I have been developing this Tanuki over the last six years and the live is thickening up well although it has many years of growth before I would consider this a ‘convincing’ bonsai. The host tree is a piece of Yew I collected on my travels and the ‘scion’ is also Yew, the perfect match!

Fitting the scion to the host was done via a ‘keyhole’ groove and the Yew whip inserted; it has grown out and is firmly attached.

The tree has been growing well however there was a very straight section that was disturbing to the eye; also all the foliage was at the top of the tree, I needed a lower branch! The solution was to split a branch away and strip it down the trunk creating a Shari, adding interest to the ‘boring’ section.

This was done using a small branch splitter working my way from the top down to the lower part. To ensure that the split section did not break away I secured a small piece of hose with wire this also held in place two copper wires that were fitted along the length of the split that would help keep the thin section from damage during bending.

The whole section was then tightly wrapped with wet raffia and then self-amalgamating black tape. Carefully bending and twisting I positioned the ‘new’ branch into position under the deadwood. All the exposed edges of live were then covered with cut paste to help callusing and to stop infection.