crepe myrtle progression

benw3790

Shohin
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First off, id like to state my opinion about crepe myrtles and I think they are underutilized in bonsai. I would love to see more of them. They grow really quick, ramify well, make good nebari, graft well and propagate well. As a deciduous tree, they can be good for beginners and they also have pretty flowers! I could go on and on but anyway, here is a progression of photos, showing the transformation of one of my shohin broom style crepe myetles, through ONE season. this is one of 3 CMs that started out as bare trunks this spring. Screenshot_2015-11-28-20-07-11.pngScreenshot_2015-11-28-20-07-51.pngScreenshot_2015-11-28-20-08-44.pngScreenshot_2015-11-28-20-06-25.png thanks for looking! Ill be posting another thread soon that will feature two of my other ones that started out at bare trunks at the beginning of this season.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

The Professor
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For a single growing season, I say well done. You said Shohin size, so this is under 8 inches tall from nebari to apex. Nice. Suggestion, you wired every branch, which is good. Some branches you put curves into, but some branches you left dead arrow straight. In a broom there is usually a regular pattern, for example an American elm. Each branch curves in roughly the same arc, or outer branches curve slightly more, central branches curve slightly less to make the crown of the tree. The pattern repeats itself. In your tree you have S shapes, and simple curves, and other variations, without a 'theme' or a unifying structure. The photo, with its harsh shadows show this, probably more dramatically than it appears in person. Which is good. Study your photo, and then plan a more coherent design to the tree. Wire and bend the branches over the winter to the new design, so that you have your theme set when you go to wire the 2016 growth sometime in late summer or early autumn 2016. You want a shape, either a vase shaped canopy, or a flame shaped canopy, or a broad spreading canopy. But there should be a regular pattern, repeated, with each repeat being tighter or looser depending on location in the canopy of the tree. "Fractal" a reiterative design, each iteration of differing dimensions, but repeating the same geometric function. The same forces of nature are acting on all the branches, so the patterns created should have the reiterative shapes.

Draw or do a virtual using this trunk and what you would like to see. Then see if you can get your branches to follow your plan. If the dead arrow straight branches can not be bent, they might be better if reduced to just one internode, and new branches grown to replace them, or they can be removed entirely and replaced if you have other buds coming off the trunk near enough to the removed branches' locations..

Or, go with all the branches being dead arrow straight, and just keep them short, cutting back to one new node each time. This will cause branching at every node. In time age will soften the angularity.

I wager it looks better in person. But use this photo to help refine the tree going forward.

Great growing. Keep it up and this will be a nice shohin in less than 5 years.
 

benw3790

Shohin
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western north carolina
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For a single growing season, I say well done. You said Shohin size, so this is under 8 inches tall from nebari to apex. Nice. Suggestion, you wired every branch, which is good. Some branches you put curves into, but some branches you left dead arrow straight. In a broom there is usually a regular pattern, for example an American elm. Each branch curves in roughly the same arc, or outer branches curve slightly more, central branches curve slightly less to make the crown of the tree. The pattern repeats itself. In your tree you have S shapes, and simple curves, and other variations, without a 'theme' or a unifying structure. The photo, with its harsh shadows show this, probably more dramatically than it appears in person. Which is good. Study your photo, and then plan a more coherent design to the tree. Wire and bend the branches over the winter to the new design, so that you have your theme set when you go to wire the 2016 growth sometime in late summer or early autumn 2016. You want a shape, either a vase shaped canopy, or a flame shaped canopy, or a broad spreading canopy. But there should be a regular pattern, repeated, with each repeat being tighter or looser depending on location in the canopy of the tree. "Fractal" a reiterative design, each iteration of differing dimensions, but repeating the same geometric function. The same forces of nature are acting on all the branches, so the patterns created should have the reiterative shapes.

Draw or do a virtual using this trunk and what you would like to see. Then see if you can get your branches to follow your plan. If the dead arrow straight branches can not be bent, they might be better if reduced to just one internode, and new branches grown to replace them, or they can be removed entirely and replaced if you have other buds coming off the trunk near enough to the removed branches' locations..

Or, go with all the branches being dead arrow straight, and just keep them short, cutting back to one new node each time. This will cause branching at every node. In time age will soften the angularity.

I wager it looks better in person. But use this photo to help refine the tree going forward.

Great growing. Keep it up and this will be a nice shohin in less than 5 years.

Wow thanks for all the Insight! Thats information you dont just find anywhere. It does look way better in person but I meant to post view from the top showing branch movement so that people like yourself could analyze and critique. I will take all your suggestions into consideration and start looking over broom style trees on the internet. Thank you for all your input and time explaining this. Always learning and this is the kind of info and insight I look for out of this forum. Im all self taught, no clubs, no books. Just a backyard, a couple tools, some YouTube and a forum! Not to mention the trees! But this will be my 3rd year. Im not sure of its EXACT measurement but I estimate it to be shohin. Ill measure it tho. The rootball will be planted onto something flat this spring to flatten out that nebari some. I got lucky with the root spread which is the ONLY reason I put effort into this "stick In a pot" thanks again!
 

benw3790

Shohin
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I also left some branches straight, simply because they couldnt be bent and the secondarily will have movement.
 

lieuz

Chumono
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This is really shaping nicely! I do really like the nebari that's shaping up to be very nice looking as well.
 

jk_lewis

Masterpiece
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Crape myrtle is one of the best trees around for bonsai. This one had had a good start . . . BUT I'm not sure how you are going to fix that totally featureless trunk. There's nothing there that will help to create any taper, and there is no uro to work into the design.
 

benw3790

Shohin
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Im going to carve the chop and bring the carving down the trunk some, for some character. I am hoping that the trunk will still fatten up a bit over time and that the nebari and ramification make up for the rest. The chop is perfect for the carving I plan to do. I kept it, simply for the nebari. They bud so easily I could have picked a leader and chopped it short and put it in the ground but the. Tree was just kinda tellin me what direction to take it and I think itll do alright as a broom style! I do agree about the trunk tho! Im sure ill figure it out :)
 

sorce

Nonsense Rascal
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totally featureless trunk
carving down

I don't know much about myrtle......

But if you can take that (almost too) perfect nebari, and get it dividing where it hits the soil now.....and eventually get that uncovered so the nebari rules the pot gorgeously....and take the same care in constructing a perfect crown.....you can get that trunk to hide amongst excellence, and NOT feature it!

I wouldn't carve it.....at least not for a while.....I don't think you have enough "meat" to carve taper in....without the callous bulging past the bottom width.

If it EVER grows.....and you have enough to take it down enough to hold a nice carved taper......maybe then....

But I won't ever be looking at the trunk.....except to say.....what a perfectly straight joiner of excellence!

Stay path.

Sorce
 

benw3790

Shohin
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I don't know much about myrtle......

But if you get that (almost too) perfect nebari, and get it dividing where it hits the soil now.....and eventually get that uncovered so the nebari rules the pot gorgeously....and take the same care in constructing a perfect crown.....you can get that trunk to hide amongst excellence, and NOT feature it!

I wouldn't carve it.....at least not for a while.....I don't think you have enough "meat" to carve taper in....without the callous bulging past the bottom width.

If it EVER grows.....and you have enough to take it down enough to hold a nice carved taper......maybe then....

But I won't ever be looking at the trunk.....except to say.....what a perfectly straight joiner of excellence!

Stay path.

Sorce
Thanks buddy! The chop already goes down sorta In a V Shape down the trunk, I thought about extending the v a little bit but ill wait! Thanks for the suggestions! When I repot, should I cut the roots back aggressively to get them to ramify? Ive honestly never tried to divide roots or ramify them. Just plant on tiles etc...
 

aml1014

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Thanks buddy! The chop already goes down sorta In a V Shape down the trunk, I thought about extending the v a little bit but ill wait! Thanks for the suggestions! When I repot, should I cut the roots back aggressively to get them to ramify? Ive honestly never tried to divide roots or ramify them. Just plant on tiles etc...
I would cut the roots back aggressively crepe myrtle don't seem to mind at all, and with me it doesn't matter if it's old or young when I hey a tree I try to get it on one plane of roots and have a flat bottom even if I'm putting it in a nursery pot, that way when it's time to get it in to a bonsai pot it's less stress to the tree.
 
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