What are the methods for making a wintersweet bonsai?
Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) blooms in the depths of winter when all other flowers have withered, braving the cold and defying the frost, embodying the Chinese nation's character of never yielding in the face of brutality, and offering people spiritual inspiration and aesthetic enjoyment. This noble character of wintersweet has also made it a favorite among many flower-growing enthusiasts. Wintersweet bonsai has extremely high artistic and ornamental value, and this article provides a detailed introduction to the process of making a wintersweet bonsai.
Sourcing materials and cultivation
It is relatively common and quick to produce results to use wild old root stumps of wintersweet from mountainous areas, planted in the ground for cultivation, to create ancient wintersweet stumps. The method is: select old tree stumps that have sprouted repeatedly after many years of cutting, dig them out, taking care to protect the root system, and prune the branches. Choose a location with moderate light, loose soil, and good drainage for "raising the" -- once established, move them into pots for cultivation. If it is an old stump of 'Gouyingmei', you can select 'Suxin' wintersweet for grafting, and after it survives, it can be processed and shaped as needed.
Potting process
1. Pot selection: Wintersweet is best suited to purple clay ceramic pots, though glazed ceramic pots can also be used. Generally, seedling wintersweet is mostly grown in round pots, square pots, hexagonal pots, etc.; old wintersweet stumps can use medium-deep horse-trough pots or crabapple pots; for cascade styles, tall cylindrical pots are mostly chosen. Colors of dark purple or ochre red are better, to set off the waxy yellow flowers and enhance their ornamental effect.
2. Soil: Wintersweet is not demanding about soil, but well-drained sandy loam is best. For pot cultivation, decomposed garden soil or leaf mold mixed with 20-30% rice husk ash is commonly used as the growing medium.
3. Planting: Transplanting wintersweet is mostly done in early spring, preferably around early March when the flower stems and new buds sprout. Generally, it is best planted at a slant, to make it easier to achieve a good form when styling. Before planting, a shaping and pruning can be carried out. When potting, sufficient base fertilizer can be applied at the bottom of the pot.
Shaping and styling
The shaping and styling of wintersweet is mainly done by pruning and bud pinching, with wiring and bending as a supplement. Xi Yaojia Village in Yanling County, Henan has long been known as "Yanling wintersweet is the finest under heaven." Its traditional styling arts include "screen-fan wintersweet," "knot wintersweet," "hanging-branch wintersweet," etc., with screen-fan wintersweet being the most popular. Its shaping process: the time should be during March to April, using the "rolling knife method" and the "dragon knife method" to make the main branch twist and spiral upward; when the buds are just beginning to stir, make a slanted cut at the place to be bent, with the cut going in at an angle, reaching a depth of 2B3 of the branch diameter. Bend carefully, so that the upper section of the split xylem rests on the lower section, prop up the newly bent trunk with a stake, and tie it firmly with rope. Then make all the top tips of each branch point downward. The cut must be coated with mud within 1 month, and kept from falling off; if it falls off, reapply it promptly. After the basic skeleton is formed, pay attention to pruning and pinch the growing tips in time to maintain the screen-fan shape.
Although wintersweet and plum blossom do not belong to the same family, their flowering periods are similar, and their flowers and fragrance are also similar. Wintersweet is delicate in color and rich in fragrance, no less than red plum, so one can draw on the styling principles of plum blossom: "Plum is beautiful in its curves; straight, it has no grace. It is beautiful when leaning; upright, it has no scenery. It is beautiful when sparse; dense, it has no form," and "Plum is valued for being sparse rather than abundant, for being old rather than young, for being lean rather than fat, for being closed rather than open," etc. Therefore, the trunk should be slanting and horizontal, the branches and leaves should be sparse and spreading, and the old stump should appear vigorous. In addition to the "screen-fan style," "knot style," and "hanging-branch style" of Yanling, Henan, traditional styles also include "downwind style," "weeping-branch style," "swimming-dragon style," etc. In modern styling, tree forms are mostly slanting-trunk style and natural style.
Alright, the above is the complete process of making a wintersweet bonsai. Friends who are interested can try making a wintersweet bonsai themselves.