Burning bush (this thing grows fast)

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4 weeks ago I began one of my Burning Bush experiments and since then it has exploded. It went from this
BB0.jpg
To this in that time
BB1.jpg

Should I be pruning and shaping throughout the season (starting now) or just let it be for the entire season? (or somewhere in the middle?)
 

Shibui

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Depends what your aim is.
For maximum increase in thickness let it grow.
If you are happy with the current trunk diameter it is time to work on branching and ramification. That means pruning and shaping through the season.

In bonsai it is rarely one or the other. We often use a combination of techniques - initially just let it grow for a few months then cut back harder. In a few years I'd probably be trimming far more frequently but it all depends on how the individual plant responds.
 

Bonsaidoorguy

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This is my dwarf burning bush that I've had for about four years from nursery stock. I learned through experience that I only get the one flush a year, so prune accordingly. As you saw they bud easily the next year so if you cut too much don't worry you'll just get a bifurcation in that spot. Needs root pruning every year. This guys about ten inches.
20210428_140803.jpg
 

Hack Yeah!

Omono
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This is my dwarf burning bush that I've had for about four years from nursery stock. I learned through experience that I only get the one flush a year, so prune accordingly. As you saw they bud easily the next year so if you cut too much don't worry you'll just get a bifurcation in that spot. Needs root pruning every year. This guys about ten inches.
View attachment 371055
How often and when do you prune?
 

Bonsaidoorguy

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How often and when do you prune?
I prune after everything extends and hardens off. That's when I prune to shape. Then I prune again in fall after leaf fall. That's when I basically take it back to where it was at the beginning of the year, unless you want to add a branch or two that grew this year. Nice fall colors and small flowers and berries. I think this picture is from two years ago.20191018_172824.jpg
 
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4 weeks ago I began one of my Burning Bush experiments and since then it has exploded.
Very interesting! I pulled a really small "volunteer" out of a hedge a year ago and it hasn't done much. It's much smaller than any of those pictured here so I'm betting it needs to hit a certain size/age before it really takes off. Good luck with your experiment!
 
Messages
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Northern Virginia (Zone 7a)
This is my dwarf burning bush that I've had for about four years from nursery stock. I learned through experience that I only get the one flush a year, so prune accordingly. As you saw they bud easily the next year so if you cut too much don't worry you'll just get a bifurcation in that spot. Needs root pruning every year. This guys about ten inches.
I have a 2nd experimental burning bush that had new growth in late fall last year (left image) but it was too big and hated the pot/soil (mold) so the beginning of this spring I cut back to a stump and transferred to a colander and a mostly sphagnum peat moss soil (per Peter Chan book) and it isn't growing at all (right image). So maybe I missed the "one flush a year" or maybe I stressed it too much.

IMG_0624.jpg BB2-3.jpg
 

Bonsaidoorguy

Shohin
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I have a 2nd experimental burning bush that had new growth in late fall last year (left image) but it was too big and hated the pot/soil (mold) so the beginning of this spring I cut back to a stump and transferred to a colander and a mostly sphagnum peat moss soil (per Peter Chan book) and it isn't growing at all (right image). So maybe I missed the "one flush a year" or maybe I stressed it too much.

View attachment 371265 View attachment 371266
Put it off to the side and make sure it doesn't dry out. Get a new nursery plant to fulfill your bonsai urges and see how it does. They are pretty hardy, but you may need to wait for any substantial growth. I've never defoleated my little tree during the growing season so I've never actually seen the response.
 
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I pulled a really small "volunteer" out of a hedge a year ago and it hasn't done much. It's much smaller than any of those pictured here so I'm betting it needs to hit a certain size/age before it really takes off.
Updating my post to pass along that my little guy who hasn't done much was actually infested with SCALE! The bastards! I cleaned them off and hit him with Neem oil. Maybe now he'll have a chance this growing season. I didn't realize euonymuses (or would that be "euonymi"?) were susceptible to scale. (The bastards!)
 

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