Collected hawthorn

[mwar15]

I collected three Hawthorne this spring. Last fall I went to the property and chopped them. Right before they start pushing buds I dug them up put them in straight pumice. I tried the Tony tickle garbage bag method and they seem to respond very well. I’ve sealed the chops and now comes the question of do you leave them the height they are chopped or them lower?

i’m not going to do anything this year with them mainly I’m just kind of seeing what my options are and thoughts from the peanut gallery.
All of this was inspired by @Brian Van Fleet and his hawthorn. I appreciate his patience and advice.
February 2021

 

[mwar15]

Starting to grow and push low buds which I’m excited about.

 

[Rivian]

But why these?

 

[mwar15]

But why these?

Why not? Where I dug these a lot of them didn’t have a lot of movement. There were some that were growing out of Cutbanks with big J trunks which I didn’t want. I don’t have any Hawthorne and wanted to get some to learn about. Both these especially the large one have really great buttressing down at the base which I wanted. Ultimately the large one I probably will chop about half as tall and then work with it from there.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Well, you ahave plenty of starter material there to practice on!
For me the hawthorn has been very hard to bend if it is not young wood.
good luck
DSD sends

 

[mwar15]

Well, you ahave plenty of starter material there to practice on!
For me the hawthorn has been very hard to bend if it is not young wood.
good luck
DSD sends

Good to know, I don’t plan to bend these trunks

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Yeah, no. But you might want to move smaller branches someday?

 

[mwar15]

Yeah, no. But you might want to move smaller branches someday?

Yes, I’m going to let them grow this year and get them established

 

[Shibui]

I’ve sealed the chops and now comes the question of do you leave them the height they are chopped or them lower?

Definitely leave them alone for this summer. The trunks are now growing new roots and need all the leaves they have to do it.
Next year is the time to start thinking about the next major reductions if required and it sounds as if that's what you are already planning.

If mine grow well enough through summer I sometimes trim a little to get better ramification. I also pick out shoots in possible useful branch locations and wire so the base is set in position while it can still move. 1 YO shoots don't bend real easy next year. Just be very gentle. New shoots are NOT firmly attached to the trunk yet and have a tendency to drop off when moved. Alternative is to leave them grow and cut back to the base of the new shoot next year. Usuallu a cluster of new buds will erupt from the branch collar and give you plenty of options to position new branches much better than trying to move those vertical shoots.

The initial transplant is actually the easiest part of the whole process. I think you will need more than a little creativity and plenty of time to make good bonsai from those straight stumps so good luck with the design and execution.

 

[mwar15]

So far so good. I cut back to the first couple leaves. The smallest ones will probably be more a shohin size. Not sure if the real big one is vigorous enough to really chop it real low. I’ll see how the rest of the summer goes.

 

[mwar15]

Had some dieback. They have been neglected in my grow area but hopefully I can give them more attention now. Not sure if they will last, I don’t like the lack of taper and don’t really want to invest in growing the taper.