How Big Is That Crape, Really? And The Iris Spreads

by | Oct 21, 2020 | Care, Crape myrtle, Flowering, Most Recent

how big is that crape, really?

the bonsai files

Sneak Peek

I first posted on this big Crape last month when I lifted it. Someone asked, Will it survive? Boy, has it!

How Big is that Crape, really? And the Iris is spreading.

I left off here with the monster Crape myrtle I lifted last month. This photo was taken a few weeks after the tree was potted up.

 

A reader asked, “Will it survive?” That’s the obvious question for a tree collected outside the normal collecting season. Well, here we are just over a month later. I think the tree speaks for itself.

Remember I said it was big, and I even gave some numbers as proof. But how big is it, really?

It often helps to have a scale to go by. I don’t like beer bottles in my photos, or tape measures. But I figured a hand and a hand-sized Spekboom would put things in perspective.

This is a big Crape myrtle!

I published a couple of photos of this Louisiana iris a year ago. It’s one of those fun experiments I’m conducting. In this shot, the plant is just starting to get accustomed to its new home.

I had gone through the development step of removing that arching part of the rhizome, which I didn’t think would work out well long-term. That left me with a little tuft of blades.

A year later, my iris is spreading nicely across the pot. The blades are fairly tall, but not too tall. The good news is, they’re about half the normal width. I take this as a good sign.

In 2021, I expect the iris to spread some more, meaning the rhizome will continue to colonize the pot like any good root system would. Once it gets sufficiently root-bound, I should see much more miniaturization of the plant.

Hopefully I’ll have the next episode of this accent to post sometime next year.

Checking In On A Few Trees – Pocomoke Crape, Trumpet Vine, Privet

by | Sep 26, 2020 | Care, Crape myrtle, Flowering, Most Recent, Privet, Vines

checking in on a few trees

the bonsai files

Sneak Peek

The 2020 growing season is coming to an end. Here are a few trees that have made a lot of progress in a short time.

Checking in on a Few Trees

Here’s where we left this Pocomoke Crape Myrtle at the end of June. I had tackled the shrub and come up with a good design. All that was needed was for it to grow, and it did so with nice vigor.

Then came the real heat of summer, and give the propensity for every Crape to grow a lot of roots fast, this one started to look unhappy due to the heat on the pot and the fact that the roots had all reached the edge. I took quick action and moved the tree to a spot where it didn’t get any sun on the pot, and that did the trick. It took a while, but the tree came back fine.

 

 

 

You can see in this photo that the design is getting better defined. One of the biggest problems with growing naturally shrubby species as bonsai is there’s a tendency to make them into shrubs in pots. That’s not what bonsai is all about. We want to take our shrubs and turn them into trees. That’s a whole different critter.

One of the things you’ll notice about this iteration of the Pocomoke is that I’m starting to get definition in both the structure as well as the foliage pads. Rather than everything hiding behind a mass of foliage, there’s plenty of definition and a more tree-like form.

I need to continue working the sub-branching to enhance the structure and areas of foliage. But this is a very good start.

You saw this Trumpet vine earlier in the month, as it was recovering from potting done a couple of weeks before.

 

 

 

It doesn’t take long for vines to become vines again! This is a few weeks growth, and I don’t plan to touch it for the rest of the season. It’ll likely try to commandeer support from the nearby trees on the bench, but that’s okay. When the time comes, I’ll shear everything back. For now, I need more thickening in my branching so that what are actually tendrils become branches. With winter on its way, I also want to do everything I can to prevent dieback. This will happen to the finer growth, nothing to be done about that. But I want to go into 2021 with a good branch structure to build on.

 

Here’s that lovely “Pasture Privet” that I potted at the end of July. It looks a little beat up from the potting – but that won’t stop a privet.

I’ve already trimmed this guy at least three times. Boy, did it recover!

I won’t do any more on this one in 2020. But in 2021, I have to do the same thing I’m doing with the Pocomoke above. I need definition in the structure, and definition in the foliage. As I work on this, I’ll get leaf size reduction which is an added bonus. Privets come with naturally small leaves, but they get even smaller once the confinement of a bonsai pot kicks in.

Let me know what you think of these trees (I already know privet is “illegal” in Florida).

Rulebreaking 101 – Crape Myrtle

by | Sep 22, 2020 | Care, Collecting, Crape myrtle, Flowering, Most Recent

rulebreaking 101 – crape myrtle

the bonsai files

Sneak Peek

I enjoy breaking rules when something good comes of it. One of my hardest and fastest rules is to never collect a tree twice. Well ….

Rulebreaking 101 – Crape Myrtle

And so, way back in 2012 I was invited to collect some white Crape myrtles from a commercial growing field. The trees were available primarily because their trunks were not straight enough (the anti-bonsai approach to the landscape, right?). Not that they were all twisty-turny, they just had some low trunk movement which made them fair game for bonsai. Seeing as how each had a trunk base of 5-6″, and Crape myrtle wood is one of the absolute toughest you’ll ever try to saw, I limited myself to five specimens.

I brought them home and potted them up. A couple failed to bud all the way up and down the trunk. One I planted out – this one – and the second stayed in its pot and has grown its way into the ground; I’ll be lifting it next spring. The others I sold.

So I’ve been mowing around this specimen for years now, and as time has gone on it’s started to take on some interest as a very stout kinda guy. The more I’ve studied it, the more it has started to intrigue me. Finally, I decided to break one of my most sacred rules: never collect a tree twice.

 

 

 

Don’t let this picture fool you – the sawing and lifting was awesome and lengthy! It took me a couple of battery packs to get to this stage.

This is the nebari check before filling in the pot. This tree has some killer roots – should I say to die for? Is that redundant?

I could only think “Ogre” at this point. This tree definitely needs a name. Any ideas?

That trunk under the mouth of the tree technically makes it a clump – not to mention making it somewhat obscene. It only lasted a day.

 

 

 

Here we are the next day, after the final editing. This takes the tree out of the clump category pretty well. I think I can work with the two leaders on this one, sumo-style. I can also eliminate one and go for a single trunk line. Plenty of time to decide.

Here’s another view of the tree. Could this be the front? It looks like I’ve got a couple of choices, so no need to make any decisions now. Besides, who re-collects a tree at this time of the year? That’s another rule I managed to break this go-round. But here’s the secret: Crape myrtles are a different breed. I don’t know of any species that roots as exorbitantly as Crapes. So that gives me a lot of confidence, considering that we have a couple of months until our first frost.

By way of scale, the trunk on this specimen measures 7-8″ across at the soil. The root spread is a good 12″.

I spotted the a couple of trunk buds today, meaning I just might’ve gotten away with breaking another rule or two!

 

Roughleaf Dogwood Ugly Duckling Update

by | Sep 12, 2020 | Care, Dogwood, Flowering, Most Recent, Styling, Wiring

roughleaf dogwood ugly duckling update

the bonsai files

Sneak Peek

I got this Roughleaf dogwood in May and first styled it in July. It’s got some unique challenges, but part of our gaining mastery in bonsai is to be able to tackle and overcome such challenges. Here’s a step in that direction.

Roughleaf Dogwood Ugly Duckling Update

This is where we left off with this Rougleaf dogwood back in July. It’s a challenging specimen, to be sure; you might even call it an ugly duckling. But hey, if bonsai were easy would it really be any fun?

 

 

 

I love working with species that grow like weeds. Truth be told, unlike its cousin the Flowering dogwood, the Roughleaf can almost be thought of as a weed since it’s so prolific in the wild. But once you work with them and learn their characteristics, you’ll be more than happy to have this weed on your bench.

So check out the growth and thickening of the leader in this photo compared with the one above. That’s just two months ago!

Okay, down to business. Our ugly duckling has done its part by keepin’ on keepin’ on; time for me to step in and make it look better. There are a few chores today: one, carve down some of that dead wood near the leader, to make the taper seamless; two, wire and position branches to get the design closer to something that looks tree-like; and three, see if I can correct the biggest issue this tree came with.

 

 

 

Here’s the issue that third chore is designed to start correcting. Back in July, when I first tackled this guy, the total lack of foliar depth made for a very difficult bonsai subject. There just wasn’t any way to make it look like a balanced specimen (I’m not a windswept fan to begin with, and I didn’t think this tree had any business being one).

Now I’ve got a tiny shoot that co-exists in the spot where the low branch emerges from the trunk. It naturally wants to go toward the back, so I’ll take advantage of that.

This view shows the tree after I carved off some of that dead wood near the leader. Notice how smoothly the trunk line now continues on up into the apex. Two things are at work here: one, the leader is a lot thicker now and looks much more natural; and two, by carving down that stub in the transition point I was able to literally create a smoothly tapering trunk line all the way into what will ultimately be the crown of the tree.

 

Here I’ve positioned that low shoot into the back of the tree. It’s a start on some visual depth.

The last chore for today was to trim back the branches in the lower part of the tree (with less trimming on that left-hand branch near the transition – it needs more thickening). I didn’t touch the leader. Next spring I’ll prune it back to a couple of nodes and continue the crown-building process. Given the growth rate of this species, I’m betting I can finish out the crown by Summer 2021 and have this ugly duckling in a bonsai pot!

I’d love to hear what you think of this tree.

A Big Huckleberry Gets Styled

by | Sep 7, 2020 | Blueberry, Care, Flowering, Most Recent, Pruning, Wiring

a big huckleberry gets styled

the bonsai files

Sneak Peek

Huckleberries are one of my favorite species (actually multiple species) for bonsai. With small leaves, and flowers and fruit in scale, you can’t ask for much more.

A Big Huckleberry Gets Styled

On December 26th of last year I lifted this large Huckleberry (Vaccinium species). With a trunk base of 2.5″, I’m guessing this specimen is about 30-35 years old. I was able to cut to a fork and induce some nice trunk taper, and the trunk came with enough movement to make for a nice future design.

Huckleberries are easy to lift – I’ve had 90% success with them. So if you’re inclined to collect your own, you should be able to find one or more of the native species in your area as they are widespread across the U.S.

 

 

 

One thing to bear in mind about Huckleberries is that they root slowly in a pot. This is not a problem, you just have to plan your styling and ultimate potting work with that in mind. They have a fine root system, similar to azaleas, and like the azaleas they love acid soil. Also something to bear in mind for those periods where drought visits. Keep some soil acidifier handy, or be prepared to water with vinegar solution (1 tablespoon of white vinegar per gallon, once weekly during the drought, is usually sufficient).

As you can see, and as you’ll experience if you delve into the blueberries, they produce multiple buds/shoots wherever they come. This is common to many species, of course, and isn’t all bad. You get to choose from among slightly different possibilities, both in size and direction of growth.

So with this specimen I have a couple of chores today. I have to select strategically placed shoots/branches and cut away the rest, and I have to pick a leader and wire it up. Blueberries, bushes that they are, do not exhibit apical dominance. This doesn’t mean you can’t get a leader to run, you just have to encourage the shrub/tree to do so.

It’s always best to work from bottom to top, so here’s the first obvious edit – I need my first branch on the right-hand side of the tree, since the trunk line on this one runs from right to left. That low left branch had to go.

 

 

 

You can see here that I’ve worked my way up the tree, removing excess branches from all those clusters. This process took about 10 minutes altogether. But the result is worth it, because now we can see what’s going to be a real tree form when I’m done.

Finally, I wired up a leader near the apex. There’s some more wood above the leader, but I won’t do the angle chop until next spring to take advantage of what will be strong growth at that time for healing.

Here are the final edits plus a little more wiring and branch positioning. You may have noticed that the Huckleberry produces naturally horizontal branches (along with some that want to point a little upward or downward). This really facilitates your styling work. In this case of this specimen, I’m well on my way to a good design thanks in large part to the growth habit of the species.

I’m a big proponent of blueberry bonsai, and I encourage you to collect or acquire at least one specimen. I’ll be offering this one and a few others in Spring 2021.

 

How about another Spekboom? This is one I started last year, and I left it alone until recently to grow out enough so I could start a somewhat larger bonsai with it. Today I did some strategic pruning to get the design under way. In 2021, this one is really going to develop nicely.

In this awesome reverse progression you can see where I started with this one a month ago. (The rocks are there to help stabilize the tree.) It has already put on new growth, so today’s editing was a next necessary step.

Let me know what you think of today’s show and tell.

 

Bonsai Odds & Ends – Bald Cypress Defoliation + Styling, Pocomoke Crape Styling

by | Jun 28, 2020 | Bald Cypress, Care, Crape myrtle, Flowering, Most Recent, Styling, Wiring

bonsai odds & ends – bc defoliation + styling, pocomoke crape styling

the bonsai files

Sneak Peek

We’re on the cusp of Bald cypress defoliation season. I did one today. I also did the next round of styling on a Pocomoke Crape myrtle.

Bald Cypress Defoliation + Styling, Pocomoke Crape Myrtle Styling

It’s Bald cypress defoliation time, that time of year when we get to remove all of the foliage from our BC’s and get a fresh new round of growth before the end of summer and fall show time. This is important because most of the time, most BC’s will get “shaggy” foliage by about August. If left alone, it really doesn’t get better and you won’t want to show your tree if you belong to a local club and they put on a fall show.

The problem of shaggy foliage is easily rectified by taking all of it off. For us down South, it’s often a July 4th event as that makes for good timing as the new growth takes a few weeks to really kick in. As long as your tree is strong, you can do this every year.

This specimen is going on to a new home in a few weeks. Not only is this the perfect time to take all the foliage off, it also allows for some styling work as the tree’s structure will be easy to see.

While you do have to exercise some caution when pulling off the foliage (always away from the base of the branch, and you need to hold the base of new shoots or you’ll pull them right off), this work goes quickly. Here you can see that I’ve allowed the “vestigial” branches to throw some up-pointing shoots. Why? Because this BC, just like every last one of them, is powerfully apically dominant. Lower branches get less energy as a result, so one way to remedy the situation is to encourage and allow upward-pointing sub-branches. This helps thicken up those vestigials quickly. But … time to take them off (for this round).

Here’s where I ended up after a final trim and some wiring. This bonsai has come a long way in a short time, and is pretty much at the pinching and light pruning stage. The trunk chop will be completely healed over in another year or so, and at that point the tree will be in its maturing phase as a bonsai.

While we’re on the subject of Bald cypress, here’s my big forest experiment I wrote about not too long ago. I’ve been waiting patiently for the new main tree to resume growth, and especially to push some strong buds/shoots near the trunk chop point. My patience has now paid off.

And a closeup of the main tree. I have four shoots to choose from, and I’ll be making my selection very soon. That shoot will be allowed to run for the rest of the growing season, probably with a bit of wire to guide it as needed.

You probably remember this Pocomoke Crape myrtle from earlier in the season. I did the initial styling and potting back in March, and I’ve been letting the tree grow out since then.

That low left branch was a big question mark. I even had a comment from a reader to the effect that it needed to go. I like having options, especially when I’m unsure of a design move, so I left it alone at the time.

Fast-forward a few months, and the tree has definitely settled happily into its new home. I recently did a little selective pruning, but today it’s time for some additional work.

So what about that low left branch? I was just about to remove it, and then I studied the tree some more and noticed something about the branch above it that I had initially wired and positioned downward. What if that branch went away? In this photo I’ve moved it up out of the way, and did some styling work on that low left branch. Hmm. Now I think I see why I left the branch there. The branch higher up has the challenge of emerging from what is the bottom of the trunk. While I’m sure this could work all right, it remains an awkward and not necessarily aesthetically sound location for a branch. I think it has to go.

Now that branch is gone, the one above it makes more sense design-wise, and that low left branch is exactly in the right spot with a good shape to it. I’m sure this is what I saw in the recesses of my mind when I first started out on this tree. So I’m glad I didn’t cut too quickly.

This tree is a good, strong, beautiful Crape myrtle specimen and is now posted for sale in our Shop. It’s going to make a great addition to someone’s collection.