Previously, on Balcony Bonsai… Claire said that she hated yaupon hollies due to their brittle nature. Well, she may have found room in her heart to challenge that idea.

Man, that is one… ugly bush. This isn’t why I bought it though. I For bonsai, you don’t really buy a whole tree for its complete qualities. The main priority is its trunk. You “but the trunk,’ not buy the tree. And this gorgeous trunk is what enticed me into buying one of these suckers ($16 from Home Depot).

Oooooh yeah, that’s a trunk if I’ve ever seen one. And the visible roots (nebari) are stunning. Let’s clean him up.

I snipped a few of those lower branches that are unnecessary and distract from the trunk line.

There we go, much better. And look at the depth of the nebari! Exciting!

There were a few places there the branches had split, back from when it was in the nursery. Both ends of the split were alive, which is a relief, but I wanted to encourage them to heal back together. So I raffia-ed them together. I honestly don’t know if they will grow back together, but it was a try.

Thus progressed the most detailed work I have ever done for bonsai training. I did very placing pruning. Whenever a thinner branch grew off a thicker branch, I would cut off the rest of the thick branch to allow it to taper. I cut off middle branches where three branches originate. I cut off all dead, twiggy branches.

I spent probably 10-12 hours total wiring the branches into place. I used a variety of wire strength, depending on the thickness of the branch. I was able to add some great movement into thinner branches without breaking them. I focused on distributing foliage evenly and three-dimensionally to add depth to the look. It is a bit hard to explain these techniques, as I have acquired this knowledge over hours of reading bonsai blogs and looking at examples. I lost for branches through pushing them too hard, and some were potentially salvageable, so raffia casts decorated it. But, after about three weeks of work, I was satisfied with my final product.

It is hard for pictures to do it justice, but I am extremely proud of how this turned. out. Just imagine what it will look like in a few years with more ramification and foliage.

A few more angles:

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I’m very excited to see this guy fill out.