Questions about my findings today

Crawlings · Posted: Sun May 15, 2005 8:47 pm Post subject: Questions about my findings today

I was on a walk today and found these two growing in a cleared out area in some red clay and decided to bring them home and see what I could do with them. BTW these are my first ever bonsai attempts, I figured what the heck, if they fail then nothing wasted, right?

So I took them to the local nursery and the guy told me that they are Cryptomirea's, but I just wanted to get a second opinion from you guys about what species they are. When I brought them home I potted them in regular potting soil after pruning the roots, then watered them. I also put wire around the tall one as you can see to try and get some structure to it. I'm open for suggestions and what the next step should be. Should I just leave them be for a year or so, just watering, or do I need to replant into some better soil, or did I do everything completely wrong and these are wasted? (I wouldn't be surprised Smile

Does anyone have a good link to a "how-to" for transplanting a tree from the wild into bonsai( is there a more technical name for this technique)?

Here they are:
http://img34.echo.cx/my.php?image=001515051at.jpg

http://img34.echo.cx/my.php?image=002515053lv.jpg

http://img34.echo.cx/my.php?image=003515053lc.jpg

Stymie

Those nice big pots are on the plus side for newly collected material because the compost in them will not dry out too quickly.
The compost itself should have been of a free-draining character but rather than submit them to another uprooting, I would leave them to recover from the trauma. As you have removed some of the roots, the remaining ones may find it difficult to maintain all the top growth. Try reducing the top growth by as much as two thirds, at least in pictures #1 and #3. The other one looks to be mostly trunk already and may not need to lose as much.
Keep the compost moist and don't let them bake in the sun. Some shade for a few weeks will give them a better chance in life, along with an occasional misting with a fine spray of water on the foliage. I wouldn't make any other attempts at altering trunk shape etcetera until they are quite recovered and growing away happily. In about three months time, if they seem to be healthy, take some more photographs and we'll discuss the way forward then. Good luck, I hope that you enjoy them.

Crawlings

Thanks for the advice, I will take it to heart and remove the wire from the tall one for now and just water them for the next two to three months.

If I do remove some of the foliage(is it called this on conifers as well?) where exactly should I cut? Or should I just pinch off some of the green? Is there an article you know of that could assist me in learning the correct way to do this without hurting it too much?

Stymie

Cut away up to two thirds of the secondary branches, being careful not to go further back than any needles. Some of the needles must be left to encourage sap flow. Pinching is not what I had in mind. Its a matter of reducing the load on the remaining roots.