chopped up Azaleas

Eric Group said:

Speaking of a few from the new batch J believe will be better- hit after one of em today! I didn't not completely fleece this one... It is a larger older tree and I left some taller branches to have more to work with in The future and to make sure it survives without issue.. One thing I learned last year is these guys do not like have ALL their leaves removed sometimes... I lost one not two tree treating them that way last year, so I am doing the chops in more than one phase now- the initial, let it grow out then do a final branch selection after that... I only lost one nor two of the dozen or so I chopped hard last year, but the goal is always 100% survival rate!

Before work... Doesn't look like much?

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The base is the star of this show:
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After clearing it off some
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This will probably remain a double trunk, removing that second trunk would just be too big of a scar and hurt the balance of the image I think...

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Eric Group said:

Chopped up another one a couple weeks ago.. . did this one a little different! It is another Miyuki (my favorite Satsuki at this point).. Not sure if this one has Zero potential or the MOST potential out of any so far! Has a strange, odd sized irregular base, decent trunk and because of a successful hedge pruning style chop back and crazy back budding on EVERY stub I left.. I think it has the potential to look nice and full again REAL fast!
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Eric Group said:

Probably at peak bloom now... This is the last one I will likely post of this guy this year. Well... No promises! ;-)
Cannot believe that MONSTER Satsuki above this got zero comments! That thing is beautiful... Well it is still really raw, but it WILL be beautiful. This Gumbi is something else though... Not planning on changing much with this little guy except the pot. Maybe next year. Any ideas what might be a good choice? View attachment 106786 View attachment 106788 View attachment 106790 View attachment 106785 View attachment 106787 View attachment 106789

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Mellow Mullet said:

This one is beautiful. As for pot choice, I think one a little wider and I like just a plain brown, no glaze, for azaleas. I think it shows off the flowers more. I hope to one day have all of mine in that type pot, right now they are in just what I have on hand.

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Eric Group said:

Thanks John! Yes, certainly they can go in unglazed as well, but I like them just fine in glazed containers- as long as the glaze doesn't detract from or clash with the blooms.
muted greens, cream colors (this pot has both) and even blue can go well with an azalea IMO. I see some of the finest azaleas displayed in both glazed and unglazed containers, so clearly this is one of those trees that has no set "rules" for how you display them. The shape seems to fit the tree well, but there is always room for refinement. Maybe a bit wider and a tad more shallow would be good, but a year and a half ago, this tree was in a 3 gallon nursery can! I wanted the first bonsai pot for it to be a bit deeper so I wouldn't have to go too hard on the roots.

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Eric Group said:

Thanks John! Yes, certainly they can go in unglazed as well, but I like them just fine in glazed containers- as long as the glaze doesn't detract from or clash with the blooms.
muted greens, cream colors (this pot has both) and even blue can go well with an azalea IMO. I see some of the finest azaleas displayed in both glazed and unglazed containers, so clearly this is one of those trees that has no set "rules" for how you display them. The shape seems to fit the tree well, but there is always room for refinement. Maybe a bit wider and a tad more shallow would be good, but a year and a half ago, this tree was in a 3 gallon nursery can! I wanted the first bonsai pot for it to be a bit deeper so I wouldn't have to go too hard on the roots.

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Mellow Mullet said:

Oh, I like your pot too, nothing wrong with it. It looks nice. I was speaking only on my preference. who made it, I like the size and depth?

John

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Eric Group said:

Eli made it!
@hometeamrocker
Aka Waldo St Pottery on FB

Really good stuff coming from ATL! I had this tree in mind when I bought the pot honestly. This one or perhaps a Maple, but I just liked the way the Azalea fit in it for now, the Maple may go there eventually.

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Eric Group said:

This is probably my favorite one I worked on this season so far! HUGE tree! There is a "before" just to show all the growth and the rest of the shots are after it got the second big pruning this season... This is a JT Lovett Satsuki with cool little double layered pink blooms... the nebari on this one!!!! WOW
Before any additional pruning:
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After a bit more work:
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Mellow Mullet said:

Looking Good, Eric. I did some work on a few of mine before the ice apocalypse and several already had the sap flowing and are now weeping from the few cuts that I made.

John

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