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Meet Dr. Seuss. That’s what I named this little boxwood.

Last year it was in a show and I overheard someone say it was “a Dr. Seuss lookin’ tree.” I took it as a compliment and the tree has had the name ever since.

This tree was included in the Potomac Bonsai Festival members’ show this year at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. It is a great honor to be shown in the same place as the treasures of the National collection, no matter how humble and childlike my own tree may be.

The tree was shown with a fault, however. I’m not entirely sure what the protocols are relative to bonsai exhibition. In the art world, it is considered bad form to change an artwork after it is selected for an event. The tree was selected as you see it above, so I felt obligated to leave it so until after the show. (Does anyone know if this is the right thing to do?)

The fault is this unsightly trident toward the top of the tree. Do you see it? Not only does it present an out of place symmetry to an asymmetrical tree, it is also a bad idea to have two branches come from the same spot on the trunk. Over time, this can cause extra swelling in this spot and eventually an inverse taper.

I decided a while back that the branch on the right needed to come off, so I promised myself I would remove it right after the show. It was just one nice clean cut.

Actually, that’s not quite accurate. When I remove a branch from the trunk like this, I like to remove the branch first by cutting a bit above where I want the final cut. Then I can carefully place my cutters for the last cut without the branch being in the way.

Next I applied a small amount of cut paste. I have no idea what the container says, but this is a great product. It just takes wet fingers to apply a small amount over the cut area.

As long as your fingers are wet, you can easily press and mold the putty to cover the green cambium that surrounds the site. The putty will protect the wound while tree begins to heal over it.

It was just one cut, but this will be so much better as I continue to refine this tree.