Nice one, Randy!

Denise in Omaha

Very pretty. I really like its tree shape.

So, do you feed all your succulents Coke? Or just the jades?

Shelly

Impressive and inspiring. That is talent, pure and simple. Nice pot as well.

Thanks Denise.

Shelly, I like the shape as well. The coke was for me after the repotting:-). I actually put it in the photo to give you a sense of scale of the plant.

Borrego, I'm also very impressed with the development so far. The branch placement is nice. It just needs a few years of controlled growth to fill in and give it a "massive" feel.

I like to think there is a little talent involved, but it's more dumb luck in stumbling into the right plant at the right time to do some whacking on.

randy

You know you should really give it Diet coke, you dont want too fat a trunk......;)

It seems like shaping jades is an underdeveloped or unique art. I have seen your posts on pruning jades, and you have the best cutting technique that I have seen. Your cut looks very clean, and in my opinion, is a model for jade pruning. I used to just hack mine, but started shaping them better after seeing your post. Are you using some kind of decorative wire around the trunk?

Larry

It's on an exercise program now to balance the sugar intake :-).

baci

Thanks. The wire is a copper coated aluminum used in training bonsai. I'm using it to manipulate branch and trunk movement.

My larger cuts are made with a 6" fillet knife with a razor's edge that is also used for grafting Adeniums.

randy

Randy,

I really like that bonsai, it is nice.

Is that a large scar on the front left and two little scars on the front right? How old are they? How well do they show after a few years?

-Michael

Michael,

Glad you like it. Yes, they are scars that are around 2 years old. Here is one on the side of the plant that will blend into the bark of the plant in another year.
{{gwi:23051}}
A closeup of the larger one shows it's starting to develop bark along the inner ring.
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This will take longer to heal, but it's a very large cut that measures 2" wide and 2 1/4" tall.

The cut was originally another trunk. Removing it helped give the plant a sense of taper and a more tree-like appearance.
{{gwi:23044}}

randy

Thanks Randy. The tree looks much better with that second trunk gone. It's also nice to see the scars healing so well.

Maybe it's time for me to dig out the bonsai tools and start hacking on my jade tree this spring:)

-michael

I'd like to try this with my Jade later on, but at the moment it has a twin trunk low down, is kinda shaped like a slingshot, not an ideal for a bonsai.

Larry,

Couldn't you let the 2nd trunk grow for a while as a sucker increasing the diameter of the 1st then lop it off? I've read about that technique for deciduous trees.

That's what I am planning on doing with mine anyways...

-michael

Trouble is its kind of shaped like a 'Y' so if i lopped one trunk off after letting it grow I'd end up with a very lopsided plant, but will see how it goes.

Larry

A slingshot is exactly what this plant was. That's why I cut off one of the trunks :-).

randy

Larry

As you can see from the photo here this plant was very one sided for some time. Branches were wired to help pull growth more to the bare side of the tree.
{{gwi:463994}}

Wow Randy,

You really did a nice job with that tree. The improvements from this last photo to the first are really impressive.

-Michael

Thanks Michael. It has responded very well over the short period of time I've been working on it. The branch structure is in place and it's to the point now where I'm developing a a thicker canopy.

Hopefully after another 6"-8" in width and 12" in height, it will be a killer tree. Probably be too heavy to handle by then :-).

randy

Im afraid the wiring looks too much like hard work for me! ;)
I do train a few bonsai but hardly ever wire, plus you have to be extra careful with a succulent!

Hi Randy,

Nice work! I'm new here, I found this post while doing my searching, the answer to my question definately lies here.would you be so kind to share your experience with triming the root?

I've been thinking about trim the root of my Jade for quite some time but dare not to do so. I meant to cut the main "root" (is it called root?)---the "stem" deep into the soil.it's obvious from the picture that you have done so to fit the plant in a shallow pot. my question is:

How to cut it? do I need to clear the soil first in order not to contaminate the wound? (judging from the pic,seems no need?)

After it's cut, do I re-pot it right away? or do I need to wait until a callous developes?

how long do I have to hold back waterng? will that be the same rule like propagating a cutting?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Will

Randy, it's really a wonder! Can you please post a follow-up pic of the jade now after 2 months odd?

Thanks for sharing.

Xuan