In early 2020 I had a few seedling larch leftover from a larger project. Instead of putting them back in the growbed, I decided to play around and put a small group together. The group has since been unwired and pruned, and last winter I re-wired the trunks as they had not set sufficiently yet. Now it is time for a full prune and rewiring.
Larch are pioneer species, and need lots of sunlight (Although they HATE hot roots!). On top of this, they are very top-dominant. Branches in the shade are dropped by the tree, and lower branches grow minimally compared to the top of the tree. As such, during maintenance it is important to prune the top a lot stronger, and more often, than the lower branches. The summer 2021 picture above shows really clearly how the top develops strong runners, whereas the bottom branches stay weak. When watching the video, note how the top is reduced to the minimum, whereas the bottom branches are mostly left alone.
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Larch bonsai wiring: Aftercare
This work was done in mid-winter. As we have a very mild winter so far, the group planting is placed outside. If we do get deep frost (Below -5) in the next weeks I will put the group in a protected area, free from wind and sun, and normally free from frost, just to make sure I do not loose the branches. This is mostly a precaution; I do not think real damage will be done by frost on recently wired larch.
Beautiful clump composition. Would like to see it again after it has its needles in spring.