Not Really a Tree....But Still Fun

Mellow Mullet · Aug 15, 2012

I repotted this sago palm today; I have had it for about 8 years. Not really a tree so I don't know if you could call it a bonsai, but it draws a lot of attention at club shows. It used to have a pup with it, but it didn't make it through a cold-snap. It looked more interesting with the pup, kinda like a mother-daughter composition.

Before

Very root-bound

Two feet of roots

All trimmed up

Finished product. I also thinned out the resurection fern.

rock · Aug 15, 2012

Sago bonsai are cool, and not out of the ordinary around here. I have several...

Dozen

Check out this vid by my friend and naka student Glenn...

http://youtu.be/NE7-wQbMM2U

rock · Aug 15, 2012

Sago bonsai are cool, and not out of the ordinary around here. I have several...

Dozen

Check out this vid by my friend and naka student Glenn...

http://youtu.be/NE7-wQbMM2U

I get a few dozen pups a year off these yard sagos

Mellow Mullet · Jan 29, 2020

Update:

This one got a repot today. I know that it is not really a tree, but it is still fun, and easy to take care of.

Mellow Mullet · Jan 29, 2020

A little more:

Cadillactaste · Jan 29, 2020

The small ferns all over the base.

Really cool piece.

Carol 83 · Jan 29, 2020

Repot, lol. Off with it's head!

plant_dr · Jan 29, 2020

Didn't know you could do that to those. Where do the new fronds come out? Just the very top?

LanceMac10 · Jan 30, 2020

Where's the rest of the 'gator?

...got a reptilian look, for sure...had one, fronds pretty pointy...….this one is a beast!!!!

Mellow Mullet · Jan 30, 2020

plant_dr said:
Didn't know you could do that to those. Where do the new fronds come out? Just the very top?

Yes, out of the top.

Arlithrien · Feb 9, 2020

You can't really bonsai palms because they only grow upwards from the top and if you cut off the top, they die. Eventually the palm will get too tall to be considered a bonsai.

Mellow Mullet · Feb 9, 2020

Arlithrien said:
You can't really bonsai palms because they only grow upwards from the top and if you cut off the top, they die. Eventually the palm will get too tall to be considered a bonsai.

All trees grow upwards...from the top. I have never cut the top out of a sago, so I can't say if it will kill it or not, they seem pretty tough. I just prune the previous year's fronds off at the end of winter.

And, how tall is too tall to be considered a bonsai?

The sago is not really a palm, it is actually a cycad.

JoeR · Jun 4, 2020

Mellow Mullet said:
All trees grow upwards...from the top. I have never cut the top out of a sago, so I can't say if it will kill it or not, they seem pretty tough. I just prune the previous year's fronds off at the end of winter.

And, how tall is too tall to be considered a bonsai?

The sago is not really a palm, it is actually a cycad.

I imagine they are like true palms in the sense that if you cut off the top, aka apical meristem, the tree will never recover. The same reason people say not to purchase canned palm hearts- the tree theyre harvested from will die.

Not a traditional bonsai but very cool, and definitely worth the bench space IMO. Have you ever shortened the leaves by snipping half way along the length? May look contrived, or it may not be noticeable.

Mellow Mullet · Jun 4, 2020

JoeR said:
I imagine they are like true palms in the sense that if you cut off the top, aka apical meristem, the tree will never recover. The same reason people say not to purchase canned palm hearts- the tree theyre harvested from will die.

Not a traditional bonsai but very cool, and definitely worth the bench space IMO. Have you ever shortened the leaves by snipping half way along the length? May look contrived, or it may not be noticeable.

I have not snipped them, but if I don't keep an eye on it, the squirrels will nibble on them when they first emerge and that shortens them. They got a couple of them this year. In my opinion, it doesn't look real good as the fronds are oval shaped along their length, snipping them messes up the symmetry. It can be done though...

GGB · Jun 4, 2020

outside of my bonsai hobby i have just a handful of tropical plants I move outside for the summer and one of them is a sago. I dunno what it is but they are neat plants, I keep all the old growth on mine so it'll have 3 seasons fronds at any given time. Is there a reason you cut of the green each winter?

Mellow Mullet · Jun 4, 2020

GGB said:
outside of my bonsai hobby i have just a handful of tropical plants I move outside for the summer and one of them is a sago. I dunno what it is but they are neat plants, I keep all the old growth on mine so it'll have 3 seasons fronds at any given time. Is there a reason you cut of the green each winter?

No reason, other than I like the "sparse" look that it gives it. I have let it keep two years growth before, due to lack of time on my part.

They are neat plants.

JoeR · Jun 4, 2020

Mellow Mullet said:
I have not snipped them, but if I don't keep an eye on it, the squirrels will nibble on them when they first emerge and that shortens them. They got a couple of them this year. In my opinion, it doesn't look real good as the fronds are oval shaped along their length, snipping them messes up the symmetry. It can be done though...

Yeah its a more abrupt end at the leaves if you do. Curious if you snip them as small buds what would happen. I have a large sago, but the trunk doesn't look at all as nice as yours. Waiting for it to ever start growing again.

Leo in N E Illinois · Jun 4, 2020

I trimmed the roots of a Zamia cycad once. It dropped it's fronds, then sat dormant for 18 months. Then threw new fronds. Kept it another 10 years. It left with one of my exes.

Mellow Mullet · Jun 4, 2020

JoeR said:
Yeah its a more abrupt end at the leaves if you do. Curious if you snip them as small buds what would happen. I have a large sago, but the trunk doesn't look at all as nice as yours. Waiting for it to ever start growing again.

If I think about it, I will snap a picture of it this weekend. That is just what the squirrels do, when the new leaves are tender and emerging, they nip the ends. So far, they don't seem to bother the hardened off ones.

Not Really a Tree....But Still Fun

Mellow Mullet

Masterpiece

rock

Mame

rock

Mame

Mellow Mullet

Masterpiece

Mellow Mullet

Masterpiece

Cadillactaste

Neagari Gal

Carol 83

Flower Girl

plant_dr

Chumono

LanceMac10

Imperial Masterpiece

Mellow Mullet

Masterpiece

Arlithrien

Shohin

Mellow Mullet

Masterpiece

JoeR

Masterpiece

Mellow Mullet

Masterpiece

GGB

Masterpiece

Mellow Mullet

Masterpiece

JoeR

Masterpiece

Leo in N E Illinois

The Professor

Mellow Mullet

Masterpiece

Similar threads