A Detailed Guide to the Latest Methods for Making Cliff Cypress Bonsai

Pine and cypress bonsai, rugged and ancient-looking, cold- and heat-tolerant, not choosy about soil for cultivation, are long-lived tree species and much loved by people. But old pine and cypress stumps are relatively difficult to dig up, plant and keep alive, because their sap is in a waxy resinous state, and their bark is fragile and easily damaged; once wounded, the resin seals the cut and hardens, and the sap circulation is impeded. It is then very hard for new buds to sprout, and it may even cause the whole tree to wither and die. Many friends who love pine and cypress bonsai look at a stump and sigh.

1. When digging up wild pine and cypress stumps in mountainous areas, it is very hard to keep a soil ball around the roots, so the digging season must be chosen with special care. According to the author's experience, the best season for digging should be around the 20 days before and after the Start of Spring. At this time the sap of the pine and cypress is about to start moving but has not yet begun to move; digging and sawing will not cause too much loss of sap, and afterwards the temperature gradually rises, the tree quickly resumes activity, and it is relatively easy to keep alive. If the season is earlier, although the sap is not flowing, the temperature is lower, the recovery time is prolonged, the recovery of tree vigor is affected, and it is harder to keep alive.

2. After digging up, when sawing, keep part of the branches and leaves according to how many fibrous roots there are: if there are many fibrous roots, keep more; if there are few fibrous roots, keep fewer. How much to keep is mainly a matter of making sure the water supply and demand between roots and tree body do not fall out of balance, otherwise survival will be affected, because after the Start of Spring, as the temperature gradually rises, the sap will begin to flow after planting. If the branches and leaves kept are too short and too few, or if none are kept, the sap cannot circulate normally, the waxy resin fluid inside the bark will block the buds, and even if buds form they cannot sprout and the tree dies of suffocation; if too much is kept, the water supply cannot meet demand, and this will also cause death. After sawing, to avoid water loss and a drop in immunity, the cuts should be sealed with white latex glue or plastic film, and the cuts on the roots should also be trimmed smooth with a sharp knife.

3. Digging up, treating the stump and planting should be done promptly. For the initial planting, planting in the ground is best; use poor, lean old mountain soil that is well aerated, and do not bury it too deep. It is best if the point where the roots emerge is level with the soil surface; burying too deep will cause suffocation due to poor aeration. Planting should avoid rainy days, and care should be taken to fill the soil firmly around the roots, then water the next day. After watering, shovel some native garden soil to cover the roots, then cut some leafy branches and insert them around the roots to block part of the strong light, so as to protect the base from sunburn; remove them after autumn. For the planting environment, it is best to choose a place that gets no direct sun at noon and is well ventilated.

4. After planting, management should pay attention to keeping the soil moist, and slightly on the dry side is better. After watering thoroughly to settle the roots, do not water the roots often when the soil is not dry, so as to raise the soil temperature and help rooting. When the sunlight is too strong, spray water on the tree body and the soil surface to adjust the temperature difference and help new roots and buds sprout. In hot weather, with the area under the roots moist and cool, ants easily cause damage; when watering, you can water once or twice with tea-seed cake water, or apply the pesticide Furadan to kill the ants.

5. After survival, attention should be paid to preventing rust disease. From the end of February to late March each year, spray the branches and leaves twice with fungicides such as carbendazim or triadimefon. The interval between applications is 10 days; you may also add a little decis or dichlorvos and other insecticides, and in passing kill the small green-shelled snails, so as to prevent the bark of the small tender branches from being damaged. Pine and cypress trees have no other major pests or diseases, and after survival they are easy to manage. After the second year enters winter, preliminary branch pulling and shaping can be done. Do not be in a hurry to peel the bark to make deadwood; wait until the branches have grown to a certain thickness before pruning and styling.

6. After a cliff cypress landscape stump has survived, it must go through at least one or two years, or even longer, of careful cultivation: grow the top branches vigorously, make the side branches strong, make the leaves plump, and build up branches and roots so that it becomes luxuriant; only then can it be wired and pulled. Cliff cypress can be made into various forms of landscape. But making a landscape requires insight and thinking in images. The Huangling cypress of Shaanxi and the Han cypress of the Dai Temple are both regarded as national treasures for their unique character, natural charm and rich historical and cultural connotations, and their solid, bold image is exactly a model and a good teacher for our styling and landscape making. Image is character, is strength of character, is charm. In making a cliff cypress landscape, one must respect the tree nature of the cliff cypress and respect the image of the Chinese arborvitae. Among Chinese arborvitae bonsai of a high standard, most have trunks that are twisted and full of strength, ancient, simple and peculiar; roots that emerge in four directions and have a nature for entering the earth; foliage in clusters; and crowns that are either like clouds gathering rain or like layered green peaks, mostly triangular and scalene triangular. Cliff cypress styling is extremely suited to a dignified appearance, embodying movement within stillness and reaching far in artistic conception. Its style should emphasize a scholarly air. The techniques should build on strengths and avoid weaknesses; absorb from both north and south, and be flexible and varied.