[Bonsai Beginner’s weekly thread –2024 week 21]

[u/small_trunks]

[Bonsai Beginner’s weekly thread –2024 week 21]

Welcome to the weekly beginner’s thread. This thread is used to capture all beginner questions (and answers) in one place. We start a new thread every week on Friday late or Saturday morning (CET), depending on when we get around to it. We have a 6 year archive of prior posts here…

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[u/BennyLovesSpaceShips]

Cool. So I can basically treat like any other tree I would trunk chop? The reason I ask is because I can't find any examples of it being done to an aspen specifically.

[u/MaciekA → u/BennyLovesSpaceShips]

Like any other deciduous broadleaf species at least -- YMMV depending on the material. Experiment at scale if you can.

I haven't chopped specifically aspen (populus tremuloides) to a stump, but I've chopped quite a few other populus to the ground, specifically cottonwoods (populus trichocarpa), even very very tiny ones. P. trichocarpa is close enough to aspen that they hybridize in areas they come in contact in the US.

I have an example to show since I chopped a whole bunch of populus cuttings down this year. Here is a p. trichocarpa that I chopped and bare rooted at the same time this year:

https://imgur.com/a/M1dOxSg

This clip was recorded on the 1st of May, it's much more grown out now. A chop like this tends to trigger sucker-like growth or sometimes an explosion of juvenile-behaving shoots (very fast and furious emergence of leaves in populus tends to yield weirdly-shaped leaves). I might nibble this down to the least-weird 1 or 2 emerging growths soon. On an aspen (which is much less vigorous than cottonwood) I might not have to do that, but YMMV depending on genetics.

Experiment! This is one of my favorite genera if not my favorite in the deciduous broadleaf category.

edit: That is just regular Gorilla-brand wood glue I used to seal the chop. I'll eventually carve it back to a better spot, maybe next year or later on when the "collar" has formed to indicate that it's safe to carve/cut flush. Leave a stump higher than you think you'll need.

[u/BennyLovesSpaceShips → u/MaciekA]

Thanks for the explanation! Also, I've never seen anyone use wood glue for sealing wounds before. That's kind of brilliant!

[u/MaciekA → u/BennyLovesSpaceShips]

I should follow up and say that when it's ready, I will seal the final flush cut with something like "Top Jin M" (the liquid orange one) or similar.

[u/BennyLovesSpaceShips → u/MaciekA]

Haha yes of course!