Alnus Serrata , Alder trees

Shogun610

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Pushing nicely
, it’s gonna be a ugly carved out monster one day , it loves the water and since I’ve been rotating there are lots of buds poppin off
 

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Shogun610

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I have this as an entry for the native competition. It exploded. Gonna price and do some wiring in the spring , I imagine if the top doesn’t grow I’ll have to do some carving , but that will be cool too so I’m open :). Will add pics in fall after leaves drop. I have done some experiments during growing season , I’ll se ricin can remember the branch unless that was on my other ladder, they can be reduced as they push multiple flushes during growing season. Very prolific, this is a species I can’t find a lot on so it’s a cool thing to see.
 

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Shogun610

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End of season shot
 

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Shogun610

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I like this as the front , using both sides as a ugly clump style or something. And do some carving in spring then just let it grow out then cut back.
 

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Shogun610

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Repotted , sealed cuts / cleaned, pumice base with lava and peat. Carved dead side to have a hollow down the dead side.
 

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PA_Penjing

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you get any fall color on this one? heard the leaves kind of just melt off in the autumn. But everything else intrigues me about the species. It's looking good
 

Colorado

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you get any fall color on this one? heard the leaves kind of just melt off in the autumn. But everything else intrigues me about the species. It's looking good

FWIW - I didn’t get fall color on my alder this year (first fall I’ve had it).
 

Shogun610

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you get any fall color on this one? heard the leaves kind of just melt off in the autumn. But everything else intrigues me about the species. It's looking good
Oh damn my bad I missed this, no the leaves just stay green till like late fall then brown and drop off.
 
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Shogun610

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In spirit of Alder , here’s my other one, didn’t have a pot for it since it’s in training but really digging this side view too.
 

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Shogun610

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This thing is so stupid haha but I love it. I like this as the front. The carving in the back .. idk man. I want this tree to look like it’s been stepped on , rolled up against by a bear , shit on by a bear or a deer.. maybe used as a back scratcher by a ground hog. I have a new leader that’s hidden .. so I want to get it to start producing twigging next few years.
 

Shogun610

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The whole right side died back and only left side is alive ugh… I have another one that I cut back but I honestly am stumped with alder( no pun intended ) … it dies back .. doesn’t heal well in fact I’ve never even noticed callus building up on this soft wood .. I’ve had 3 alders so far 1 died … 2 are not great for bonsai.. maybe Alder Alnus Serrulata can’t be used for bonsai. I’d love to collect an alder again.. I have 2 I’m still playing around with but I wonder if it has to do with pruning … not letting suckers take over , deep pot , and what type of soil it’s planted in.. this tree was in pumice , lava and akadama recently.. where as when it was in that terracotta pot, it was just mostly in field soil high organic media
 

August44

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Wild Alders that we have here are always a mess with dead branches, trunks, and maybe the whole tree. I tried seedlings one time and gave up in the summer of the first year. I have better things to do that try and figure out their MO.
 

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They love water. Id recommend a more moisture retentive mix..
 

Shogun610

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@Colorado has a good one.
Here’s my other Alder for reference, before I cut the left side back and leaf out. I since also put Into a deeper nursery container, but I wasn’t getting back budding from the top left side so right side offered more branch placement
A0D01164-F3B2-4991-90C9-AF88A5482DFE.jpeg
 

Colorado

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@Colorado has a good one.

I have not had any dieback issues on mine. Mine is Thinleaf Alder also known as Mountain Alder, alnus tenuifolia.

I prune during active growth period in the summer. I have always left a good sized stub to aid compartmentalization on big cuts rather than cutting it flush the first time.

Very thirsty tree - I water it very frequently.
 
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