disguising trunk chop

[rainbowgardener]

Someone recently posted a question about his bonsai with pictures. I responded to some of the question, but posed my own. Since my question got no response I thought I would try it again:


FOR THE BONSAI EXPERTS: This tree has a very obvious trunk chop. Since trunk chop is a common procedure in bonsai production, what do people do to disguise that, make it look more like a miniature tree and less like a big tree that was chopped off?

Here's the picture that stimulated my question, but it is a general question and one I am interested in too.

[tomc]

I did reply to this earlier. I'm not sure which alternate universe it fell into...

There are at least two fixes to a budda belly on a tree (that I know of). Nothing would surprise me less, than there are others unthunk of by me.

Door number one: Pick a strongly growing branch at the cut. Repot the tree at a slant with that branch as the new leader. the cut will have to be sculpted down to approximate motion in the trunk. This is a little bit lazy, but works. Pare away at the edges of your roundish wound yearly in the spring to hasten closure.

Door number two: With new strongly growing wood near the cut. create a "V" shaped channel. Your going to use a dremel or other smaller power tool to hollow out the remaining trunk. To draw the two edges of closer together you'll wrap the whole wound together with rafia or thick twine. It may also need some wire to pull those edges closer together leaving what looks ever so much as a lightning struck fracture.

You'll know your looking at the second option by the profound taper this solution causes. Be gradual and soft of hand as you close this V-shaped wound. Leave as many new branches on the hollowed out length. Live terminal buds will help keep the 'under construction' bits alive as things heal up

I don't think you can get this second option done without a dremel. I don't take mine out of the drawer often enough to try this often.

Hope this helps.