I switched to paper wrapped wire ties half way through assembly because I found the thin copper wire ties to be too brittle. The roots were misted frequently to keep them from drying out. I learned from my experimental grafts that removing the wires could cause the graft to separate. The wires will be left in place and the excess will be cut off after fusion is complete. I tried to get the seedlings as close together as possible to shorten the fusion time by using thin copper wire to attach the seedlings to both the frame and adjacent seedlings. The next step involved attaching the seedlings to the frame. This is a 2-year-old seedling before cleaning and root trimming. The seedlings were bare rooted with all branches removed and roots trimmed. On Feb 20 the tree was assembled using 2-year-old seedlings. Notice how I flared the base to add character to the trunk. My solution was to use ВЅ inch galvanized screen ( hardware cloth) solving both problems. I saw two problems here, first the cost of heavy copper wire is prohibitive and second it created too few anchor points to tie the seedlings to the frame. Doug Philips had used heavy copper wire to essentially create an upside down tomato cage. The first step of this project was to build a frame. The tallest seedling is 55 inches and the shortest is 10 inches. There are 3 Metasequoia glyptostroboides вЂOgonвЂ™ in front that I grafted onto seedling rootstock (the brilliant spring yellow color fades to lime green as summer progresses) and 2 possible dwarf Dawn Redwood grown from seed. Here I am standing in my 18 month old seedling forest. This technique will work with Dawn Redwood. In only four weeks the seedlings had all fused at the contact points where they were wired together. I already had seedlings, so I experimented by wiring 3 pairs of seedlings together.

There is an article by Doug Philips in a book titled Bonsai Master Class that demonstrated an approach grafting technique (referred to as fusion) of multiple Trident Maple seedlings to create a large trunk perfectly tapered bonsai in a very short time and I thought this might work with Dawn Redwood. What to do with 100 trees? Planting 100 trees is quite a chore and disposing of a critically endangered species (IUCN Red List) like Metasequoia glyptostroboides was something I was not willing to do.

100 of those seedlings survived through the first winter. Having read how hard they were to grow I was surprised to find that 156 of the seeds germinated. When spring rolled around I shook the box and hundreds of seeds fell out. During the late summer and fall I gathered the cones and tossed them in a shoebox for the winter. Fast-forward 18 years and that broken stick had grown over 60 feet tall and produced several hundred seed cones. What arrived was a pathetic bare rooted broken stick, so I planted it in the corner of my yard and ignored it.

In 1990 I purchased a Metasequoia glyptostroboides (Dawn Redwood) through the mail. Named and introduced by Bill Barger.Metasequoia glyptostroboides ( Dawn Redwood) Fusion Bonsai This peculiar dawn redwood has twisted growth and an overall interesting texture. Metasequoia glyptostroboides вЂBizzargerвЂ™ Bizzarger Dawn Redwood The deciduous foliage goes rich orange in fall before dropping to show off beautiful peeling bark for winter. If staked, it can be rather tall and narrow. The first dawn redwood with pendulous branches, this truly outstanding introduction has gracefully weeping branches with delicate, soft, gray-green foliage and a beautiful sculptural form. Metasequoia glyptostroboides вЂMiss GraceвЂ™ Miss Grace Dawn Redwood

Sold under the name of вЂSchirrmannвЂ™s NordlichtвЂ™ in Europe. A dwarf globose form with cream-yellow foliage with reddish branchlet highlights. Metasequoia glyptostroboides вЂSchirrmannвЂ™s NordlichtвЂ™ North Light Dawn RedwoodДeciduous.

Metasequoia bonsai