ACBS’s Project Tree of the Year: The American Larch or Tamarack

Collected larch 100+ years

ACBS June show

First a personal note about this species.  (Feel free to skip down to the second paragraph, if you like.)  The larch--tamarack-- is probably my favorite species. It is the best of all worlds. They don’t seem to be bothered much by insect pests; their trunks form terrific shapes and textures, and their branches layer out nicely.  While it is a cone bearing tree, its soft needles turn yellow to gold in the fall, giving it a fine, almost soft-looking fall color (see photos). Its spring colors, though, are my favorite. The vibrant green foliage has such a fresh shade of green that it just makes you happy to look at it. It is the green of light coming through the canopy when translucent leafs light up like church glass. It is also a green like wet moss, ferns and lichens. There is no question in my mind that sunlight on this brilliant, spring, tamarack-green strums some primordial chord. It recalls a time when people were more connected with the forest. In short, it is the green of some ancestral home, a green of tranquility. I cannot say enough about this emotional connection it makes for me with the way its color reacts with the sunlight. Working with them, their spring color slips your eyes into a wide open vision, and open mind. I just love them. For bonsai, they are well worth the time and effort.

The larch is a deciduous conifer-- that is a cone bearing tree, but drops all its foliage in the fall.  The American larch or tamarack  (larix laricina) is described in Wikipedia as:  

a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon … to Newfoundland, and also south into the northeastern United States from Minnesota to .. West Virginia…The name Tamarack is the Algonquian name for the species and means “wood used for snowshoes.”

Grown in open ground for several years

In the fall, you can easily spot them from a distance because of their particular shade of yellow. Last November while driving on I-80, I saw a couple of groves of them in their full color on a steep hill side in eastern Pennsylvania. I was disappointed that I couldn't get to my camera in time for a picture.

Larch grove in fall and summer

A larch’s spruce-like outline allows it to work well for most style of bonsai (except broom-style).  They make excellent formal or informal upright, literati, cascades or group plantings.  The photographs show several examples.  The top photos show a 100+ year old collected larch, on the left is a group planting in fall and summer, and on the right is a developing bonsai about a 15 years old, that was grown in the open ground for several seasons to help thicken its trunk. During that time, the trunk was pruned several times to create a gently curving trunk. It was put in a training pot about 2 years ago. 

Part of the club’s plan for this tree is to order many seedlings.  The seedlings can be made into neat forest plantings.  Members can also plant seedlings individually in pot for a few seasons, prune them for use as individual bonsai or group plantings.  Members may also want to plant some in the open ground to allow them to add some girth, if they are going to be used as individual bonsai. You can do some preliminary pruning to work on the trunk shape while it is in the ground, but these will be more like five year projects.  Ken may have some larch for sale that he has been developing in pots for the past several years, and one of these trees may be a good choice for some. 

Larch's natural growth habit forms a spruce-like outline

You can see the larch's natural growth habit, forming a spruce-like outline in the photo below (with my daughter and me).  It is useful to understand this growth habit/shape if you are making a group or forest planning.  As new shoots form on your forest planting, you may want to wire them in a more downward direction so your group planting will more closely resemble the shape in the photograph.

For winter care, trees can be healed into the ground in an area where it has some protection from the wind (I like areas around the house in between shrubbery). Then cover the pot with a layer of mulch or straw.  As the larch is winter hardy, it will do just fine. 

Mature larch in a park in Stow

As with out black pine project last year, we'll be taking some photos, so we can keep a record of how our projects progress.   Don't be afraid to try both a group planting--even a three tree one can be attractive--and also try a few in nursery pots to prune and develop as individual bonsai.  Working with several will help you to become familiar with how to care for them. Below you can see the kind of planting that can be attained with larches.  This ambitious project that Gib created at an ACBS workshop a few years ago speaks for itself.  With a little work, and time, you won't be disappointed. 
 

Two views of Gib's larch forest  --created at an ACBS workshop

After three seasons 

ACBS Kicks Off a Bonsai Agenda for the New Year +PLUS "the wizard"

ACBS's new president Matt Connelly presented an agenda of events for our club at the January meeting.  In addition to the meeting's presentation by Rich Snyder of the Lorain Botanical Gardens, a number of events are planned.  Among some of the coming attractions for this year are a program on picking the right pot for your trees by Jeff Carr, who did our extreme bending work last year;  a presentation by Andy Smith who is well know for his collected pines and spruces from the mountains of South Dakota; creating penjing planters;  and a possible exhibition in the gardens at Akron's famous Stan Hewit Hall.   Plus we'll continue to have plenty of club work on our own trees and a June show. 

Rich Snyder talks about the botanical gardens in Lorain.

The Magic

The wizard himself

Also, check the wonderful little boxwood that Ken clipped out during the business meeting (Not sure how closely he was listening, and, sorry, he moved too fast for a before pic). Very nice.  Ken is just a wizard when it comes to using a pair of clippers and especially when it  comes to doing something with small sized trees. He always pulls something cool out of his hat.

More Over-Wintering Ideas for Hardy Bonsai

Although pines and other winter hardy trees need their dormant period rest, because bonsai are kept in shallow pots there is a danger of your trees dying out.  Also some protection of the roots is best to keep the tree healthy.

One way used by many of our club members, and that has worked for my own pines over many seasons is to heel the tree into the ground, along with a covering of mulch. Good spots for heeling in your trees include landscapling areas near the house.  Such locations give you the added benefit of wind protection from the house and in between shrubbery.  Plus you may already have plenty of mulch in these areas.  I simply use a rake or garden hoe to pull away the landscaping mulch, then dig a shallow trench about as deep as the pots.  Place the trees in the trench, and rake the dirt back in and around the potted trees.    Then pull the mulch back over the pots as well. For most trees, I've typically heeled them pot and all.

However, it works just as well to slip you bonsai out of the pot, especially if you are unsure whether or not the pot will withstand winter freezing.  It is disappointing in the spring to bring the bonsai out of the ground and find that your pot has burst apart from the frost. 

Another handy spot that I use are the window wells around the house.  In these spots, I put trees that are still in nursery pots.  The sunken well is handy and well out of the wind.

I also like to use the tomato garden for some of my larger plants. It is close to the area where I keep a lot of the larger trees that I work with, so I don't have to carry them as far, and it seems to work real well for the bigger pines.  During a lot of winters, they stay coated with snow.

I keep some of the less hardy trees like my Japanese maples in an unheated garage that is attached to the house.  Because dormant trees will still use a little water, but you must be sure to check these trees occasionally. Watering them is necessary.  Be especially vigilant if your trees are in very shallow pots.  I lost two prized maples a few winters ago that happened to be in shallow pots, and were watered the same as those in deeper ones.  But at some point the moister wasn't adequate and trees had dried out. It was painful to loose two incredible maples. So keep a close eye  on them.

--Mike R.

David's Wild Tree Project & Winter Tree Protection Ideas

A wild tree like that can be a lot of fun to work with. Plus the price is right. David C.sent this photo of something wild that he has been encouraging and trimming in his back yard. He writes this of the project:

I dug this small tree up from near our property line ,5 or 6 years ago and moved it so the neighbor wouldn’t mow it down. I keep it cut back for bonsai stock, it was about 2 feet high, but a deer rutting in our back yard tore the top off, now its about 1 foot tall and the top 2 branches that he left are broken, I guess I’ll dig it up and tilt it using the bottom branch as the new trunk ,I have no idea what it is, the leaves are small and it seems to grow very slow.

It will be fun to see how this project progresses in the coming years. 

David also added this good view of a spacious cold frame that he has built to winter over some of his trees. Such a cold frame offers good protection from the drying effect of winter winds, while allowing the trees to stay dormant. 
Don't forget that plants will still use a little water while they are dormant, so b be sure to check plant periodically during the winter.  Some member let a coating of snow inside the frame to insure that the trees stay moist.

2011 ACBS Show

A well arranged display of several fine bonsai and a steady stream of visitors made for a notable July exhibit from the Akron Canton Bonsai Society. There really is nothing like the annual show to get the creative juices flowing. It really is quite exciting to see each other's trees and how they have progressed this season over last.

Several member trees have now reached a point of refinement that they can be rightly considered specimen trees.

Among the highlights were Dan's (our club president) two amazing junipers which were created from shrubbery that was discarded from a city park several years ago. both are quite large in size and are highlighted with sections of dead wood. These two bonsai get better every year, and it is always exciting to see them. There were also several pine projects, such as Gib's small cascade black pine that was pictured on our show card this time, and some fine scotch pine projects. Mike's 80 year old concord grape has a different look every year, and had three grape clusters for this years show. There were also examples of neatly developed elms, box woods, yews, spruce, and tropicals in the exhibit.

Pictures of the entire exhibit can be seen at our gallery site:
http://picasaweb.google.com/akroncantonbonsai

Leaf Cutting Discussion at July Meeting

Gary talked about reducing the size of leaves on some species of trees. He showed his small sugar maple--a native Ohio tree and an unusual subject for bonsai. The comparison shows the dramatic effect leaf cutting can have. The tree must also be in good health. Also of note-- carlton's cool forest and Ken does some leaf cutting of his own.

ACBS's Annual Summer Show

Akron –Canton

Bonsai Society

presents a

Bonsai

Exhibition

July 22^nd 23^rd & 24^th 2011

(concurrent with Fall's Italian Fest)

Cuyahoga Valley Art Center

2131 Front Street

Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

Admission: free

The exhibition will feature local bonsai artists and contain examples of various bonsai styles and species, including pines, elms, flowering and tropical trees.