Windswept?
I currentley have a 9 inch cherry barbados that I found growing in my nursery..it has a nice slant with a great start to a windswept project. ill post the pics asap. Just wondering if barbados can be used for this concept? I think it would make an exceptional piece of art.
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TomM
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Why not? Seems to me that most any tree can be trained to give the vision of a wind-swept subject. But like anything certain ones work better than others and the results being more 'convincing'.
The devil is in the details - so wiring of the branches is the critical issue. For windswept designs, and many other artistic design techniques, including clip-and-grow, you should try to get a copy of the incredible bonsai book "Vision of My Soul" by Robert Steven. He is a real 'visionary' artist.
Good luck with your project. Nice to hear from you again.
Tom
The devil is in the details - so wiring of the branches is the critical issue. For windswept designs, and many other artistic design techniques, including clip-and-grow, you should try to get a copy of the incredible bonsai book "Vision of My Soul" by Robert Steven. He is a real 'visionary' artist.
Good luck with your project. Nice to hear from you again.
Tom
There are a number of species of Malpighia sold as "Barbados Cherry". Depending on where you are and whom you're buying from, any one of these may be called "common" in the vernacular.
The reason I bring this up is that the "weeping" species of Barbados Cherry will probably not be able to hold a windswept form very well. With these species (one of which I have and has become the bane of my existence) the secondary branches (and sometimes even primary, depending on the size of the tree) remain too flexible for too long (years) and don't carry new growth weight very well (tendency towards drooping). Just the new blooms of spring are enough to weight many branches down into a natural weeping style that can take a long time, and a lot of arduous wiring, to correct. In addition, the branches are very brittle and do not tolerate *much* bending very well at all. And, to top it all off, they're very difficult to get to back bud. I've been trying to get mine to back bud for four years with only a single, very slow growing, branch to show for it.
So... in short, if this is a Malpighia glabra (smooth creamy-tan-grey bark, no nodules or wrinkles when young at least) you'll probably be just fine using it for whatever style you desire, including windswept. But, if it's one of the "weeping" species, I'd only use a slanting, one-sided start if I wanted to develop it into a cascade or semi-cascade.
The reason I bring this up is that the "weeping" species of Barbados Cherry will probably not be able to hold a windswept form very well. With these species (one of which I have and has become the bane of my existence) the secondary branches (and sometimes even primary, depending on the size of the tree) remain too flexible for too long (years) and don't carry new growth weight very well (tendency towards drooping). Just the new blooms of spring are enough to weight many branches down into a natural weeping style that can take a long time, and a lot of arduous wiring, to correct. In addition, the branches are very brittle and do not tolerate *much* bending very well at all. And, to top it all off, they're very difficult to get to back bud. I've been trying to get mine to back bud for four years with only a single, very slow growing, branch to show for it.
So... in short, if this is a Malpighia glabra (smooth creamy-tan-grey bark, no nodules or wrinkles when young at least) you'll probably be just fine using it for whatever style you desire, including windswept. But, if it's one of the "weeping" species, I'd only use a slanting, one-sided start if I wanted to develop it into a cascade or semi-cascade.