Fusion Bonsai

Metasequoia glyptostroboides ( Dawn Redwood) Fusion Bonsai

In 1990 I purchased a Metasequoia glyptostroboides (Dawn Redwood) through the mail. What arrived was a pathetic bare rooted broken stick, so I planted it in the corner of my yard and ignored it. Fast-forward 18 years and that broken stick had grown over 60 feet tall and produced several hundred seed cones. During the late summer and fall I gathered the cones and tossed them in a shoebox for the winter. When spring rolled around I shook the box and hundreds of seeds fell out. Having read how hard they were to grow I was surprised to find that 156 of the seeds germinated. 100 of those seedlings survived through the first winter.

What to do with 100 trees?  Planting 100 trees is quite a chore and disposing of a critically endangered species (IUCN Red List) like Metasequoia glyptostroboides was something I was not willing to do. There is an article in a book titled Bonsai Master Class that demonstrated an approach grafting technique  (referred to as fusion) of multiple Trident Maple seedlings to create a large trunk perfectly tapered bonsai in a very short time and I thought this might work with Metasequoia glyptostroboides. I already had seedlings, so I experimented by wiring 3 pairs of seedlings together. In only four weeks the seedlings had all fused at the contact points where they were wired together. This technique will work with Metasequoia glyptostroboides.

The first step of this project was to build a frame. Doug Philips had used heavy copper wire to essentially create an upside down tomato cage. I saw two problems here, first the cost of heavy copper wire is prohibitive and second it created too few anchor points to tie the seedlings to the frame. My solution was to use ½ inch galvanized screen solving both problems. Notice how I flared the base to add character to the trunk.

On Feb 20 and 21, 2011 the tree was assembled using 2-year-old seedlings.  The seedlings were bare rooted with all branches removed and roots trimmed. This is a 2-year-old seedling before cleaning and root trimming.

The next step involved attaching the seedlings to the frame. I tried to get the seedlings as close together as possible to shorten the fusion time by using thin copper wire to attach the seedlings to both the frame and adjacent seedlings. The wires will be left in place and the excess will be cut off after fusion is complete. I learned from my experimental grafts that removing the wires could cause the graft to separate. The roots were misted frequently to keep them from drying out.

I switched to paper wrapped wire ties half way through assembly because I found the thin copper wire ties to be too brittle. I had originally planned to use the paper wrapped ties but I could not find enough to complete the whole project. I randomly cut the thinner seedlings and covered them with larger seedlings as the frame gradually tapered to the top.

This is my little hollow tree viewed from the bottom.  I kept as many of the roots as possible to accelerate growth and shorten the fusion time.  I anticipate that this tree should be ready for a bonsai training pot after just one growing season.

The seedlings were weaved at the top with the excess to be removed after fusion is complete. Finally I placed the tree in a large pot.

37 seedlings attached to galvanized frame

Height – 31 inches                 Circumference at base- 25 inches

Total assembly time was 12 hours, which includes building frame, bare rooting seedlings, root and branch pruning, attaching seedlings to frame and potting.

Conclusion

I am fairly happy with the results of my first fusion project.  However there are several changes I will make in future projects.  First I will create frames with much greater contrast between the base of the trunk and the apex. This would require using one year-old seedlings instead of two year-old seedlings because the older seedlings were very stiff resulting in much loss of the flare I had designed into the base of the frame. One year old seedlings are much more flexible and would be easier to mold to the shape of the frame. This would require 100 -120 seedlings for the same size frame I used here. The seedlings would be shorter than the frame and would need to be attached as they grew up the frame. Secondly I would acquire prior to assembly enough paper wrapped wire twist ties to finish the project before I started. The paper wrapped ties are much stronger and easier to handle.

To get the buttressed trunk that I desire on this tree will require more grafting. NEXT YEAR!