Detailed Explanation of the Production Methods and Techniques for Honeysuckle Bonsai
Honeysuckle (Japanese honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica) is a tree species of temperate and subtropical zones. It likes sunlight but also tolerates shade, cold, drought and moisture. It is not demanding about soil and can adapt to both acidic and alkaline soils, but prefers loose, fertile, neutral sandy loam. It is vigorous, with a well-developed root system and strong sprouting ability. The plant is light and graceful in posture, and old stumps are quaint and elegant, making it an excellent material for making bonsai.
1. Sources of tree stumps
1. Seed propagation. Harvest ripe fruits from August to October, wash off the fruit skin with clean water, scoop out the seeds and dry them, then put them into a cloth bag and store them in sand at low temperature until the following spring. Sow from late March to early April. Before sowing, first soak the seeds in 25°C warm water for one day, then mix them with wet sand, put them into a cloth bag and place them indoors. Use straw (stalks, thatch, etc.) to keep them warm. When more than 1/3 of the seeds have cracked open and shown white, sow them in loose, fertile, well-drained sandy soil. Seedlings can emerge about 10 days after sowing. Transplant them to the nursery field in the spring of the second year. Generally, after 5 years of sowing, they are potted for cultivation.
2. Cutting propagation. In mid-to-late June, cut plump semi-lignified branches of the current year as cuttings, each about 15-20 cm long. Keep the bed soil moist and spray the cuttings. Roots can form in about 25 days. Transplant them to the nursery field in the spring of the following year, and after 4 years, pot them for cultivation.
3. Division propagation. In spring and autumn, dig up the suckers sprouting from the roots of the mother plant together with their roots (separate them with a sharp knife), and transplant them with roots to the nursery field. After 4 years, pot them for cultivation.
4. Layering propagation. In spring and autumn, first take longer branches from the mother plant, bury them in soil about 5 cm long and 2-3 cm deep, and keep the soil moist. Roots can form in the autumn of the same year. In the following spring, separate them from the mother plant and plant them in the nursery field. After 3 years, pot them for cultivation. Alternatively, in the plum rain season, choose vigorous and quaint old branches for air layering. After rooting, cut them off from the mother plant and pot them directly for cultivation. This method takes shape relatively quickly.
5. Collection from the wild. Honeysuckle has abundant wild stump resources. It is suitable to dig up old stumps with thick and strong rhizomes, old and peculiar, twisted and graceful, from the mountains and wilds in early spring, which can achieve the effect of rapid shaping. The method of collection is to first cut the trunk and keep the branches, moderately prune the aboveground part, retain one or two main trunk branches, then scrape away the surface soil, clarify the growth direction of the main root, and carefully dig along the trend of the main root from far to near. This helps protect the root system and reduce damage. After the stump is dug up, promptly put it into a cloth bag and soak it in water (or wrap the roots with wet straw, cattail bag, cloth, moss and other materials to keep them moist), then transport it back for planting.
2. Cultivation of honeysuckle tree stumps
Honeysuckle is very vigorous. Its stem can take root as soon as it touches the ground, and it can be transplanted bare-rooted. Collected old stumps can also easily survive cultivation and rooting even without fibrous roots.
1. Root pruning. The root system of honeysuckle stumps collected from the wild or dug from nursery fields is often very long. When cultivating, do not rush to shorten and prune it. Observe carefully and plan the design. The roots can often be bent and shaped to replace the trunk with roots. Then, according to the size of the pot and cultivation needs, properly prune the root system before potting. Do not use excessive force or bend thick roots drastically, to prevent breakage. Treated this way, once formed, the roots will be gnarled and intertwined, very pleasing to the eye.
2. Branch and trunk pruning. Honeysuckle grows wild beside roads, on hillsides in shrub thickets or sparse forests. It is a climbing plant and likes to twine. It often spirals upward around nearby strip-like objects (such as trees, branches, etc.), and often only the tail part has leaves. Therefore, most dug-back old stumps are leafless and have few branches. It is only necessary to cut off useless branches, weak branches, and diseased or insect-damaged branches, and moderately shorten the main branches according to proportion and shaping needs. Stumps dug from nursery fields have already been cultivated for many years and have relatively vigorous branches and leaves. They need proper thinning so that density is appropriate, gathering and scattering are orderly, conforming to nature and rich in pictorial quality.
3. Post-pruning treatment. Honeysuckle stumps are generally transplanted without a soil ball. After pruning the roots and branches, it is best to first soak them in water for 1-2 hours to let them absorb enough water and speed up the sprouting of new roots and new buds. Then apply white latex to the branch wounds, use a new clean brush to apply 0.3%-0.5% potassium permanganate solution to the root wounds, and then pot them.
4. Potting. Honeysuckle is not demanding about soil, but it is best to use mountain soil, or a cultivation soil made mainly of mountain soil with an appropriate amount of leaf mold, coal cinder ash, etc. The best time for potting is early spring. Cascade-style and weeping-branch-style honeysuckle bonsai should be paired with quaint and elegant tall, deep pots, which are conducive to the branches and vines spreading and draping, showing a graceful posture. Curved-trunk-style honeysuckle bonsai should be paired with shallower round (oval) or rectangular ceramic pots or glazed pots. When potting, first wash the selected pot clean, then use 2-3 pieces of broken tile (pot shard), placed in staggered layers over the drainage hole. For tall and deep pots, industrial furnace slag (or broken tile pieces, small stones, etc.) must also be used to raise the lower layer, then fill in the cultivation soil and plant the stump. The depth and position of planting should be determined according to the pot and the needs of shaping. After planting, firm the potting soil, water lightly and thoroughly, and spread moss on the pot surface or plant small grasses such as Selaginella uncinata, Centipeda minima, Lippia nodiflora, Dichondra repens, etc. This can serve as decoration and also retain moisture. Then move it to a semi-shaded place, keep the potting soil moist, and frequently spray water on the stump, branches and leaves. After one month, full-sun management can be carried out, but the frequency of watering and spraying should be increased. Generally, on sunny days, water 2-3 times a day and spray 4-5 times.
5. Processing and shaping. The processing and shaping of tree stumps should be done according to the material and with artistry according to the material. Honeysuckle is generally suitable for root-exposed-style bonsai. It can be planted with exposed roots when potting, or the roots can be raised 3-6 cm year by year when repotting. It is also possible to take out a stump that has been potted in a deep pot for many years together with the potting soil, without breaking the soil ball or damaging the root system, and plant it in a shallow pot slightly larger than the deep pot, fill the surrounding gaps with nutrient soil, firm it, then use a water faucet to wash away the soil above the pot surface between the roots. After the roots are exposed, cut off excess fibrous roots and it is done.
The shaping of honeysuckle bonsai is mainly cascade-style or weeping-branch-style, so that its innate dynamic posture can be fully expressed. Because its stems and vines have a left-twining habit, its branch and trunk shaping can also adopt the curved-trunk style, using the trunk-cutting and branch-storing method to prune branches, but excessive shaping and pruning within one year should be avoided, otherwise it will affect flower bud formation. For branches that are not in place, appropriate wire coiling and traction can be used. After the branches turn lignified and set their shape, the wire should be removed in time. The shaping adopts a natural style, so that the branches on the stump follow their natural tendency, droop smoothly, and the branches and leaves are properly spaced. Reasonably use blank space to make it rich in pictorial quality and enhance artistic beauty.