Curly Willow Tree: A Den of Snakes, a Rally of Tentacles, and a Clew of Worms [Bonsai]

creativetruth (67)in #bonsai • 5 years ago (edited)

Yes, another Curly Willow tree I want to share. More photos of this tree contained within, so check it out.

This beast is quite the wild specimen. It does not want to be tamed.

I've got wires all over the place heading random direction. There is also a chunk of bark wedged between the two top branches. I want to force the angle between the branches to open wider. Say, "Awww!". Almost nothing is straight. There is a method to my madness.

One of the purposes of this crazy design is to open the branches out away from the trunk. Normally they would all grow upright and parallel. I open them out like a vase to allow new branches to form along the arch of the older ones. The highest point on a downward angled branch will often spur a new shoot to form midway. A small side branch is much preferred than extending the length of a large branch further out.

One of my favorite ways to abuse this tree is to take the longest limbs and curve them downward and then tie it into a knot. This flexes the wood more evenly into a natural curve shape than I could achieve with a wire.

Wires are often too restrictive for Willow trees, because the wood swell up so fast after it rains, Even after a week of wiring, the wire can start to leave a scar.

This tie down method works much better if the wood is supple and long enough, and it is a fun to try. I feel like a super-hero in the ocean disabling a giant octopus by tying it's tentacles into a knot.

Not very pretty from the top view either. Looks like a squid with two arms reaching out to grab its prey.

Some of these unnecessary limbs will be sacrificed to the bonsai gods. The young wormy whips have fattened the tree quite enough this year, they will soon find their way into an afterlife under the sweltering layers of a hellish compost heap.

Moral of the story, not every bonsai is pretty. Sometimes a tree needs to go through a rough patch of years before it will develop into a think of beauty. This tree has suckers, whips, and tentacles. It is developing a bigger trunk though. The tree looks strong and sturdy in the pot, and it has lots of health and vigor. All promising power-a-plenty for a super bonsai in the making.

Historical Information

ID: 0014
Nickname: Medusa
Type: Curly Willow
Age: 6 years
Grown: cutting
Last repotting: November 9, 2018
Wired: Summer 2019

More articles by @creativetruth featuring this monster bonsai tree:

Be sure to follow my work this week. I'm in the process of sharing the whole host of bonsai trees in my collection. There is over thirty trees I am growing. That means you can enjoy more than a month of fresh content from @creativetruth's back porch.

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Photos in this post are all #originalworks by @creativetruth, unless stated otherwise.

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