boxwood stock

[JoeLewko]

Well, he are pics of the boxwood, as promised.

Here is a view of the tree (probably the 'front' as of now)


Here is a close up of the roots.


And one a little brighter and further away


just another angle, i guess you'd call it the 'back'


and these next two are just soem that are zoomed in a bit (the second one's a little blurry, sorry bout that but i'll post it anyway. can't hurt).




i bought this one, because i liked the roots on it, and i thought it had the best form what i looked at. also, it had a single trunk, not a giant junction point like may others did (i think this has the beginings of taper). It is an english boxwood, and i paid $5.99 for it. I'm not sure how to style it, i was thinkign maybe informal upright (see how the trunk curves a little bit) with that one branch possibly becoming the continuation of the trunk. not sure yet. Any ideas are appreciated.

Joe

P.S. if i can figure something out i plan to repot/style this thursday, (or this week) and i will post pics when i do.

[Petra26]

OH, a pretty tree. i like it nice pictures too, i love pictures!

I look forward to see what you will do with it

[constantstaticx3]

These trees have good potential, and this one is no exception. Make sure you really get in there and take a look at the branches before you do any pruning. Good luck.

Tom

[JoeLewko]

Just some more pics of the branch structure. the second one is a oomed in pic of the circled area on the first.

[ynot]

These trees have good potential, and this one is no exception. Make sure you really get in there and take a look at the branches before you do any pruning. Good luck.

Tom

Agreed,

After its initial heavy pruning you will be able to make quite a bit of progress via pinching and pruning in one season with this guy Joe.

Are you planning a repot into good soil soon? Or is that next years project?

Joe, Which did it say this was on the tag? Buxus microphylla or Buxus sempervirens. I ask because the microphylla grow slower.

ynot

[JoeLewko]

These trees have good potential, and this one is no exception. Make sure you really get in there and take a look at the branches before you do any pruning. Good luck.

Tom

Agreed,

After its initial heavy pruning you will be able to make quite a bit of progress via pinching and pruning in one season with this guy Joe.

Are you planning a repot into good soil soon? Or is that next years project?

Joe, Which did it say this was on the tag? Buxus microphylla or Buxus sempervirens. I ask because the microphylla grow slower.

ynot

sempervirens.
I plan to repot thursday, and i think i will trim a lot of the foliage, really just to see what the branches look like (right now it's a mess). then i can decide how to style/prune them, and then the leaves will probably grow back within this growing season (it loos like it already has a lot of new growth, and i have a microphylla which i have noticed grows very slow...)

[ynot]

sempervirens.

Ok

I plan to repot thursday,

Into what potting medium? Same pot?

and I think I will trim a lot of the foliage, really just to see what the branches look like (right now it's a mess).

Are you talking about defoliation?

then I can decide how to style/prune them, and then the leaves will probably grow back within this growing season (it loos like it already has a lot of new growth

Again, Are you talking about defoiliation? Why did you decide to do that.

As to the brown comment above... You are going to have to do quite a bit of pruning/pinching this season, Please address my questions about defoliation though as I am curious where that idea came from.

ynot

[JoeLewko]

sempervirens.

Ok

I plan to repot thursday,

Into what potting medium? Same pot?

and I think I will trim a lot of the foliage, really just to see what the branches look like (right now it's a mess).

Are you talking about defoliation?

then I can decide how to style/prune them, and then the leaves will probably grow back within this growing season (it loos like it already has a lot of new growth

Again, Are you talking about defoiliation? Why did you decide to do that.

As to the brown comment above... You are going to have to do quite a bit of pruning/pinching this season, Please address my questions about defoliation though as I am curious where that idea came from.

ynot

different soil (bonsai soil), different pot, but roughly the same size.

Well maybe i was being drastic, i think i miscommunicated. I just want to remove enough leaves so that i can see what the branch structure looks like, and so that i can see what I'm doing when branch pruning/wiring, which will porbably happen soon as well. Because as you can tell from the pics, right now the tree is just a bunch of leaves clumped together with no real shape or form...
What do you think of this idea?

[ynot]

different soil (bonsai soil),

This isn't any more of that "30% fines" mix you use before is it? [For real- is it?]

different pot, but roughly the same size.

Ok

Well maybe I was being drastic, I think I miscommunicated. I just want to remove enough leaves so that I can see what the branch structure looks like, and so that I can see what I'm doing when branch pruning/wiring, which will porbably happen soon as well.

um, Ok. Just be sure not to eliminate something you want. You are going to do this within a short time interval, Right?

Nothing happens if you just look at it: Evaluate, Decide, & Go

Because as you can tell from the pics, right now the tree is just a bunch of leaves clumped together with no real shape or form...

Well, Then you have to spread it apart with your hand and get a nice preview of what's in there. ~ That is certainly easy enough to do.

What do you think of this idea?

I think this: "Do not make your tree look like a bonsai, Make your bonsai look like a tree"

You have reviewed the care sheet you got earlier right? [Or surfed them up as they are super easy to find {There's a 1000 links here to them }

ynot

[constantstaticx3]

Well, Then you have to spread it apart with your hand and get a nice preview of what's in there. ~ That is certainly easy enough to do.

This is what I meant in my first post. You really want to be careful that you don't remove something that you want. I'm sure there is a great tree in there you just really have to be careful and plan it correctly.

You should try and do this in a day or two. Maybe prune and wire one day and then repot the next. It's beginning to grow so get it to where you want as soon as possible so it can start to grow according to your design and not put its energy into branches that you don't want.

Best of luck!

Tom

[JoeLewko]

ok so (since I'm somewhat organized)

Tommorow forecast is rain, so i won't do any work on it (i do bonsai stuff outside), so i'll plan what i want to do.

Thurday, i'll begin working on it, wiring, pruning, etc.

Friday, i'll do any finishing touches on wiring, and re-pot.

If I'm overeager (which i am), i may repot it thrusday after shaping.

As always i will post pics.

Joe

[ynot]

[quote="constantstaticx3"

You should try and do this in a day or two. Maybe prune and wire one day and then repot the next. It's beginning to grow so get it to where you want as soon as possible so it can start to grow according to your design and not put its energy into branches that you don't want.
[/quote]

Tom, The brown is exactly the same concept that I edited out of my first post as I wanted to find out what Joes agenda was wrt this tree...

Hmm, I am used to Gnome posting just before me... But you also Tom?
Excellent timing man.


Joe, When you mention a 'repot' Are you including a rootpruning with that or not?

Again, I am curious as to your intentions.

ynot

[constantstaticx3]

Tom, The brown is exactly the same concept that I edited out of my first post as I wanted to find out what Joes agenda was wrt this tree...

Hmm, I am used to Gnome posting just before me... But you also Tom?
Excellent timing man.

lol, I'm really starting to get into this, its a lot of fun .

Tom

[ynot]

lol, I'm really starting to get into this, its a lot of fun .

ynot

[JoeLewko]

[quote="constantstaticx3"

You should try and do this in a day or two. Maybe prune and wire one day and then repot the next. It's beginning to grow so get it to where you want as soon as possible so it can start to grow according to your design and not put its energy into branches that you don't want.

Tom, The brown is exactly the same concept that I edited out of my first post as I wanted to find out what Joes agenda was wrt this tree...

Hmm, I am used to Gnome posting just before me... But you also Tom?
Excellent timing man.


Joe, When you mention a 'repot' Are you including a rootpruning with that or not?

Again, I am curious as to your intentions.

ynot[/quote]

no, i don't intend to root prune, just to get it into bonsai soil.

[constantstaticx3]

well I think you may want to reconsider that. Have you taken a look at the roots yet? My guess is its root bound and if you are going to remove a lot of foliage and branches then you should deffinantly remove some roots. I cant tell how much or how you should do it because I haven't seen the roots and I don't have the tree in person but I'm sure something should be done with them. Nursery stock is almost always rootbound and if you plan to pot it int a similar sized pot then the roots need somewhere to go.

Take the tree out of the pot and post a pic of them.

Tom

[JoeLewko]

well I think you may want to reconsider that. Have you taken a look at the roots yet? My guess is its root bound and if you are going to remove a lot of foliage and branches then you should deffinantly remove some roots. I cant tell how much or how you should do it because I haven't seen the roots and I don't have the tree in person but I'm sure something should be done with them. Nursery stock is almost always rootbound and if you plan to pot it int a similar sized pot then the roots need somewhere to go.

Take the tree out of the pot and post a pic of them.

Tom

ok look for that tomorrow, i didn't take my boxwood in, and it's pouring rain outside. If it lets up, maybe i'll take one today.

[ynot]

Nursery stock is almost always rootbound and if you plan to pot it int a similar sized pot then the roots need somewhere to go.

Take the tree out of the pot and post a pic of them.

Joe,

Yes pictures please

I agree with Tom here wrt it being rootbound. I think you would find it very difficult to remove the current soil [And subsequently replace w/ bonsai soil] w/o some root pruning.
This would eventually cause some issues as there will be different levels of water retention between the two potting media.

Your going to find a lot of thick storage roots going straight down [Or circling etc...] in that pot and those need to go. Try to retain all the feeders you can though.

BTW- Remember to pick your best front according to your nebari [Though consider the potential branching options, & Trunk movement also] when you get around to pruning.

ynot

[constantstaticx3]

I plan on buying one of these tommorow also for a styling contest on Bonsai Chat thats coming up. You gave me the idea through this thread. I was having a tough time finding a tree that I wanted to work on and I don't have a box so I'm gonna go for it, they're cheap too . I'll post pics in the gallery of my process.

Tom

[JoeLewko]

I plan on buying one of these tommorow also for a styling contest on Bonsai Chat thats coming up. You gave me the idea through this thread. I was having a tough time finding a tree that I wanted to work on and I don't have a box so I'm gonna go for it, they're cheap too . I'll post pics in the gallery of my process.

Tom

nice personally i like boxwoods, and yes they are cheap for a reasonably large stock. I'm interested to see the pics, and the differences/similarities with how we create our trees.

speaking of which, I'm going to admit, i've been thinkign about this all day, and i can't seem to think of a style for this tree. does anyone have any ideas to brainstorm. Ynot i remember you had a boxwood form stock that won a contest (am i remembering correctly), can you post pics of that? it would really be helpful. I was thinking upright style, but that's as far as i've gotten. I'll continue to contemplate this, but any ideas are appreciated.

Joe

[constantstaticx3]

I know exactly what tree your thinking about and yes that is a very impressive tree by ynot and I really like it.

It's hard to tell what style it can be made into because I don't know what the branching looks like, but by the way the trunk looks your best be is some form of upright. Again I cant really tell for sure, its up to you and what you want.

Tom

[ynot]

I agree about Boxwoods.

My boxwood is onsite already: See here Scroll down a bit.

Tom is absolutely right in that you can't really 'pick a style' w/o being able to check it out.

It really doesn't work that way anyway, You have to check out what the possibilities are within the parameters of what you have to work with.

As Naka {I think} said "See the tree within". Don't be put off if the branches aren't exactly what you want, You can cut them off [or partially] and make it how you want it. Bonsai is a process, not a destination.

Naka did say "If you have a problem, Cut it off. If you still have a problem, You have a problem."... lol

I know exactly what tree your thinking about and yes that is a very impressive tree by ynot and I really like it.

Thanks Tom [It was $13 from Lowes btw ]

ynot

[JoeLewko]

thank you for the link ynot, it was very helpful. I think i will go into this tomorrow, and see what happens. i do know a few things though.

1) this tree needs to be thinned out

2) Upright is probably the way to go

3) This will be a learning experience, as always

look for pics/updates

Joe

[ynot]

Joe,

Your welcome,

Yep, Some version of upright, Yep, And yep

I look forward to seeing what you get up to.

Good luck

ynot

[JoeLewko]

Thanks, i look foward to working with this tree.

[constantstaticx3]

I actually just bought a boxwood tonight and I am going to style it tommorow. It took me a good half hour at home depot to find a suitable tree, I was very picky. I got one for $6 and I sacrificed good branching which can be fixed over time for a good nabari, it was the only one with nabari that I could find. I'll post a pictorial in the gallery hopefully tommorow when I get the time.

Tom

[JoeLewko]

I actually just bought a boxwood tonight and I am going to style it tommorow. It took me a good half hour at home depot to find a suitable tree, I was very picky. I got one for $6 and I sacrificed good branching which can be fixed over time for a good nabari, it was the only one with nabari that I could find. I'll post a pictorial in the gallery hopefully tommorow when I get the time.

Tom

haha i took about 20 minutes myself at home depot. Seems like tomorrow's boxwood day. I think the one i got had the best nebari that i saw, as well as good branches, so all in all, i think it was $6 well spent on both our parts.

[JoeLewko]

almost done with styling...in the mean time, here's a few pics of the roots i took before i started wiring/pruning.

As tom said guess, the tree is rootbound, so i will have to do soem root pruning.





More pics to come later
Joe

[constantstaticx3]

Ok those roots don't look too bad. Take a hose to them and remove a lot of the soil so you can really see them all. Then post another pic, I'm no sure how you feel on root pruning so I'll try and tell you how much to remove. I cant wait to see how you've styled it .

Tom

[JoeLewko]

yeah I'm not that comfortable with root pruning, i don't want to kill this tree. Here's some pics of the it styled. I snapped a branch in the front (front being the view from the first pic), and that was going to be like a main branch that gave the tree some movement so i had to compensate for the 'flatness' of the tree by bending some of the other branches foward (that's why there's so much wiring). Plus, i got a little wire/scissor happy. This tree is far form done, but i think i have the basic branch structure i will use. Please give me critisism/thoughts, and don't be afraid to be harsh









I have to go out for a while, but i'll re-pot it later, and post those pics before i rootprune. So check back in about 2-3 hours.

[ynot]

Joe,

I am curious why you would fight with trying to wire some already lignified boxwood branches when you could have just cut them back and as they grew out wired them exactly where you want them.

This would also provide some additional ramification as opposed to this sort of fence of long straight branches you have going on there.

Something along the lines of this:
Actually I forgot to remove that #1 RH branch...But I would have.



Or even lower:




Which way is the wiring holding the branches? up, or out or what?

You may want to visit the wiring article on bonsai4me and read this.

Then get some practice in too...

...but I'll re-pot it later, and post those pics before I rootprune.

er ...What?

ynot

[JoeLewko]

tom wanted to see the pics of the root system before i repotted it, (without all the dirt) which is what i meant. Sorry bout that.

I really didn't have to fight to wire them, they look stiffer than they actually are, they were quite bendable, but i see what you're saying.

I ahev already read the article on bonsai4me, and i ahve started reading the other one, but i don't ahve time to finish it now, i'll finish it tonight.

Thanks for the input,
Joe

[JoeLewko]

Alright, so here are two pics of the root system. As far as dirt removal, that's the ebst i cna do for now, maybe after i root prune, i can get the rest out. so, ideas on how much of the root system i should remove? Oh, and i got really excited to see the nebari potential is even better than i thought (see first pic).

[ynot]

Alright, so here are two pics of the root system. As far as dirt removal, that's the ebst I cna do for now, maybe after I root prune, I can get the rest out. so, ideas on how much of the root system I should remove? Oh, and I got really excited to see the nebari potential is even better than I thought (see first pic).

Understood about your previous post

Nice root system,

Keep it misted- Or if your going to be a while just set it in a bucket of tepid water.

I take it you cut a bunch of roots off already, Directly under the trunk there are no big storage roots right?

Do consider placement of something appropriate underneath it to promote lateral root growth as per the sticky.

Looking good so far man [I'd still chop the top back farther though, To only leaving three or four leaves on each branch.] - But thats me. ..

ynot

[JoeLewko]

actually, i haven't cut anything, but i will get rid of the storage roots, and I'm thinking of cutting the lower portion of the root system. I will find somethign to put underneath, i was just lookign at that sticky (you posted a link tot he person with the cypress). i plan to finish this today, probably now, so i'll go and do that, and post the rest of the pics later/ (i think i'll just post a whole series in the gallery section)

Joe

[ynot]

actually, I haven't cut anything, but I will get rid of the storage roots, and I'm thinking of cutting the lower portion of the root system. I will find somethign to put underneath, I was just lookign at that sticky (you posted a link tot he person with the cypress). I plan to finish this today, probably now, so I'll go and do that, and post the rest of the pics later/ (I think I'll just post a whole series in the gallery section)

Joe

IMO, You could take up to the bottom third or so [As this {Or even a slight trim } will promote further division of the root system and you won't be messing with the roots for a while again].

But considering the size of the pot you have [After all, Your not fighting for room] there is no sense in overly stressing the tree. So again the less stress the better.

Your call.

Do eliminate the thick storage roots though. You are keeping the root system moist/wet right?

Looks good so far [Chop the top ]

ynot

[JoeLewko]

i think i took off too much, but you can help me judge that when i post the pic series in a few mins. If so, i guess i'll have to remove some more foliage.

[ynot]

but I want to remove some finer roots that are near the surface and the larger nebari tomorrow,

Joe,

The feeders around the surface and nebari are what is making them thicken [The basal portion of the trunk and nebari that is] Why remove them when you have lots of growing time [For the top] left before you need to worry about 'cleaning it up'.

Personally, I would leave them to grow on.

I really didn't have to fight to wire them, they look stiffer than they actually are, they were quite bendable, but I see what you're saying.

Then lets see some curves and movement. , You have a fence.

RE: Wiring... It would be much more effective if your wiring was at a 45 degree angle. Better yet if you were wiring new shoots as you would have far more flexibility. I am sure you already know about the crossed wiring.

Looks like you have had a fun day so far

ynot

[JoeLewko]

yes, it has been fun. Would have been more ufn if the wind didn't kick up later in the day. I couldn't feel my hands when i finally fnished.

Right now photobucket isn't working, but as soon as i can upload pics, i'll post them on the thread i started in the gallery section

[constantstaticx3]

I agree with ynot, the branches need to be cut way back and I would even cut off some of the branches, it seems like its just a straight line of branches and its not visualy appealing. Don't be affraid to cut it back hard.

The roots look really great. Just a little trim is all you really need.

I was that bad if not worse at wiring when I first started so your not alone, practice makes perfect. You could find a few dead branches in your backyard to practice on.

I may get to my tree today if not tommorow. If you don't fell comfortable about cutting it back really hard just wait until I post my pics and you'll feel better.

Good work so far.

Tom