How to prune Dawn Redwood Bonsai - Some Tips to avoid failure.

[@TheBonsaiZone]

I hope you bring your camera, we would love to see the party and perhaps some people who have had too much to drink, lol!!

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

I am leaving my camera at home but I know that tony has something lined up for filming. I just want to be there for him. I would love to be drinking but i fear the 3 hour trip each way puts a stopper on that. i will have a van though - you know how short I am of trees :)

[@TheBonsaiGarden]

Catchy title - made me click straight away to avoid disaster with my tree. 😂 Also looking forward to the Tony Bonsai Extravaganza on Saturday 17th June.

[@maryweber4176]

Jason, will you be filming when you are at Tony's?

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Thanks - 18 months later and I finally made you 'want' to watch one of my videos jason :)

[@tacobonsai]

All of these are such great trees. gorgeous appearance and wise decisions on them all..

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Cheers Taco

[@TheBugB]

“Get another pot out of it anyway” HAHA what a way to put it. Good to look at the positive side of a negative situation.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

So true - I have lost some really nice trees due to last years heatwave and this years cold streak. BUT I am thankful that all the trees started and developed from my own cuttings appear to be fine. This can be a challenging hobby sometimes :)

[@KennetDeBondt]

Realy nice trees Xav!

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Thanks Kennet - hopefully this years summer will not destroy all the fronds agin!

[@robertscarborough68]

I see why you like these so much, very elegant and beautiful trees! 🙏🏼

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Once you get the knack they can be so elegant. Cheers Rob

[@PSPMHaestros]

What a nice tree, elegant trunk with some taper and nice yet subtle movement, well placed branches and good canopy shape, love it!

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Thank you so much - it has quickly become one of my favourite trees in the collection. Very forgiving of my clumsiness too :)

[@thetreestyler]

Nice vid mate, I was looking at the apex at the start of the vid and thought it needed adjustment and you did it. Nice trunk movement on Dawn - curves in the right places.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Cheers Paul.

[@FrostBiteBonsai]

Those are really nice trees! It is wonderful of you to support Tony. Well done Xavier!

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

They are absolutely thriving right at this moment and all the new shoots are much lower down some of the branches now.

[@bonsaiexpression]

great relaxing video, great job.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Is that another way of saying, 'It put me to sleep nicely'. Cheers

[@houghtonbonsai]

Great video Xav, You have some great trees there m8ty. I love Dawn Redwoods as well i think they make great bonsai. After watching this it reminded me to get on with my little one 😂😅 ;)

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

You don't have anything little in your garden Ryan...apart from Howard :)

[@houghtonbonsai]

@@XaviersBonsaiRetreat 🤣🤣🤣 still got some twigs in pots m8

[@tetrapanax1]

Timely. I need to do something with mine. I also made the mistake of assuming Dawn and Coast had similar requirements. I have now learnt that lesson! Ps your audio seems to have deteriorated lately. Some clips sound tinny but it changes at different parts of your uploads.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Oh dear - I wish I was a little more technically minded. i shall look into it and see if I can find a theme about the sound. i am really at a loss. Great to hear you too have learnt the difference.

[@andrewbeattie5245]

Great looking trees and good info to boot. Never had any luck with cuttings will try from some older branches in future.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

I definitely found that it was the one year old hardened shoots that did the best in the earlys pring pruning. They have all survived so far.

[@Bonsaicrazy]

Great video Xavier The trees are looking fantastic this year. Hope you have a good time at Tony’s Wish him all the best for me please Talk soon mate 👍👍

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Will definitely send him your bonsai love :)

[@lebullterrier]

superbe résumé 😉👏 je possede moi aussi 5 Métaséquoia 😊

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Merci. j'aimerais bien voir des photos d'eux si possible (I am still practicing my french)

[@Wise-Man-Say]

take cam to Tony's it be good to see other points of views.. also a promo for old Tone while at it

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Although I don't plan to take my camera i do know that there will be a lot of others who will probably upload clips and I do know that Tony is filming the event. I might take some sneaky phone footage :) Cheers

[@AlexBraunton]

I do love the shape of this tree mate. It's nice to see a different style than a bolt upright one. I have to say though, I'm not a fan of the supporting root under the first curve. I think it could look much more mature and complete without it

[@TheBonsaiGarden]

What are your views on dinosaur embellishments?

[@oachkatzlsmum]

@@TheBonsaiGarden I do have a similar dinosaur behind my dawn redwood… 🫢😅

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Yeah - finally some constructive advice from you. You are probably right and I will definitely look at that as an option. Cheers Alex

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

It is a cheap marketing ploy - my mudman went on strike that day :)

[@oachkatzlsmum]

Those trees are gorgeous 😍 What I haven’t told you, up to now, Xavier: My dawn redwood is looking like a christmas tree, this time of the year. I positioned some hooks, to bring the branches downwards, because I hesitate to wire this tree… 😅 Works quite well, by the way. 😊 Cheers

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Another picture I need to see - I'm certain. I have wired these safely over many years. Just wait until the fronds drop and then remove again in March. The weather is cooking me at the moment and I am having to water three time a day too!!

[@rexwoodville-price8399]

I never realised that pruning a dawn redwood has a bit in common with de-candling a conifer. Now I know why mine haven't responded to pruning like my other deciduous conifer species, bald cypress. Is right now a good time to prune them (I live in a zone 7b in north america)? Don Javier thank you for sharing your beautiful trees.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Hi Rex. No good on zones but if you are in the early summer and the shoots are that lovely reddy colour and there are divisions then you should be fine until first week of July. It is all about giving the tree time to set and lignify the new shoots produced before Autumn takes away the fronds. 'The Don'...I like it :)

[@rexwoodville-price8399]

@@XaviersBonsaiRetreat I associate your name Xavier (spelled both ways) with my native language. I watch a lot of bonsai channels and love your tone. Other channels have great information but take themselves too seriously; Cheers.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

@@rexwoodville-price8399 Thanks - my wife was Spanish and only marrie dme for the name. She pronounced it as a 'h'. Not much chance of me taking myself too seriously - that's boring :)

[@XoshBitt]

Greetings Xavier.. your tree looks great. I’m curious as to how much sun your tree is getting? Meaning… is it full sun, semi-shade? Roughly how many hours?? Reason I ask is because I’m over here in Switzerland.. our spring was VERY wet and cool..and now we have been very dry and hot but I am still not getting the deep “red/brown” in the newly developed branches. My tree is in semi-shade with probably ~5ish hours of direct sunlight before starting to get shading. Maybe I need more light? Thanks for the great videos.. have watched a few of them this evening. Cheers.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

I wouldn't be too concerned yet - I have done this process into early july and still had time for new shoots to lignify. Your lighting seems fine. Mine get morning and late afternoon sun. I do make sure they stay out of the peak sun so the roots never get dried out. Thanks for the support and I would love to see some pictures :)

[@XoshBitt]

@@XaviersBonsaiRetreat Thanks so much for the reply! I actually noticed today a few burned frons.. we had a real scorcher of a day on Sunday. Maybe he needs even a bit more shade. I’ll keep a closer eye on him. I have got him on an automated drip system watering him pretty heavily. I’ll get a video of him and post it from my other KZbin channel. Thanks again and appreciate your content. Cheers!

[@TheBugB]

Your trees look great. I haven't seen anyone mention it so I'm not sure you know, the audio is a little funky at parts of the video like you're part robot.

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

Thanks and I have been told a few times about the audio. But I prefer your description of funky the best. So what trees have you got?

[@TheBugB]

@@XaviersBonsaiRetreat I have a small Juniper, a Japanese Maple ‘Sharps Pygmy’, and a Dawn Redwood grove with 3 Dawn Redwoods in it. I'm kinda of beginner bonsai enthusiast I suppose you can say

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

@@TheBugB I would love to see some pictures if that's ok?

[@TheBugB]

@@XaviersBonsaiRetreat I'm not sure how to do that on KZbin as links aren't allowed (most of the time at least). Also I need to prune my dawn redwood it looks more like a bush than a bonsai. They are so vigorous

[@TheBugB]

@@XaviersBonsaiRetreat If you let me know a way id be happy to take some photos of my trees

[@oachkatzlsmum]

🙋‍♀️

[@XaviersBonsaiRetreat]

I can't use imoji on the comments page but rest assured I have replied with lots of smiling and waving and even a blown kiss :)