This live oak bonsai was started from an old neglected 30 gallon nursery tree. The main trunk chop was performed around 2013.
2014 - The primary branches have been wired and the tree is growing well.
2016 - Primary branches are set which is the main focus at this stage for an old oak style bonsai. There is no reason to worry about wire marks on oak this early in development. However, wire damage or letting the tree grow totally around wire is not desirable at any stage.
How long wire should be left on our bonsai will vary greatly and there is no set schedule. Some wire may need months or a year to set the branch on say a juniper. Whereas, on a faster growing species like trident maple the wire may be cutting in after a week or two. Know how the species you're growing behaves and check accordingly.
2018 - Poof, like magic any signs of wiring are gone. However, the main trunk chop wound is not healing quickly. Plumber's putty was used to cover the wound and aid healing at this early stage. After switching to cut paste the results were noticeably better, well worth the cost.
Time for a repot, the tree was root bound and had some massive roots to contend with.
As an aside, nursery grown trees can make decent bonsai but it is a bear to get the nebari and root system on track. Most nursery stock is simply not worth the effort when a much better tree could be produced from a seedling in a similar time frame.
2020 - Considering a few possible fronts.
2021 - In 2018 it was repotted into a heavy perlite mix which worked alright but pumice and lava are by far the best media I've run across for growing bonsai.
The tree was half bare rooted to get all the organic soil out and get the shin set. By the end however, more than half the roots were worked and the tree took a full year to recover. Its slow recovery let me know it was pushed too hard. Haste makes waste, thank goodness the tree pulled through.
2024 - The other side of the rootball was cleaned out and now the tree is in 100% pumice and lava, checkmate for healthy roots.
Root rot and root issues can manifest as a wide array of issues such as branches suddenly dying, branch tips dying back in Winter, poor drainage, poor nutrient uptake, yellow/off colored leaves, sluggish growth, dead spots on leaves, uneven growth, etc. We don't want to treat for magnesium deficiency, fungus, bugs, and over fertilize just to find out the problem was actually a sick rootball. Taking care to build this foundation is critical for the future success of our trees.
It was also time for a hard prune to build better taper and remove some less attractive sections.
Later in 2024 it grew enough for another cutback, a much better response to repotting than before.
2025 - Wire on, wire off. The primary branches are building some solid bark which is awesome to see. A great tip for telling how long a tree has been a bonsai is checking to see the bark build up on the primary branches, which takes around a decade to become noticeable.
The top needs to grow out some more to smooth out the taper but the tree is chugging along nicely.
Better front #1
Possible front #2
Hope you enjoyed another progression series! I will update this post as we continue working the tree.