Cherry .. Worth the effort or ditch?

[leatherback]

Some 4 years ago I pulled a wild cherry from a ditch in my neighborhood. After chopping back, this is what I got:



Now it looks like the image below. I am wondering.. Is this worth the effort? It certainly is not developing fast in a pot. What would your plant be with this? Drop the tree? Continue? If so, what to aim for? Nebari is actually decent on there.


Right now, it is being developed as a clump, cut back every winter, but most of summer left alone to grow and close the cutwounds in the back (Halfway there):

 

[TomB]

Big leaves screw up the summer image. Lack of fine ramification problematic for winter images, except in trees larger than this one. Nice flowers and bark though.
PS you’ll want to treat regularly with Bordeaux mix as they’re susceptible to disease...

 

[JudyB]

Do you know what type of cherry it is? I tried several times with our wild black cherries here, and they were juuuust at the point of looking like something when they either lost a large branch or contracted borers, or disease and I finally gave up.

 

[leatherback]

Do you know what type of cherry it is? I tried several times with our wild black cherries here, and they were juuuust at the point of looking like something when they either lost a large branch or contracted borers, or disease and I finally gave up.

I think it is prunus cerasus

 

[Wilson]

I like it, and would give it time. Has it flowered for you?

 

[AlainK]

Well, I wouldn't have bet on a wild cherry, but yours looks like it's going somewhere.

It's a touchy tree, dieback can happen, but yours is the best I've ever seen : don't give it up.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I like the structure! I would continue to play with it. Perhaps as you build out the ramification, you will find it easier to keep the leaf size small.

Also, you don't have to keep it in such a small container if you are trying to accelerate development. If you doubled the size of the container the tree would get a lot stronger... and yet the root ball would still be small enough that you could work it back into a bonsai pot when the time was right.

 

[JudyB]

The bark on that one looks far different than the ones i dug up, perhaps it will not have the traits that I saw with mine. I agree with the others, it's got a good framework!
I like seeing people experimenting with flowering and deciduous species that are not common.

 

[leatherback]

I like it, and would give it time. Has it flowered for you?

No. But I am not surprised. It is fairly young, and I do loads of trimming. I think I would need to leave more of previous growth on there. But you have a point. I should also prune to get some flowers on there. I am not sure whether this was flowering already when I dug it though.

Big leaves screw up the summer image. Lack of fine ramification problematic for winter images, except in trees larger than this one.

Perhaps as you build out the ramification, you will find it easier to keep the leaf size small.

Absolutely. At the moment I am keeping all inner buds (I strip a lot of lower leaves from the shoots, ensuring enough light reaches the base). But as I let runners shoot out, there is no push for remification yet. I really want to get some closure first

If you doubled the size of the container the tree would get a lot stronger.

Good point. I am the first to tell people, wait, hold ff, no bonsai pot yet. And then for my own trees, come repot time, I move to the smallest growing out container that will take the plant...

I agree with the others, it's got a good framework!

but yours is the best I've ever seen : don't give it up.

I like the structure! I would continue to play with it.

OK, guess you have me so convinced that this morning I went out to the same ditch and pulled another out. The one I pulled this morning is a size up from the one above. But very similar (normal: Same ditch, same mowers moving over it). After some coffee I should go clean up, cut back and pot it up.

 

[leatherback]

with Bordeaux mix

Making fun of the poor guy in Germany where the basics are hard to get?

Bordeaux mix?

I have been having a few problems with persistent fungal infections over winter / early spring. So this year I wanted to spray them with something different from what I normally use. I looked up Bordeaux mix and concluded it is effectively a 1:1:100 mixture of coppersulfate : hydrated lime ...

www.bonsainut.com

 

[leatherback]

The bark on that one looks far different than the ones i dug up

I think in the USA you have a different wild cherry: Prunus serotina?

As it has not flowered the main reason for my ID is that there used to be loads of small-cherried sour-cherries growing in the gardens nearby. It makes sense to me they have seeded. Looking for common sour cherries I ended up naming it P cerasus..

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I found that cherry suckers in large pots make long internodes. I think it's better to keep them in smaller pots to enforce them staying small.
It helps too with decreasing foliar size.

 

[JudyB]

I think in the USA you have a different wild cherry: Prunus serotina?

As it has not flowered the main reason for my ID is that there used to be loads of small-cherried sour-cherries growing in the gardens nearby. It makes sense to me they have seeded. Looking for common sour cherries I ended up naming it P cerasus..

Yes that's the ones we have round here. They are a pioneer tree here, and regenerate faster than almost anything else. It's a pity they are so prone to everything, as they do have nice flowers and some small fruits, and the bark is nice. Darker than your type. Borers and all insects love the sap!

 

[LanceMac10]

Nice character all-around and I would think it would be worth the effort to advance your design. Already made some nice progress, an enjoyable image already.

 

[TomB]

Making fun of the poor guy in Germany where the basics are hard to get?

Bordeaux mix?

I have been having a few problems with persistent fungal infections over winter / early spring. So this year I wanted to spray them with something different from what I normally use. I looked up Bordeaux mix and concluded it is effectively a 1:1:100 mixture of coppersulfate : hydrated lime ...

www.bonsainut.com

Sorry - just teasing. It’s a serious point though, they are prone to disease.
All the good chemicals are banned here too btw.

 

[leatherback]

It’s a serious point though, they are prone to disease.

So far, no problems.. (Although I do use rose anti-mildew spray)

All the good chemicals are banned here too btw.

For good reasons, but still annoying when you need them!

 

[shinmai]

IMO, it looks like a great base, and the bark is already interesting and attractive. Primary branching is also off to a good start. Leaf size and ramification you can evolve over time. If I lived nearby and you wanted to toss it, I would gladly put it on my bench.
One consideration with internode length is the intensity of available sunlight. In both of our last two summers, we had periods of three or four weeks of few clouds, and comparable intervals of rain and extended overcast. On both a crabapple and an apricot, I observed that internode intervals extended on new growth during the lower-light times, and were shorter when it actually seemed like summer.

 

[Clicio]

I vote for keeping it.
In fact I like a lot the way it is being developed.

 

[Atom#28]

I like it. Just imagine how badass this lil guy will be after 4 more years!

 

[cmeg1]

Very cool! Roseaceae need fungal treatment I believe