Comprising a Life

The following article was written for an online journal called Bonsai Today but since that journal no longer exists on the Internet I have tried to piece the article together from the printed version which I downloaded during the time the Journal was still active.  I will also attempt to put in the photographs from my own files that were interspersed through the original article as close to the way they originally were in the actual article as I can.

Strange Trees


Text and photographs by Vaughn Banting, USA



Editor's Note: This is a special article from a pioneering American bonsai artist.
In this article, Vaughn shares not only his efforts in making bonsai 
but also his view of the world that fills him with inspiration;
the swamps and marshes of Louisiana.

Many of the images in this article are printed in large format 
so that the reader may be able to become more immersed in the world that inspires
 this talented and beloved artist.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Truncated forms of bald cypress with proportions equivalent in strangeness to the Baobab trees of South Africa and the "bottle trees" of arid Australia, occurre naturally in many parts of the United States and since I have been lucky enough to visit examples of both of these species I can attest that this is no exaggeration.

This pictorial essay details my recent and ongoing attempt to create a flat-toped bonsai that would mirror the shape and proportions of one of these  squatty marvels growing naturally in nature. The material chosen was of course a bald cypress. But let's hold it right there if you would, the full story begins many years earlier on the floodplain of Lake Catahola 200 miles north of New Orleans where I and others in our bonsai collecting party encountered and photographed a small group of strange looking bald cypress.

At the base of one of these trees we were able to crawl through the exposed roots and enter the completely hollowed out trunk. First one of us and then another crawled up into that tree trunk untill, as I remember we were able to easily accommodate four men inside.When we looked upwards it was reminiscent of standing in the middle of a large cathedral, as some big branches had long ago rotted out leaving three or four natural skylights which allowed light to stream in on us like focused spot lights, providing an almost religious experience to our small congregation within.

The opening we crawled through

In the years that followed I was able to photograph these trees many times and eventually discovered the reasons behind their odd appearance.  As noted earlier, Lake Catahoula sits in the middle of a large floodplain.  At the location of these particular trees, the water of the lake remains about 10 to12 feet deep all summer long.  Winter brings a gradual reduction of the floodplain, eventually exposing the giant trunks of this odd group of trees; no doubt the remnant population of what once must have been a very large old stand of them.

The unique proportions of their swollen trunks is a direct result of a special type of tissue that grows in trees in response to being submerged in water for long periods of time.

I had always dreamed of creating a bonsai that echoed the proportions of one of those strange trees.  Long after my bonsai collecting days had come to a close due to developing brain cancer, I decided with the help of past students and a lot of good friends, to have one last go at that dream.

We started looking for our cypress material in the area where we had first discovered a strange trees but soon realized however that it would not provide the sort of material needed to create my living replica.  The saplings we found growing there were far too mature for our purposes.

In the spring (I can't remember the exact year) bonsai student Alex Long and I began to investigate sites in the Manchac swamp area with a friend and fellow bonsai enthusiast (who owned an airboat) looking for a young cypress with proportions appropriate for our needs.  The airboat's passage over shallow swamp caused recently sunken organic matter to rise to the surface, traces of which can be seen in the below photos.

While in the vicinity, I photographed egrets nesting in a rookery and irises in full bloom while Alex an accomplished artist took the opportunity to sketch natural examples of bald cypress growing in the flat-top style.

Returning in the winter, this time with bonsai student, Don Saucier and with the same airboat pilot, we left the swamp and entered a marsh habitat that I had scouted out the previous spring with Alex. Below are scenes from that site.

A flock of eagrets

This was a tempting prize but just a little too big for our purposes.

A typical cypress in this sort of marsh

A perfect example of typical flat-top branch structure

A close up view

I chose my tree and it was collected with the helpful assistance of Don and a pilot, who used a chainsaw with a 40 inch bar to complete the operation.  I directed, keeping my feet dry and the pilot's seat warm.

They cut through the radiating roots

The tree is left un-topped during this procedure to aid in better leverage.

With our prize in hand, just before we left the area we cut across the marsh and through the woods
breaking out onto a beautiful view of Lake Pontchatrain. There I took some photographs of cypress
growing in the lake.

I brought back my specimen to my training area where I first re-cut the base of the
tree just below the flair of its roots to make the root ball as flat as possible.
Then I planted it in a deep nursery container leaving a portion the trunk temporary
buried to conserve moisture in the system. Then tree's height was reduced again, 
this time at a perfect angle for its future training. Also at this time I cut a piece of
black plastic in a pattern of an elipse and glued it to the exposed slanted surface of
the cut to keep it moist. The heat provided by the sun heating up the black plastic
would encourage the cambium to roll inwards,closing the wound. As an extra
percaution I used shoe tacks to further secure the black plastic.

When his stump was well sprouted it was potted into a large training pot, showing
off its fluted base, and was allowed the grow freely for a year to build a new
root system. During that time, the plastic covering the wound was taken off,
revealing the cambium rolling in nicely.

The most vigorous shoots were removed to encourage its future multi-level canopy
and to direct the strongest shoot back over the wound, which set up a structure
for a flat-top.

Actual base uncovered and planted in training container

The tree re-sprouted and plastic removed to show cambium tissue rolling over the cut

Time to remove some leaders

The tree grown out before another pruning

Soon after this picture was taken had to admit defeat as far as being able to hold on to my collection was concerned.  It was time to dispose of the collection.  My good friend Gary Marchall helped me with the process by conducting a yard sale for me and then hauling the remaining trees to his bonsai garden in Atlanta Georgia where he made efforts to sell the rest of my collection.  After looking after my collection for me for many years and making few sales I communicated to him that I no longer claim any ownership to my old collection and thus Gary has now become the new designer from this tree.  Over the next few years Gary will finish the plans I had for this tree.

The following pictures were recently sent to me by Gary.  They were taken through the greenhouse as he has not been able to put his trees out yet.  As you can see, the tree has grown and is very healthy.  Gary will probably be able to indicate a flat toped bent to the tree this coming growing season.