Cratageus Pinnafitida -

HorseloverFat

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I found this Mountain Hawthorn growing mostly under a pile of torn off rafter wood, plywood and tar...

I am starting a thread, simply to act as a documenting journal.

This may have been the first TREE tree (not just seed/sapling) I collected from the earth myself in late January 2020, during a lil’ warm spurt.

Definite feelings of “Should-have-pruned-harder”-itis.

But here she blows... either way.

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Leo in N E Illinois

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Yes, more or less.

But Crataegus are not profuse "sucker producers". They naturally tend toward being single trunked trees, rather than bushes. If you buried a good portion of the trunk of this tree, the suckers, might actually just be branches off the trunk. With Crataegus you probably do not need to be as religious about removing these "suckers"

I would probably leave it alone until spring. Then repot in spring, and see whether these are branches, or suckers. If any of the the suckers have roots, or the beginning of roots, they can be separated and potted up separately.

Crataegus is a nice genus of plants to work with for bonsai. Once they are blooming, the flowers are nice and the fruit in autumn is really nice. Similar to, but different enough from crab apples.

Crataegus have relatively few disease issues, but when they do get insects or disease, any approved for roses spray will work on them, or anything used on apples and crab apples. All the same family - rose & apple family. Wonderful winter hardiness. No greenhouse needed.
 

HorseloverFat

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Yes, more or less.

But Crataegus are not profuse "sucker producers". They naturally tend toward being single trunked trees, rather than bushes. If you buried a good portion of the trunk of this tree, the suckers, might actually just be branches off the trunk. With Crataegus you probably do not need to be as religious about removing these "suckers"

I would probably leave it alone until spring. Then repot in spring, and see whether these are branches, or suckers. If any of the the suckers have roots, or the beginning of roots, they can be separated and potted up separately.

Crataegus is a nice genus of plants to work with for bonsai. Once they are blooming, the flowers are nice and the fruit in autumn is really nice. Similar to, but different enough from crab apples.

Crataegus have relatively few disease issues, but when they do get insects or disease, any approved for roses spray will work on them, or anything used on apples and crab apples. All the same family - rose & apple family. Wonderful winter hardiness. No greenhouse needed.

Thank you for the information, Leo. I shall “catalogue” it, post-haste.

When I collected this tree, I had to dig it from in between broken concrete slabs.. so it was essentially bare-rooted at that time. So at least I know those suckers are suckers. :)

I was planning on letting take the year to recover.

I had only lightly considered splitting, but given the shape of this particular piece of material, I believe it is a prime candidate.

Thank you, once again, for the knowledge to “chew on”.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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If those suckers are indeed "suckers", then if you notice any decline of the branches on your thicker than the rest trunk, then remove the suckers. If you see no decline, then removing them the next time you repot is fine.

I've seen the decline happen fast in honeysuckle. I do not have much experience with Crataegus. I have identified one on the farm to dig, but have not dug it up yet.

I regularly get suckers on my crab apple, Malus. They are related to Crataegus. The suckers on crap apples to not cause the main trunk to decline very fast. You have time to wait until repotting. But let the suckers go too long, and they will compete with the main trunk. There is always the danger that at some point they will out-compete the main trunk. That is the reason you remove the suckers, even on apples, crab apples and hawthorns.
 

HorseloverFat

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(((Update)))

I basically revisited how I would’ve initially pruned when I collected this tree NOW.. as apposed to THEN....

Seeing this specimen as a “pillar of vigor”... I “upped the ante”, as it were, regarding it’s summer maintenance by essentially pruning back to where I should’ve pruned back to, in my opinion.

Had a wee bit much wound paste on my finger (trying to seal the peeled bark from my crappy saw job) it just got away from me.

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Leo in N E Illinois

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Myself, I would have let it go until next year. All that growth you removed was building the diameter of your trunk. Even for a small bonsai, less than 10 inches tall, ideally you need a trunk over 2 inches in diameter. While the pruning should be fine, the tree will survive, you have slowed the rate at which the trunk will increase in diameter.

But it sure did look healthy.
 

HorseloverFat

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Myself, I would have let it go until next year. All that growth you removed was building the diameter of your trunk. Even for a small bonsai, less than 10 inches tall, ideally you need a trunk over 2 inches in diameter. While the pruning should be fine, the tree will survive, you have slowed the rate at which the trunk will increase in diameter.

But it sure did look healthy.

A decision that was met with medium-grade instant regret. 🤓

Hopefully given this trees nature.. it’ll fill out again soon and start building beef.
 

HorseloverFat

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Soooo... rabbits REALLY like Cratageus..

After the damage.. this is where I ended up.

The angle isn’t right.. because the pot is SUPER stupid.. but ehhh.
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