Camellia Bonsai Training Techniques
The editor introduces you to some tips on making Camellia bonsai, focusing on the training techniques for Camellia bonsai. Let me explain in detail for you.
Among the many plants used in Sichuan style tree-stump bonsai, Camellia is one of the earliest adopted species.
Camellia is one of China's top ten famous flowers, known for its winter-resistant, frost-defying, and cold-blooming characteristics, which decorate gardens in winter and early spring. When used for bonsai, it can brighten up indoor spaces with its elegant and dignified shape, glossy green leaves, and beautiful but not showy flowers.
I. The Bonsai Characteristics of Camellia
Camellia is native to the mountainous regions of the Yangtze River Valley in China and is a component of ancient subtropical forests. With a history of only a thousand years of cultivation outside forests, it still retains significant characteristics of subtropical forest plants, preferring slightly acidic and moist soil. Therefore, when potting, avoid using poorly drained yellow clay and old compacted soil, as this can lead to poor growth and even death due to root rot. It also dislikes direct sunlight and prefers a semi-shaded environment with high humidity.
II. Potting and Training
Camellia for bonsai should be selected from nurseries with a larger spacing between plants. The chosen plants should have a low branching height, numerous branches, evenly distributed leaves, normal growth, and be free from diseases and pests.
The bud differentiation period of Camellia is in May, with flower buds forming in June. The best potting seasons are February and August, during spring and autumn, when Camellia's leaf buds have just started to sprout or have not sprouted much, preventing wilting after transplanting. If potting at other times, more soil balls should be retained, and the plant should be moved to a shady place for a few days. Even so, it is not as vigorous as in February and August. The potting soil should be mountainous humus soil or red sandy loam from hilly areas (under马尾松 or Camellia forests).
The common shapes for Camellia bonsai are the hanging rock style and the rolling branch style. For the hanging rock style, Yixing high-footed cylindrical pots or high cylindrical pots can be used, while for the rolling branch style, proportional round or square pots are suitable.
For Camellia training, the plants should be planted diagonally when potting to facilitate the operation of the main trunk. Generally, the main trunk is first twisted to facilitate the training of branches. Common techniques include the "falling拐" and "rolling dragon embracing the pillar拐". When twisting the main trunk, the lateral branches, fine branches, and leaves should generally be retained. After the main trunk is shaped, the lateral branches are then processed. The training of lateral branches should be determined by the characteristics of the space they should occupy, using straight弯曲, oblique弯曲, and irregular curves to fill in gaps on the crown surface. This training is done using double silk ties. The training operation should be performed about a month after potting, when the new branches have hardened. Since Camellia wood is relatively hard, similar to osmanthus and golden bullet, careful "branch揉" should be performed at each bend, stretching the bark and compressing the wood to adapt to external forces before securing the silk ties. Otherwise, the plant may break due to increased sap after shaping.
Finally, the training of small branches ensures that each leaf faces outward. As the species for the rolling branch style are all flowering plants with axillary flowers (Camellia, osmanthus, plum,蜡梅, Prunus triloba, etc.), the effect after shaping is that the plant's spherical or inverted-oval crown surface can bloom everywhere, displaying a dignified and graceful appearance. Therefore, the training of small branches to flip leaves should be more meticulous. To ensure that alternate Camellia leaves on branches all face outward, the training should be carefully executed without breaking the branches while achieving the leaf-flipping effect. After the operation, any redundant branches and leaves that cannot be handled should be pruned. If there are gaps to be filled by young shoots during training, this should be done when the young shoots have hardened.
The above is a detailed introduction to the training techniques for Camellia bonsai. Have you understood it?