future because the root ball was managed early in the life of the tree.

Gordon complemented his presentation with slideshow of his travels in Japan and garden with a plethora of deciduous trees that included persimmons, hornbeams, trident maples, and beech. All of the trees in the gardens were impressive.

Gordon finished the evening by critiquing several deciduous trees brought to the meeting by our members. Many club members are growing deciduous trees in their collections and several of us have a few trees with significant flaws and challenges. It was a pleasure to have Gordon offer his advice on how to develop these trees into better bonsai.

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