Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)

[Wetmasausage]

Hi all,

I'm brand new to bonsai and after finding two growing in my garden, I've decided to give it a go. Please note that I'm not strictly following the rules of composition but more just making something I think is nice on the eyes.

There is very little info out there about this tree and I was wondering if anyone has any experience and is willing to share some tips and tricks?

I'm already quite savvy with my plant knowledge and I grow all sorts of things successfully but I've heard Black Locust can die off quickly, drop branches and what not.

Here she is so far....

 

[AaronThomas]

Hey there! Welcome!
Nice pre-bonsai material you got there.
I don't have any experience in growing Robinia Pseudoacacia but there is in fact a lot of info about them on the web.
The beauty of Purple or Black Locust bonsai is their gnarled trunks and small leaves imo. If it were mine I probably would have left in your garden for a few more seasons to fatten up... your current container is small and as Im sure you know will slow down the growth of the tree.
What is in the pot as far as soil... looks like dirt? Dirt is fine for growing in the ground but potted is less than ideal for a tree.
You can find a ton of info on BN about soil (not soil at all) choices.
Plant knowledge is a great start but growing a tree in a pot is a totally different ball game than growing plants or flowers.
Hopefully someone will chime in that has experience growing these...
GOOD LUCK!!!!

 

[Wetmasausage]

Apologies, I meant there was not a lot of info on the web about bonsai Black Locust. I've actually never heard of purple locust which is quite unusual for me. I've been researching a lot about bonsai lately but obviously I'm lacking the experience lol.

They were actually growing in a pot full of sebum, not in the ground. This was the only pot I had to hand and I have ordered something more suitable. The sebum needed splitting so out the two trees came. One went back in the original pot for now since It was doing so well.

The soil is just what it was growing in as it was doing so well. I'm not 100% sure what it is but there's a mixture of fine stones, loam, dirt and I added a small amount of compost. I will be amending it when I repot again. I may actually take your advice and plant it the ground for a few seasons or until the trunk fattens.

Thanks for the advice, it's much appreciated!

 

[sorce]

Welcome to "a little Crazier than before"!

Sorce

 

[Wetmasausage]

Welcome to "a little Crazier than before"!

Sorce

Erm... thanks, I think

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Pseudoacacia is lovely. They backbud nicely, grow huge thorns, the snails love them and as long as you keep the roots alive, they basically can't die. The bark is amazing, and so are the flowers. The compound leaves suck, but those drop in winter, leaving a very rugged silhouette - yamadori pine trunks suck compared to old pseudoacacia branches if you'd ask me. This is the first and last time I'll compare them though.
They can and will produce suckers in spring if they're old enough.

But the finicky part; the roots don't handle stress well. At least, that's what I experienced.
The wood is also pretty susceptible to fungi, so it seems. There are a couple stands near my home and they grow huge brackets of fungi every year.

I've sown over 600 R. pseudoacacia, and I have just one left. They don't like water and they don't like drought.

I suggest you keep this one growing for now and fatten it up, and then cut back to something - any node will do. So that you can start reshaping it from scratch. As far as I know, they flush just once a year.
I've been cutting mine back in fall, with good results. But they are very apically dominant it seems. So management at the start of the year might be a wise thing to do.

 

[Wetmasausage]

Wow that was actually incredibly helpful.

Funny about the roots though. Of the two trees, this one got the root work. I took a small amount off and cut the large taproot and less than 10 leaves are suffering. I barely touched the other one and I was ever so careful when planting but that is the one with weeping leaves and yellowing.

I'll definitely plant in the ground in a nice sunny spot and keep an eye on any potential problems. By the sounds of it, survival is unlikely but I am quite experienced with garden plants so perhaps there's a small chance.

Thank you so much for this, I wasnt even expecting a response for a while but I've got so much info within hours. What a great forum!

 

[Forsoothe!]

'Purple Robe' is a variety with dark pinkish-lilac colored flowers. The groves are very often all suckers from one tree. The really dark green foliage makes the groves look black from a distance. They are brittle and accordingly hard to wire making clip & grow an attractive option. When happy they grow fast and very upright.