Thank you. It's going to be really interesting to see how this looks when it heals.

I think I got away with 'the great bonsai massacre of 2023' here 🤣🤣

Thanks Alan. This is a really interesting technique and it''s going to be fun following the progress of this tree.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I love projects like this. I've been grinding through around 30 juniper re-pots this weekend, so this was a nice break.

🤣🤣You will be getting them out when you see how well this tree does. It's a survivor I can tell!

@Tonys Bonsai 😅🤣 we will see. But if it survives you gonna have some gnarly wounds on the trunk

Character that mate. It will add £1000.00 to the value! 🤣🤣

@Tonys Bonsai I think you forgot a zero there mate 😉🤣😅

@@thenaturecreater8906 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Thanks Mark. I decided from the beginning that I wanted my chnnel to be all about my bonsai journey. No point me trying to pretend that I'm and expert.

When I watched it back, I thought the same thing. It looked like one slip could have been very dangerous, but at the time of doing it, I was making sure that the force I was applying was in a direction away from my wrist so that even if I slipped I was quite safe.

Thank you, this was a really challenging project but I'm happy that the tree has survived and is doing well despite such trauma

Thanks Rebecca. Is it a thick pine? If it were me, I would just bend thinner branches/trunks as they are, and if it's too thick to do that, I think I'd go for the wedge cut. I'm not really sold on this technique of splitting the trunk.

@@TonysBonsai Thanks for the feedback. The trunk is far to thick to bend, hence the plan to split! I have used the wedge method successfully last year on a cotoneaster, so I know it works, I just need to plan the bend more precisely. Cross your fingers for me . . .

Hi Mark, I'm often a bit pesemistic in terms of trees' chances but I think this one has a really good chance. Hawthorns are very good at dealing with this kind of major abuse.

@@TonysBonsai I certainly hope that’s true for myself as well! I collected two decent sized hawthorns this spring that I chopped in the winter. They’re budding out but you never know if they’ll make it till they’ve hardened off new foliage and survive their first winter. I’ll cross my fingers for the both of us

I think your trees have a great chance mate. they are really tough!

I like to think that I don't hold back Les.

Yeah, this should be an interesting experiment if nothing else.

I remember that film, especially the scene when she smashes his ankles with that hammer. Proper horror.

Then Came Tony😂🤣

@@mattbrennan647 🤣🤣When I start doing merch, there's the back of a t-shirt right there! 🤣

It's a good question, and I have no idea, although I do know that hawthorn can deal with severe damage pretty well.

@@TonysBonsai I’m staying tuned.

Yes, I think this will be really interesting to follow, and like you I think it will be fine. I used that multiple saw cuts technique on a couple of trees last year. Theya re both doing well. The field maple healed over really quick and the strange bulge it created seems to be rectifying itself. The beech is a bit slower to heal but the curve was much nicer.

I agree John. It should come with those warnings for an 18 certificate film 🤣🤣

Yes, that is definitely a good technique. I did that last year with a field maple and a beech. I just really wanted to try on this tree seeing as it didn;t have much going for it.

Cheers Andy. I love pushing the limits on material like this that I'm not really bothered about

Wow, that must have been quite a challenge. What species did you o it on?

It was a spruce

@@TonysBonsai it actually made a nice clean cut once the knife was through

Hi Stefano. Glad you enjoyed the video mate. The tape is called vet tape. It's designed for use on animals, and you can buy it online pretty cheaply.

@@TonysBonsai Hi Tony, thank you very much for the advice, I always follow your work.

Thanks Robert. The aftercare will be leaving it outside in a shady spot and watering and feeding it. Hawthorns are pretty tough, so I reckon it's got a decent chance of survival.

@@TonysBonsai That sounds like a great plan! - I just took a small chainsaw to my 'Ugly Kousa' I gave it some wild sinuous contours. In about 5years I hope to rename it "sexy Kousa" LOL

@@robertjones7023 🤣🤣Great name that!

I did the multiple saw cut technique last year which was fun! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/j5lxgsaF3eC7g3k.html

@@TonysBonsai Ahh the Beech, worked well...is it still alive?

Yeah, it's buds are swelling and it's doing great. The cuts still haven't fully fused closed like the maple though. I think it's going to take a few years. I'll take another look next spring I think.

Thanks Rob. I'll definitely update to show how it's doing in the summer, but then the big reveal will be next year when I take a peek under the vet tape.

Yeah, this one was a close call George

🤣🤣I'm not so sure John!

@@TonysBonsai 😅😂🤣

😂😅😅

A certain Hawthorn may disagree!

Yeah I suspect many of us have these sitting at the bottom of our tool kits. Perhaps time to get yours out and have a play Steve!

I wouldn't bother with a scots pine if it was me mate. They are really flexible and you should be able to bend them even if they are thicker than this. Perhaps a nice wedge-cut video is the order of the day? I've been planning on doing one this year, so you could beat me to it!

@@TonysBonsai That was the other thing I was considering before I saw todays video. It is broom handle thickness and dead straight!! But it does have a really interesting thin branch right near the base...if it all goes wrong :)

Since i've started watching bonsai videos on YT 3 years ago i was waiting for someone doing this. 😁

It's going to be interesting to see what the bark looks like in a years time Kennet.

@@josdra238 The wait is finally over Jos! I hope you enjoyed it.

@@TonysBonsai Always wanna see people doin the "forbidden" stuff. 😆

Indeed, It's a bit of a wild experiment this one, but I am already looking forward to seeing what it looks like next year when it's had time to do some healing.

I have got exactly the same thoughts, Tony, and asked myself the same question, when I have seen someone applying the trunk splitter. Why should this work so much better? This certainly is the main reason, why I have not decided to get me a trunk splitter myself. And I am still hesitant to do so, as I would always believe to risk the tree eventually. And probably I will never buy one. Anyway, a very nice exercise you showed in your video. Curious to see the result at some point. Good luck.

Yeah, this will be a really fun one to follow I think.

I like to keep you on your toes mate!

Yes, unfortunately I don't have that book, but I get what he is saying exactly. I suppose the exception would be if the bend was an s-shape where both sides would then have sections in compression and tension so should level themselves out.

If you like, I could probably get permission to copy and send you the two relevant pages by email.

Time will tell, but I've got a felling that the scars will be a really interesting feature, especially over time as the truck gets some age to it.

Yes, it will be really interesting to see what happens to this over the next year or two. My guess is that it will survive and have a crazy scarred trunk that will look really cool.

Thank you Pablo. It was my pleasure. I love trying something like this to really understand the technique

I'm thinking exactly the same Jake. I think it will survive, and in time the scars will mellow and become a really interesting feature

Yeah, larch and pine this thick can be bent pretty easily without any splitting. It will be interesting to see how a deciduous tree like a hawthorn responds

Yes, I was just concerned that the extra resistance of the wire might have stopped me from getting the bend in. It will be interesting to see what it looks like when it sets.

Hmm, I think you make a great suggestion there RAs. Is the tree doesn;t make it, I'll try again as you suggest.

🤣🤣Good thinking. I do it next time mate!

Yeah I could do Brian, but I kind of want to see what the scaring will be like without wire. I'm gambling that it will become a really nice feature down the line.

@@TonysBonsai 👍👍

Not wrong there Dave. I went for it with this tree.

I'm pretty sure It's not for me either, but always good to have an experiment

Yes, I agree Martin, but I've got a beech and a maple healing up at the moment, so I thought I'd try something a bit different.

@@TonysBonsai respect for trying. Where you happy with the tool? I need to invest in one but no real life bonsai supply’s near me.

This tool was part of a set a friend bought me, and I think it did a great job. I'm not sure I'll have too much use for it going forward though as I think it's a bit of a sketchy technique.

Yes, I've been watching Pete doing the splitting, but to be fair to him, he tends to do it on pretty flexible material like pine anyway. As for the drum-roll, I thought it was a beauty! 🤣

Hi Chris. Yes, wiring was an option, but I was concerned that the extra support of the wire would limit the flex in the trunk, and I wanted to really push it and allow the split sections to move, and it's going to be really interesting seeing how a tree like this heals over time.

@@TonysBonsai i think its worth trying one with wire and see the rults u can get but def looking forward to what happens to this tree. Took some balls to do this but hey someones gotta give it a try and find out😂 great experiment

If a tree could scream it would be in constant pain from everything, so this analogy is stupid as hell. Insects,birds,otherthings are drilling in the tree or completly make nests in it,so it would cause pain too ... If something from the storm rips it apart, ... Like i said this analogy dont work

@@MrMirco003 It was a throwaway comment of course it was stupid.

Wow, those guys really went for it! Thanks for sharing it

I hope you didn't bite your tongue too hard, I hate it when I do that! I was once photographing a wedding, and during diner I bit my tongue so hard I though I was going to have to go to hospital. The amount of blood was crazy! 🤣

@@TonysBonsai Ouch Tony ! That must have really hurt. Earlier today, it wasn't luckily with full force so after a while it started to feel better again and I had no blood loss so it was very different from yours. And you were just at a wedding , of all places, with a painful bleeding tongue 🤕

Who?

Hi Joe. I think that is a very good question. Perhaps because so much content on youtube is people teaching (whether they have any genuine experience or not), you have wrongly assumed that I am teaching bonsai. I am not. My channel is simply me recording my journey and experiments as I learn all about bonsai. In the early days of my channel, you can find the odd video where I was trying to teach what I know, but I quickly realised that it is pretty pointless and I regularly state in my videos that people should seek out knowledge from experts (The recent video about keeping yamadori alive is a perfect example) I am a bonsai entertainment channel. I met a chap at a show yesterday who approached me and said that after watching my videos, he has started his own bonsai journey, which is fantastic. If I can inspire someone to start learning and practicing bonsai, that is great, and they may well even pick up a few ideas from me too. I'm not an expert, but I have a lot of trees and I am educating myself from Ryan Niel, Peter Warren etc, so I do think that most of what I do is based on pretty sound practice. I understand if my channel is not for you, and that's absolutely fine. Have a great day, and I hope that your trees are doing well.

Unfortunately, that's not news to me or my doctor 🤣🤣🤣