Texas Persimmon #4 - burned out hollow trunk

Back in February 2007 I went on a dig in San Antonio, on a 500 acre cattle-chewed ranch that was to soon become a large new subdivision of homes.  The dig was organized to collect material before the bulldozers would come in, so it was a lot of fun, and felt like it had a bit of urgency to it as well.  The intrepid Bonsai hunters stopped long enough for a group photo (I was taking the picture!).

 

 

 

The three of us that carpooled down from Austin collected enough (and unfortunately didn't reduce the tops back), so that by the end of the day the van was practically bursting at the seams with native species bound as future Bonsai.

One of my favorite finds of the day was a Texas Persimmon (Diospyros texana) clump growing on the face of a limestone caprock.  In the middle of the clump was a terrific old burned out trunk that was most likely the "mother plant" before a fire encouraged lots of side shoots and lateral trunks to emerge.  I didn't get a picture of it in the ground, but it was nestled in a 18" high thick patch of native grass, the only thing visible were the tops.  It practically peeled off the rock in one piece.  Here it is once I got it back home.

 

 

With the bag removed..

After the weeds were removed and the heavy clay soil was cleaned from the roots:

I cut off the left trunk with a bit of the shared underground root.

All the other thin trunks were attached to the larger one and were distracting and so off they came.  This allowed for a very well-tapered Bunjin-shaped trunk.

Finally it was planted in an rough, open mix soil and left alone to recuperate.  The blue is a calming color ;)

 

 

Texas Persimmons seem to grow either very fast or frustratingly slow.  This one took three years to regain strength. Here we are in 2010.  All branches were left alone - no trimming and no wiring.  But as a surprise, it produced many fruit this year.  I left a couple of them on to ripen (they're delicious!), but pulled the rest to save strength for the tree.

 

 

 

March 2011.  The top was finally cut back to a more manageable size and with all that vigor, it's now time to repot.

Strong root growth filled the previous pot, and now there is a healthy brick of roots supporting the tree, enough that reduction isn't an issue.

Tangled roots reduced and everything cut back and exposed.

It's first Bonsai pot, a round, drum mica.  No styling yet, as one stress (root work) was enough at this time.

 

 

August 2013, this persimmon has been resting on the bench for too long, it needs some styling work!  Healthy, active growth means that any damage will be repaired quickly.  It's tempting to work on these in the winter when they will partially or totally defoliate, but they are weak in the cold months and often don't recover (I speak from experience!)

 

A closer look at the shari (deadwood area) up the trunk.  Texas Persimmons have this remarkable effect to the wood: deadwood will oxidize to a dark blackish color and will become rock-hard.  The original damage was fire (I believe), but other traumas have also oxidized to the point that it all blends nicely together.  Very rarely will there ever be enough callousing to repair damage, so whenever working with this species, plan for any wounds to remain. 

 

 

I'm always making sketches of my trees, ideas for future styling or possible changes.  These aren't meant to be pretty or even to be shown to anyone, just to be a reference for ideas.  In 2009 I had thought that if possible I'd like to try something different.  A "before" photo of the trunk line at that time:

 

 

And then an idea to reduce the height of the tree and give movement to a very straight and boring top section.  Simple bending would snap the very brittle Persimmon wood, but maybe by twisting it while bending, I could get it in the right position.  I've done this with Boxwood, which is also a very hard and brittle wood once it reaches a certain size.



No process photos, unfortunately, my hands were busy!  But with the use of a bamboo lever (couldn't find the right sized rebar), one guy-wire and some green tape to protect part of the affected area, the bend happened just as planned!  Basically I twisted it, so that the crown turned exactly upside down and nestled into position.  Branches had to be repositioned at this point, so some wire was applied to get them in the right direction.  Long branches were left, as well as some extra ones.  I need to get as much tissue growth at the bend/twist part as possible to set the shape

 

 

 

One of the large upper branches was removed (yellow colored wood), and all around the area it was wrapped tightly to protect the tissue from splitting.

I don't use levers often, but they certainly make reshaping easier!  Three points are in contact: in the base of the pot, along the deadwood, and finally at the crown of the tree.  If this bamboo starts to rot before the top is set, I'll replace it with rebar or another kind of metal rod. 

 

 

 

Also there were fruit on the tree again, so I cut all of them off.  

 

 

On another Texas Persimmon, I let the fruit ripen - I just love the fuzzy black, marble-shaped fruit.  These are in terrific Bonsai proportions!

September 2013. Lots of healthy growth.  The long leggy branches were beginning to get in the way, so...

 

Everything was shortened down.  Many more years of styling, wiring and clipping are in its future before it is brought to a show.  Also it's due to be repotted and to have a better pot (with better placement of course).  This fun little tree always reminds me of that dig day with friends in San Antonio years ago!

 

 

 

 

A note about Texas Persimmons: they are a wonderful, well proportioned native tree with nice sized leaves and fruit.  It has softly colorful bark that ranges in the grey and pink tones which contrasts nicely with the black deadwood (and black fruit - being dioecious you need both the male and female trees nearby to produce fruit).  It has a wide native range over Texas and is long-lived.  So why aren't more people growing these as Bonsai??  Well they're also a bit of a finicky tree too.  Seemingly for no reason, a Persimmon will lose all its leaves and go into a kind of hibernating state for YEARS.  I've had these that will stay alive, but not produce a single leaf for over 3 years, looking completely dead, but still be alive if you scratch the bark.  Sometimes they'll come back to life, sometimes half the tree will emerge at the end, and other times they slowly fade away dead.  I've compared notes with other local bonsaiists and they've had similar experiences.  The triggers I've found have been working on them in the wrong seasons, or when they are weak.  So lesson learned: only work on vigorous trees, and then only in the active growing season.  Only work on the roots when they are about to push growth in the Spring or you may also have a coma patient!  Being one of my favorite native species though.. I'll always accept the challenge!