A Privet Story

[brewmeister83]

Wow! Awesome find. Hard work...I know that feeling. You did great. I have not tried the plastic tent over the newly cut trunks. What can you tell me? Does it sit in the shade? How long? Any information would be helpful.....it seems to have worked excellent results for you.

Sure, happy to oblige...

looked back at the timestamps for the collection photos - was dug 4/26. If I remember correctly we had a spring similar to this one - a warm period in early April followed by a severe cold snap for about a week then warming temps again. Tips of the leaves that were just starting to emerge had frost burn on them when I went to collect the tree...

That's about how far along it was when I collected it.

I potted it up in my "wetland soil" recovery mixture which I've used in the past for trees I've taken out of marshy or damp loamy environments before transitioning them to more standard bonsai soils. Mix is 4 parts DE (napa oildry), 3 parts perlite, and 3 parts rough organic mulch...

...unsifted *ducks in anticipation of objects hurtling towards head*

I know, it goes against most everything you read about preparing soil mixes, but my collected hawthorns, privet, and lonicera that came out of wetter soils recover amazingly well in this. By the end of the season I usually have plenty of root.

Coated the cut branch stubs with Vaseline to keep the cuts from drying out. Watered it real well with a half strength mix of liquid fertilizer, and a dose of root enhancer - http://www.amazon.com/Dyna-Gro-Root...id=1430877192&sr=8-1&keywords=dyna+grow+k+l+n

Then I constructed a sort of greenhouse "hoop" armature out of wire and wrapped the entire box with a heavy clear plastic (forgot what it was called exactly, but got it from the paint/tarp section of home depot) then stapled the plastic all the way around the box and tied it at the top like a bread bag. Ended up looking something like this... (sorry for the very rough sketch, didn't have a pic of this step)


I then left it on the west side of the house where it got filtered sun from 11-5/6. I only watered it if the top of the soil seemed to dry out, which was once every 5 days or so. After About 2-3 weeks I started to notice buds forming, so I started opening the top of the plastic during the day for airflow so the buds didn't get any fungal infections, and closing it at night to hold in warmer air. By the second week of June the buds had gotten 1-2" long so I removed the plastic and moved the plant into full sun. Then I just watered when the top inch became dry and fertilized once a week throughout the growing season. It's been growing like a weed ever since.

 

[BrianBay9]

My experience with collected privet would suggest that this species doesn't need much of anything special after collection. They are weeds, and grow like them. I suspect your tent would be beneficial for some collected trees, but your privet probably didn't need to be babied.

 

[klosi]

Kevin! Just when reading your thread I noticed that harry harington posted an update on his similar privet to yours.

http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/AT Styling a Huge Privet Bonsai page1.html

 

[Tieball]

Sure, happy to oblige...

Thanks. You captured the detail very well. I appreciate the time you took to help me better understand the construction, steps and process.

 

[rockm]

Privet don't need much of any help at all recovering from collection. They are an invasive species that grows rampantly and are capable of recovering in extremely adverse conditions.

I've also found over the years that putting humidity tents over recently collected deciduous species can lead to a lot of fungal and mold issues. Both of those can kill off newly emerging foliage. Shade and paying attention to soil moisture levels, as well as sealing bigger pruning wounds are vastly more valuable in getting deciduous species through.

 

[barrosinc]

talking about back pain! hahaha that is massive!

 

[Lazylightningny]

Beautiful find, and great job caring for it. I look forward to seeing it develop.

 

[brewmeister83]

My experience with collected privet would suggest that this species doesn't need much of anything special after collection. They are weeds, and grow like them. I suspect your tent would be beneficial for some collected trees, but your privet probably didn't need to be babied.

Privet don't need much of any help at all recovering from collection. They are an invasive species that grows rampantly and are capable of recovering in extremely adverse conditions.

I realize I probably went a little overboard caring for this plant post collection. It probably didn't need a humidity tent or fancy rooting hormone, but I always like erring on the side of caution. Besides, most info I've found on collecting privet is for plants usually 60 years or younger. In addition, it is well known that more mature plants don't rebound as quickly or as well as their younger counterparts. (Not sure if this is necessarily true for privet as well, but it's what I have to go on for a collecting philosophy) This tree had been growing in that spot for near 100 years if not more. I'll have to post a pic, but I saved a cookie from the main leader when I cut the tree - growth rings are approx 10-12 per 1/4". With a radius measurement of about 2.5"... you can do the math. Besides, if a plant will rebound fine with minimal care, what's the harm with some aftercare that leaves it more vigorous in the long run?

 

[brewmeister83]

Kevin! Just when reading your thread I noticed that harry harington posted an update on his similar privet to yours.

http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/AT Styling a Huge Privet Bonsai page1.html

Hahaha, I actually read that article myself right after I posted last night. That's EXACTLY what I'm thinking for this beast... But instead of a sumo design like Harry's, I'm doing more of a far view. I've always liked looking at massive trees from a distance...

 

[brewmeister83]

Thanks. You captured the detail very well. I appreciate the time you took to help me better understand the construction, steps and process.

No problem at all! I'm always happy to share any info I might have, even if it's just anecdotal observations I've made. How we grow as an art form and as a community is through the transmission of information and ideas. It's never good to hold back something that could help or inspire others. Being a relative amateur myself, I've had many bonsai people here and elsewhere inspire me over the last few years - and they were always the ones who took the time to present everything they had, the good or the bad. Without their contributions I wouldn't have developed the eye or the basic knowledge I needed to work up the nerve to try and tackle the very plant I have in this thread. My biggest hope is that I can eventually pay it forward and become one of those people some day.

 

[rockm]

"Besides, if a plant will rebound fine with minimal care, what's the harm with some aftercare that leaves it more vigorous in the long run?"

Because tenting a 100 year old plant that you say may be weaker than a young 'un (which is a dubious assumption in the case of privet) could expose it to fungal, mildew and other pathogen-driven problems. You have made the assumption that aftercare involves OVERcare. Not the case. Fussing has killed many more of my collected trees than simply NOT doing much to them except watering them and making sure their soil doesn't stay too wet or too dry.

 

[GrimLore]

Fussing has killed many more of my collected trees than simply NOT doing much to them except watering them and making sure their soil doesn't stay too wet or too dry.

I agree 100 percent, If I dislodge a large old specimen it goes into 50/50 topsoil and pumice, shaded area, normal water, no fertilizer. The only thing I do to all collected is give them a generous spray of Insecticidal Soap.

Grimmy

 

[brewmeister83]

"Besides, if a plant will rebound fine with minimal care, what's the harm with some aftercare that leaves it more vigorous in the long run?"

Because tenting a 100 year old plant that you say may be weaker than a young 'un (which is a dubious assumption in the case of privet) could expose it to fungal, mildew and other pathogen-driven problems. You have made the assumption that aftercare involves OVERcare. Not the case. Fussing has killed many more of my collected trees than simply NOT doing much to them except watering them and making sure their soil doesn't stay too wet or too dry.

Look, I'm not trying to get into a debate about specie specific aftercare, just sharing my experience.

And as far as overcare, I don't believe I've fussed about too much with this plant. Perhaps I made an assumption, but this assumption was based on previous knowledge for collecting other deciduous species. So I formed a hypothesis that if it's acceptable for dozens of other broadleaf species, perhaps it's ok to try it with this vigorous species and see how it recovers. I tested it, and guess what, it turned out to be true for this particular plant. It recovered beautifully. I'm not one of those impatient ninnies who goes out and trims a newly transplanted bush every week to make sure it's perfect all the time, therefor stressing the plant unduly.

The ONLY reason I tented it (which perhaps I should have mentioned in a previous post) was as a safeguard to create a thermal barrier to protect against the cold drying winds we still have around where I live in late April and early May. Trust me, I'm no stranger to keeping an eye on disease and fungus in a tented higher humidity atmosphere. I realize how major that is. I've had plenty of experience with that keeping carnivorous plants in a cooler with soggy marsh like soil and orchids in contained higher humidity environments throughout the winter.

 

[rockm]

Impatience can be measured in many ways...

 

[armetisius]

. . . and orchids in contained higher humidity environments throughout the winter.

Probably just people trying to look out for you and the plant.

The Chinese have a saying:
"No mother would intentionally starve her child but many have feed them to death.

Just their way of warning about over-caring for anything. Seems like you have a handle on it and it looks to have potential for some fun.
[I do not envy you trying to keep up with the shoots or the wiring aspect on this species]
Good growing and good luck

 

[brewmeister83]

Just figured I'd do an update... The tree has grown like crazy again this spring, exploding with numerous side branches since I took the last pics 3 weeks ago...


Since thinning out the branches and training them out to allow more light to reach the trunk, the inner parts that were shaded out by the end of last year have back-bud nicely... (please forgive the not-so-great wiring, I just watched the Colin Lewis vid on craftsy the other day, and am now cringing looking back over my old wire work )


It has grown so much in the past few weeks that I've started removing some of the wire from the more vigorous branches that have fattened up rather quickly compared to the rest. I'll have to keep a close eye on it for the next couple weeks and remove wire as it begins to dig into the rest of the branches...


And finally, the tree has recovered so well over the past year that it started pushing out reproductive growth! I spent about half an hour today going over the tree, trimming off flower buds so the plant redirects the energy back to vegetative growth...


All in all, a very happy privet!

 

[Tieball]

Looking good! Thanks for the update. That's a fabulous nebari!

 

[j evans]

Tree is looking good. Thanks for the great photos of this process and your experiences. Keep it going!

 

[klosi]

trimming off flower buds so the plant redirects the energy back to vegetative growth...

Hmmm never heard of this, good info! No sex for this bonsai.

 

[leatherback]

The Chinese have a saying:

please forgive the not-so-great wiring, I just watched the Colin Lewis vid on craftsy the other day, and am now cringing looking back over my old wire work

What is wrong with your wiring then? I would have said it looks good; so an option for me to learn!