Page 56 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2013Q3

TEN YEARS LATER

Torulosa Grove on the Seashore

Text and photos by Lew Buller, USA

his Hollywood juniper saikei was created in Fertilizer: my usual fertilizers worked
the spring of 2003 with trees I had been train- Sun: junipers like San Diego sun
ing for two years and gave only a hint of what
it would become over time. It was modeled Soil: they had been growing in my standard bonsai
Tafter Toshio Kawamoto’s A Pine Grove on the mix
Seashore, except that the pines were replaced by Hol- Water: Torulosas tolerate alkaline water. Drainage
lywood junipers, Juniperus communis ‘Tortulosa’—a would not be a problem. Although there were no holes
great favorite in Southern California. While new to in the slate, it sloped from one side to another and
Below; Torulosa Grove on the saikei, I knew that most of the requirements for suc- would drain freely. The problems would be maintain-
Seashore, 2003 cessful development could be met, as I had grown the ing the design and transplanting/changing the soil.
Bottom; Spring, 2004 Torulosa junipers in pots for two years under these
conditions. By the spring of 2004, the trees had begun to fill out.
Now was the time to begin balancing the composition
by reducing the foliage of the stronger trees and letting
that of the weaker trees grow. I had trimmed them in
the pots and in the process, learned that it is difficult
to make a torulosa sprout back on inner growth and
that if they are trimmed too severely, they will revert
to juvenile growth.
In the ground, torulosas are known for their long, spi-
raling branches, with strong leaders at the tip. Initially,
I let the leaders in the saikei grow to help develop the
trunks. In the long run, the leaders had to go. They
stimulate rapid, vigorous growth that cannot be offset
by restricting the roots in small pots. Ultimately, the
trees may have to be potted separately, but they will
be kept together as long as possible.
Skip forward four years, after the trees had been
trimmed at least once each intervening year. In the
November 1, 2008 photo, the saikei is not dressed for
show. There is no moss. Because moss is hard to find
in San Diego (adobe for muck is easy to find; muck is a
mixture of adobe or clay and long-fibered peat moss),
I only use moss and other vegetation when the plant-
ing is going to be shown. To keep the soil from wash-
ing away from the roots, I surrounded it with 2-inch
screen wire. Roots are not tempted to grow though the
screen as they do not like sun.
After the 2008 trim, the leaders are gone, the foliage
has been thinned, and the canopy is rounded. While
I am still developing trunks (see the 2003 photo), I

54 | BCI | July/August/September 2013