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RE: Propagating Red Mulberry Trees From Hardwood Cuttings
Interesting connection that you made there! I did not know that about the mulberry sap. Hmm. Bonsai sounds fun! I was just thinking I'd like to try a walnut or oak bonzai :)
Oak is definitely easy to grow (and I have about 6 different types) but to keep them small and look like a mini-oak is a challenge I'm not succeeding at yet! Would love to try and grow a walnut. Have you any idea how? (Need a fresh walnut? Any organic walnut work? Or would you take a cutting?)
As far as I know you can propagate walnut by seed, grafting or budding. I think cuttings is possible but I don't know how reliable it is. I am currently trying to propagate english walnut and black walnut from seed, which has to go through a cold stratification period before it will sprout. You also don't want it to dry out after it has fallen from the tree, so store bought walnuts probably won't have as much chance for success as one that was kept moist and cold through the winter. Interesting how challenging it is to keep a tree small in bonzai form! What is the trick.. do you just keep pruning all the vigorous growth down?
You begin by encouraging vigorous growth in the first couple of years! Pretend you are growing a normal tree. You want a fat stem for a miniature trunk. Most of the pruning is done in the root system, but without causing too much trauma, that's the trick. There even comes a stage when you have to snip off every single leaf in the summer (but not the stalk!) to encourage miniature growth. Yep, it's complicated and then the artistic choices have to be made - which branch to bend, which to "damage", etc. Some of those artificial procedures go too far for me personally (although I admire the craft of proper Bonsai growers) but at one stage it felt like cutting off ears and tails of a dog, which is not-done by my doggy heart. I once found a useful (not too complicated) website with basic guidelines and shall go in search of it again.
Thanks for all that info.. It makes a lot more sense... but one thing I still don't quite understand is how you would keep the main stem from getting taller than you want without pruning it?
It grows tall to a couple of feet (depending on the tree) quite naturally in a year or two, then you have to carefully and as elegantly as possible top it. Often a side branch is trained into a new top (so that you don't have a stumpy end.
OH ok I see! Very clever :) Thanks for explaining that. I'll have to try it one of these days!