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| So I "rescued" this crape myrtle from a family friend's yard. I had actually tried to just hack it to the ground several times, but it kept coming back. I could never figure out why it was always chlorotic...no insects, no fireblight. Turns out it was buried almost a foot underneath the soil.
I finally dug it out, severing the roots that were holding it in the ground. The root flare is just below the surface of the soil here. The old soil line is just the rough, stumpy looking portion where the shoots originate. I hit it with some chelated iron/micronutrients (foliar) and it's in a well-drained composted pine bark and perlite mix and a 20 gallon terra-cotta pot for recovery. There's still plenty of time for it to establish roots before any real cold weather arrives. Any "bonsai" potential here? I'm totally new to true bonsai, but not to container gardening. Frankly, I'm not that interested in what I *think* are two key aspects of traditional bonsai - leaf miniaturization and very small, flat pots. Leaf miniaturization is great if it happens on its own, but it's not a major goal. Everything else is fair game. I'd rather have a healthy, profusely flowering mini-tree than a particular classical style. Thanks for any advice you can offer! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by greentiger87 (My Page) on Mon, Oct 15, 12 at 9:38
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- Posted by greentiger87 none (My Page) on Mon, Oct 15, 12 at 9:39
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- Posted by greentiger87 none (My Page) on Mon, Oct 15, 12 at 9:39
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| The plant has potential, but needs some basic correction. As a bonsai, the reverse taper is very notable and should be corrected. You would do that by getting the tree healthy & growing well, then cutting it back hard to force back-budding low on the trunk. Select 1 new leader from whatever breaks, & chop the plant back to just above that leader & go from there. Alternately, you could layer off the top just below where all the existing branching occurs - if you favor a multi-trunked specimen. Al |
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- Posted by greentiger87 none (My Page) on Tue, Oct 16, 12 at 9:15
| Thanks, Al! I knew something was off about the proportions, but it's nice to put a name to it. Forcing back budding sounds terrifying, but at least I have more experience with that than air-layering (I've never done it before). I don't have any emotional attachment to this plant, I just thought it might be a mistake to throw it away since it already has a well developed trunk. Should I just toss it, since I'm a beginner? |
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| Toss it? No - send it to me. ;-) Al |
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| Plants are very predictable, once you get to see how they respond to certain procedures. If you get your plant healthy & chop it back close to the ground, it will send out several new shoots - pick one on which to build your tree & remove the rest. No need to be terrified - it's a very common procedure for bonsai practitioners. Alternately, you can just cut the top of the tree back hard (early Jun) once it's growing well and buds SHOULD appear from the lower trunk. Less risky to the viability of the plant, but more risk a bud won't break where you need it. Or you can layer off the top & hope something breaks low on the trunk, so you get 2 plants from 1. Healthy trees and young trees have a very strong will to live, and will tolerate a lot if their vitality level is high (they are growing well) and your timing is appropriate. Therein lies the key - making sure your tree is strong enough (has the energy reserves) to tolerate the indignity you intend to heap on it, and doing the heaping at the right time. ;-) Al
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