Douglas Fir: Getting into Shape for Spring [Bonsai]

This Douglas Fir is very young, but it has a strong trunk beginning to form a defined base.

For this year I decided to add a more structured form to it by applying wire. I'll be using the strong trunk to my advantage to support all the wires heading around all the major branches.

My goal with this tree is to discourage the open-vase structure it has right now. Too many branches equally angled upward may form multiple trunks, and eventually cause deformity when the bark becomes pinched between the trunks.

The open-vase shape also disrupts the design of the tree, with no clear dominance of a trunk that heads from the base to the top of tree. In my new design, I think I resolve most of this issue, restoring a more clearly dominant trunk to the tree.

Below you can see the final results.

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The strong upward angled trunk has been turned into an upper lateral branch. Smaller branches will be encouraged to bud here and form a nice pad of needles. The second trunk has twin branches that have been angled in opposite directions to start the beginnings of a crown on the tree. A very compact set of small branches heading upward from these split branches on top will look very natural.

On the right side of the tree, branches have been angled to spread out to fill up empty spaces around the dome of the tree. A long upward chasing branches has been reoriented into a wavy lateral shape. It now helps define the missing silhouette slopping down the right side, rather than breaking through that imagined line.

The low branch on the right side is not very bendable with this thin wire, however it was able to take on a nice horizontal line. This newly structured angle balances the shape of the tree, I think.

This strong, beefy branch at almost a square right angle from the trunk will give this tree a definitely masculine look. That personality will be enhanced by all of the branches now thickly filling int the gaps around these dominate branches. This stocky look seems to give this tree a more defined character than the wild, formless shape it had before.

We have been discussing traits that can be used to classify trees and bonsai pots as either masculine or feminine in design. Any place I can, I am looking for opportunities to identify these qualities in nature to help train my eye. This is the language traditionally used by other master artists to classify their bonsai creations, and I think knowing more about this will help me to understand their design choices better, without infringing too much on my own creative preferences.

A tall central leader is not really this tree's tendency, because of the way it was topped a few years ago. With the short, squat form of this tree, I think this tree will look very good one day with an umbrella shape of green needles.

Tender growth from last season's branches are very fragile, and these long needle-covered stems cannot handle the stress of a wire.

Instead of twisting the wire around the green stems, I discovered last year that I can bend the wire into loops to gently provide and coordinate hole for the stem to grow through. These open loops allow space for the needles to spread out and find the sun, and allow the stem to fatten up without being squeezed.

When it hardens up in a year, the stems will already be headed into the proper direction. Twists, waves, and turns can be added when the branch has started to form a flexible bark.

The wires can optionally be left on to the tree, yet have the loops straighten out and turn into spirals to shape the new design details. At that point the needles on these portions will be plucked off, and the new needles from the buds will have already emerged to support the tree through winter.

New buds will start to form along areas the tree feels it needs more needles to absorb sunlight which will feed the tree.

Thank you for sharing your time with me and viewing my latest bonsai creation. I look forward to sharing more with you in the future.

Check out my collection of trees waking up with new life as winter dormancy ends. It is a very awe-inspiring time of the year to wake up and find out what is changing each and every day in the life of different species of trees.

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

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