RE: #BonsaiNews: Learning how to 'Bonsai,' is not just about bonsai but also about survival
Too bad about the lost trees. Maybe this will cheer you up.
Your trees look very cleanly pruned, with nice long curving limbs. I've been trying to let mine spread out into smaller branch growth this year. The advice elders of bonsai are giving us in my area is to try to get smaller inter-node spacing by pruning often before the limbs get long, so that is a technique I have been practicing to experiment with the results, although I am starting to think that is better advice for a tree that is already finished being styled.
My Chinese Elm tree is overdue for some massive pruning this year. I'm trying to decide where I will cut one of the major limbs off this winter. I think it would look better with a new central leader that is more narrow at the top.
During the last month of summer I was having a ton of damage every day from the squirrels. They killed some of my plants by digging the roots completely out and leaving them in the sun. My water lily was being eaten and pulled out of the water every day, possibly because it attracts mosquito larvae (protein). A lot of my expensive bonsai soil was spilled all over the deck. Almost lost my azalea from the damage.
After I found out the squirrels were attracted to the smell of fertilizers I had to stop fertilizing completely. Maybe I will start fertilizing again now that the squirrels seem less crazy. I am still wondering if the animal behavior is a seasonal occurrence (maybe they are in heat, or getting playful from eating fermented apples). Keeping trees further away from the grass and trees seemed to help protect some of them. The garage finally became a good way to protect my water lily and my fragile goji berry tree. It has all the leaves eaten off, but now it is growing back thicker and more miniature in height, which is great for bonsai!
PS - I am very proud that you got the juniper to sprout. That is definitely not easy to do.
"I am very proud that you got the juniper to sprout. That is definitely not easy to do," tell me about it :)
I'm just as happy it is doing well so far.
Really glad I don't have to worry about squirrels, they are worse then our pests I think. The bad part is that we have trees everywhere and the garage I have is way to loaded with other things to even consider leaving my trees there unfortunately.
That Chinese Elm does look nice as it is from what I can see, pruning aside. I am noticing some discoloring on the leafs though. Thinking it may be the start of a bit of scorch? Not sure if I am seeing correctly.
Seriously jealous that you can grow goji berry trees where you are. I've tried but the seem to just die after a few months.
Love the hawthorne and juniper. Any idea what you intend to do with the left branch of the juniper? Looks like you are prepping it as a sacrifice branch?
But I honestly have no idea what I am doing with my elm - can't decide if I should allow the foliage to grow on the outer parts of the branches or just keep allowing them to grow along the length of the branches if that makes sense. The growth of the smaller branches were much longer at a stage but I've started trimming them back slightly every third month or so just to get them to thicken up a bit. One thing I've found with my elm is that it is very fragile with wiring. The upper left thick branch actually snapped and I left it for a very long time to heal up. It is still a little fragile but getting there again.
One way I've heard that works to keep squirrels away is to mulch your soil in pots. Not sure if that is true but worth giving a try I think. Here is some more info that may be of use.
https://www.practicalbonsai.com/15-ways-get-rid-squirrels/
Thanks for the article. I have no idea why the recommend blood meal as a deterrent. That was an attractant!
Chinese Elm is not very flexible, unless the shoots are very young and allowed to remain long. Even young shoots can snap if forced into a shape, because it causes too much stress on the joints. Most books recommend for this species to do selective pruning, to encourage one of the leaves lower on the branch to become a bud for a new shoot. That way you can choose what direction it should grow.
Chinese Elm, like Apple, tends to grow very long long shoots, or whips, extending out in a continuous direction. Apple usually focus most growth to the highest bud.
The leaves on my trees are losing leaves because it is Autumn here. Every day I pick off the yellow leaves to allow more sunlight on the branch tips. In a few weeks the tree will be bare.
My juniper has had a dead branch there for two years. I'm still wishing it will magically green up and form buds again, but that is wishful thinking. I'm going to let the Juniper continue as long as possible in this pot, until the water no longer percolates, and then I will give it a better inorganic soil, and perhaps a slightly bigger pot, because I want the roots to stay slightly root-bound so they hold very tight and firm. My juniper is one of my hardest plants to maintain its health, and it is supposed to be the easiest. If it dries out too much, it gets crispy needles. It the water doesn't dry out enough each day, then it can get disease/rot problems. Strong humidity seems to keep it in good balance, so I always like to keep a water source nearby as well as other leafy green plants, like lawn grass. Rainwater is its favorite fertilizer.
I keep forgetting you are on the other end of the planet - hence the different seasons. Junipers our side can also be tricky but they seem to do well nonetheless. I just got back from the nursery where I got some tiny pots as well as two young junipers. Considering going the potsai route with them but then again, I'd rather use the coral tree for that as the bark would look better over a few good years.
I got a juniper not that long ago that is starting to dry out now - the darn thing can't make up it's mind as to whether it wants sunlight or shade so, I've opted to drench it in water and drop a fertilizer pellet (the pellets last for around three to six months and constantly feeds it) into the mix just below the root base - let's see what happens. Kind of wishing that a hadida would rather rip the tree out and fly away with it at this stage.
I also bought a num num for once. I had no idea that they make for such nice bonsai so that will also become a potsai to avoid it growing to wildly. They really do get out of hand but when they bloom...........
I was thinking of stripping the bark off the length of the below juniper and growing the other part into a cloud formation. Just not sure if the plant can handle that much stress at the moment. Deadwood is not something I am an expert at so I was thinking of taking it through to the bonsai centre up north and getting their thoughts but the drive is way too long - call me lazy. My other concern is that I may end up ruining a perfectly fine tree, at least for the moment.
Have you ever heard of a Queensland Bottle Tree? I wonder if they can be grown into a bonsai in your area.
Is potsai slang, or typo for bonsai? ;)
You actually picked up on the 'potsai'. I was just writing back to @cheekah about this. It was intentional. 'Potsai' is when people try and grow cannabis and bonsai. Tried to see if anyone picked up on it but it seems you were the only one. The term I should have used is 'Shohin'. (Shohin are miniature bonsai).
Definitely never heard of the Queensland Bottle Tree. Checked it out now and it doesn't look familiar either. I'd compare it to a Baobab. Looks quite similar in a way. Going to see if I can find some seeds online.