Naturally Stunted

This tree has never been in a bigger pot than its current home.

October 2018

It hasn't been repotted since it was a seedling either.

That's not the way I usually do things, but when a tree is too vigorous, stunting its growth has its benefits.

The tree above is the smaller of two Coral trees (Erythrina lysistemon) which I grew from seed about 8 years ago.

It's never been to a workshop, unlike its big brother which has been to a couple.

When I took the bigger one to its first workshop a few years ago, I felt compelled to get it out of its small pot because it kept growing so tall and top heavy that the wind was continually blowing it over. I took two pots to the workshop and was advised to put it in the larger pot. That's a decision I've come to regret because it grows much too quickly for my liking.

In April (autumn) I gave it a hard pruning to get it short enough to fit under frost cloth for winter. No styling was attempted at that time.

April 2018 - after rough pruning

I hadn't touched it since then and by last week the new growth was totally out of control.

October 2018 - six months growth

I decided to take it to a workshop, primarily because I knew that someone there wanted the thick cuttings. But first I had to remove most of the new growth so that it would fit in my car.

Cut back to a manageable size

After proper pruning it looks like this.

October 2018 - after pruning

I'll shorten everything further when I get some back budding.

Now I need to see that I keep its growth under control.

The little one was shortened in April too, but had produced much finer growth over the last six months.

October 2018 - before pruning

It needed a lot less work.

October 2018 - after pruning

Note that the fatness of both trees at soil level is pretty similar though the larger tree has gentler taper. The smaller one has a large bulge at the base, but that has been there since it was a seedling, so I'm not sure a bigger pot would have changed that. It also has no visible nebari, something that will have to be taken care of when I finally decide to move it to a more suitable pot.

But I fear that will have to wait until next year because it's a bit late in the season to repot it now.

A Thirsty Fig Tree

My Ficus Carica truncheon cutting has been doing really well. Until today that is.

I got a real fright when I went out to water my trees this morning because it was wilting rather badly.

Ficus Carica before watering - October 2018

I've been trying my best to protect this tree from potential damage if we get hit by hail before the branches are well established, so I've had it up against a wall with a slight overhang from the roof of the house, allowing it to get sun, but hoping that the roof will protect it if necessary. I guess when I watered my trees the wall prevented water from getting around the back of the tree, causing the soil to dry out on that side.

As soon as I noticed the problem I brought the tree inside for a good watering out of the reach of the sun which was pretty strong given that today was the hottest day since this cutting was taken, reaching a maximum of 32°C. I delayed the watering only long enough to get a quick photo and set up the camera for a time lapse recording of the tree's recovery.

This is what happened over the next hour.



With the foliage looking a whole lot better, I decided to keep the tree indoors, out of harm's way, for the rest of the day.

Ficus Carica - one hour later

Tomorrow I'll need to find it a better spot, so that I don't make the same mistake again.

After watching the video however, I'm a bit nervous about putting it back in the hot sun because I can see slight signs of revival before the water even hit the soil. Could it be that the heat was the real cause of the problem? I guess I'll only know that once it's outside again.

Photo progression including future updates can be seen here.

A Little Wire Makes a Big Difference

I wasn't really planning to use my Big Schefflera for bonsai. When I took it to a workshop last month I just wanted a little help with repotting it.

September 2018 - before repotting and wiring

However one of the men at the workshop took one look at the tree and decided that it was suitable bonsai material after all.

After a quick repot, a change of front and a little heavy wire, it's on its way.

September 2018 - after repotting and wiring

Looking at the photos, however, I'm beginning to feel that there are too many branches clumped together on the right. I think in time the two lowest branches may have to go. But not right now because they're full of flower buds and I really want those flowers to grow.


One of the reasons for my doubts was the ugly roots. I was unwilling to remove everything my tree had worked so hard to grow.

Roots before repotting

The change of front helped though. That raised root is not so prominent now that it's growing straight to the front.

Roots after repotting

The nebari will never be spectacular, but a little pruning and a change of front made a big difference. And maybe I can cover a bit more of them at the next repot.

Mulberry Air Layer's First Fruit

October 2018

I'll be giving my Mulberry air layer until next spring to establish a strong root system before I make my first chops in an attempt to turn it into bonsai.

For now I'm just keeping the new growth short in an attempt to stimulate back budding.

And right now I'm really enjoying the fruit.

Starting a Large Portulacaria Bonsai from Nursery Stock

I never meant to buy anything.

When I stopped at the nursery about 10 days ago, I was just trying to burn a little time before meeting a friend at a nearby restaurant. I'm supposed to be cutting down on the number of trees in my collection, not adding more.

Everything started off well. The trident maples had decent bases, but they were about 10 feet tall with no low branches, so they were easy to ignore. And the small Portulacarias weren't the least bit tempting. I've already got a few and I tend to neglect them. So much so that I nearly lost one to root rot last year. I've reached the stage where I try not to buy anything unless it's a little bit special, like the variegated Portulacaria I bought in July.

But when I passed the big Portulacarias in another section of the nursery, everything changed. I'm not aware of ever seeing them that size before - well not unless they were growing in the ground anyway. Even so I nearly passed them by because the bags of soil they were planted in were so big that I felt sure I wouldn't be able to lift them. But I tried lifting one and was surprised to find that it was a lot lighter than it looked.

I couldn't buy it though. Not that day. I couldn't leave it standing in the car, visible for all the world to see, while I was at the restaurant.

It was three days before I was able to return. Luckily my chosen plant was still there because the others had much thinner trunks. Well all except one, and it turned out that I couldn't lift that one.

And so I came home with this huge plant which, in its bag, reached to just below my chin.

October 2018 - as purchased

I couldn't even contemplate putting it into a training pot until I'd removed all the excess growth.

October 2018 - after first rough pruning

At this stage all the branches on the left were in a straight line and I knew most of them would have to go, but I decided to leave my final selection until the tree was in a pot, planted at the correct height. A wise decision because, by the time the highest roots were exposed, the tree appeared a couple of inches taller.

October 2018 - still waiting for its final cut

I didn't discover that until a few days later though. Given its size I decided to get some help with the root work at my club's meeting.

In addition to adding height to the tree, removing the top layer of soil also exposed a couple of branches with their own roots, giving me two extra (much smaller) plants for my money.

October 2018 - two branches with their own roots

Once the tree was safely potted, it was time for the final branch selection. I was happy to find that several club members agreed with my decision to reduce the height a little further. Once I'd cut back to my chosen leader, the right branch was perfectly positioned on the bend. After removing the handlebars and the low branch coming straight to the front, I was left with just two branches. For now.

October 2018 - after final pruning

Who knows what options may present themselves when new growth appears?

It's unfortunate that the higher branch is the thicker of the two, but hopefully if I let the thinner one grow and keep the thicker one short, it won't take too long to correct that fault.

One last photo, just to show the size of the tree:

October 2018 - soda can for size

In addition to the two branches with roots, I've kept a lot of cuttings. If they all root, I'll have a not-so-small forest of Portulacarias of various sizes growing in my bonsai area. Maybe in a year or so I'll be able to sell some of them and recover the cost of the parent tree.