Nice job. You took it from an overgrown jungle to a sweet, miniature forest. :-)

I'd be happy to see follow-up pics later this fall. Thanks for the info/pics.

I love the Asparagus plumosus ferns after the trim! They look like you could set up a mini safari scene for Hollywood.

Mmhmm - the ferns look pretty ok, but the trees look kinda beat-up. ;o) Sok - they'll back-bud almost immediately (in tree time) and get going again. Those raggedy leaves will be pruned off as soon as new branching occurs.

Al

After 3 months, the plants have grown back to this:
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{{gwi:84330}}

So I cut them back again to this:
{{gwi:83045}}

and removed the old stub so it looks like this:
{{gwi:84332}}

Al

Wow, I can't believe how tall it got in 3 months. I know you said it grows indoors, what kind of light does it get? Also, do you ever have to worry about pests like spider mites?

It sits on an unused kitchen table in front of 2 corner windows that are shaded from about 2PM til sunset, so they are getting too little light, as evidenced by their leggy appearance. It's not a plant I'm proud of, and I'd happily give the planting away to a garden visitor or friend, but I always forget because it's the only plant that stays indoors during the summer. If I thought more of the planting, I'd put it out on the deck, or under lights during the winter, but I don't think it attractive enough to dedicate the valuable room.

It was just a convenient specimen to use to illustrate that you can cut almost all healthy woody material back extremely hard & it will hardly notice the indignity, so I took advantage of it.

It's 4-5 years old, and no, it's never had any kind of insect issues.

Al

Would love an update on this one!

I used the planting in a talk/demonstration about repotting & root pruning I gave to a garden club & gave the plants away after the demo.

Al

Oh how nice of you! I always love looking at pics of your work & look forward to more! Thanks for the response.

It's not much of a secret that my primary focus is bonsai .... and I tend to gravitate toward plants that are unusual and that I can manipulate into something unusual or more attractive than they would end up being if left to their own growth habit. I really didn't BUY those plants. We had a guest artist do a workshop for our bonsai club, and the selection of plants she had for the plantings was very limited. Those were the most attractive of what was available, so I just grabbed those, but I was really never pleased with the appearance of the plants, which, as you can see from the pictures above, quickly became unruly & to my eye not so attractive ....... so I was just looking for an opportunity to give them away. Using them in a demonstration allowed me to keep the tray they were planted in, so it all worked out.

Some of you might be surprised at how much root pruning you can do without concern for the plant's survival. Here's a little boxwood I've been working with before root pruning:
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and here's what it looked like before it went into it's new pot:
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Plants are plants, whether they are houseplants or trees normally found in the landscape. They grow the same way and use the same nutrients in the same proportions as other plants, so 95% of what applies to trees applies to houseplants. If your houseplant has a branching root system, don't be afraid to bare-root it and root prune. You'll find it has a significant rejuvenating effect for the whole plant. There is a physiological reason for this that I've explained before, but I won't go into it now because I've already strayed a long way from my original intent, which was to thank you for your kind words.

{{gwi:10897}} - Al