Winter Silhouette

As a child of Montana, I grew up with plenty of winter experiences, but I had not heard of Winter Silhouette until I moved to Oakland California in my 20’s. I believe it hails from the world of Bonsai but my aesthetic pruning teachers also used it for trees in the landscape.

Living in a Mediterranean climate felt like eternal spring since most of the plants there are broadleaf evergreens. Of course there are seasons (and deciduous trees) but as someone who experienced seasons that spoke loud and fast, I had to learn to pay closer attention to the flora of Oakland to really appreciate the seasons there. Lucky for me, this is how I stumbled across aesthetic pruning in the first place.

Many of my California gardens only had a handful of deciduous trees at most and because of this their winter silhouette took on greater significance as an indicator of the season. Often winter was their time to shine. Now that I live in Portland Oregon, the winter silhouette dominates the skyline and provides drama against our gray skies.

The branches glow with moss and lichen adding color and texture to the rainy days.

Winter silhouette is where the aesthetic pruning term Coarse to Fine (a plants natural taper) is really usefull. Reduction cuts that preserve a tree’s natural taper allows us to appreciate the winter silhouette without requiring our brain to pause and figure out why something looks off. Its not that we can’t do it, but solving the puzzle interrupts any peaceful appreciation of the graceful line of the branches.

Coarse to fine begins where the trunk emerges from the earth and flows up through the tree to the fine tips of the branches. The tree has physiological reasons for this taper but I love the visual lines, patterns and spaces these branches create. A beautiful trunk grounds me to the earth and the fine tips connect me to the sky. Many people look to foliage and bark to identify the essence of a tree but a good winter silhouette can be just as important.

Now that you know my love of graceful taper you will understand why stub cuts and abrupt transitions drive me crazy. I know people use heading cuts to keep trees such as crepe myrtle small but with a little effort there are usually plenty of lower lateral branches to reduce to if the tree hasn’t been overly thinned out. It takes extra time and long term planning but it can be done. The occasional heading cut can be useful but should be alternated with reduction cuts to break up a pattern of blunt ends. So often we think everything has to happen at once but trees can be reduced in stages so the change isn't such a shock to the tree and to our visual experience. 

There is still plenty of winter left so I hope you find some time to enjoy the winter silhouettes before we are in the thrall of spring buds! (Vine maple buds are my favorite!)