Forsythia #6: Progression Series

[Vinnie Charity]

After reading the amazing progression posts on this page, I decided to share one of my own.

Also, I’ve adopted Walter Pall’s Tree Naming Method, as this is the 6th Forsythia in my collection, and it’s by far, the biggest…

This tree started out as an overgrown shrub in a friend’s garden. She offered it to me, as it was going to be cut back and dug up during her garden remodel…


The tree is a multi trunk and looked interesting enough, so it came with me…



After getting the tree home, I plunked it into an Anderson flat, and let it grow free all year. Here it is in April 2022…


The tree was only cut back big enough to fit it into the car to keep as much of the trunk as possible, as the buds were swelling.

 

[Vinnie Charity]

After letting the tree grow all year, here was the result in December 2022…


I’m loving the movement of the multi trunks and the plan is to cut them way back and regrow the branches for more taper. That big root on the right side is getting cut back as well…


After studying the tree and the picture for a while, I used my phone to create this VERY rough drawing of what I’ve trying to achieve with this tree…

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Nice rough virt! I wish you success and will be following along with a similar project.

 

[Colorado]

Cool project, I love the virt! Also love the flowers on these in the spring…

 

[Vinnie Charity]

Cool project, I love the virt! Also love the flowers on these in the spring…

I love the flowers too, which is one of the main reasons I picked up this piece of material.

For me, the Forsythias in my collection mean the beginning of Spring in my garden…

 

[Vinnie Charity]

Nice rough virt! I wish you success and will be following along with a similar project.

Be sure to share a link to your project.

I will update this thread each time I work on the tree, which won’t be until spring…
#patience

 

[cmu268]

I like the rough sketch! Good luck on this, can't wait to see it progress. I have several forsythia along part of my yard and planning to propagate a bunch of cuttings to practice with this year.

Seeing them flower is one of my favorite parts of Spring.

 

[Vinnie Charity]

Here is an update on the tree…

I pulled it out of the flat, removed all of the native soil, and planted it into this large celadon-colored bonsai pot, which will pair up nicely with the yellow flowers…



I planted it a bit more horizontal for now, as this large root on the right was very long, so it was cut back and buried deeper for development…



The plan is to eventually tilt the entire tree more counter clockwise, like the picture above, so the left-most branch is just above horizontal. I’m going for a semi-cascade look, as displayed in the drawing…



The soil is my “yamadori mix” which is equal parts permatil, Turface, and pine fines. This soil will help to quickly develop the roots, as well as the canopy of the tree due to the super fast drainage it provides. The plan is to feed heavily.



I’ve left all of the branches long for now, only because I want to see it flower, then I’m cutting them all back to nubs and regrowing them. Forsythia back-bud like crazy, so we should have no issues here…



I will post the next update after the tree flowers!!!

 

[Vinnie Charity]

Here is an update on the tree, which is just beginning to flower…



Not much to look at now, but I just wanted to see it flower one last time before I butcher the tree. I’m planning to take all of the branches down to nubs and regrow them for more taper (red lines represent cuts).

I’m also planning to wire and ATTEMPT to bend the two branches marked with arrows…



Next update: Branches will be cut and pasted along with branch bending results…

 

[jszg]

I've always loved Forsythia, but my mother is deathly allergic to them. (I am also a little allergic actually)

My very limited experience is that they are pretty brittle, and really like to make water sprouts more than anything else. If basal shoots are too strong, it will start letting the trunks die back

 

[Vinnie Charity]

I've always loved Forsythia, but my mother is deathly allergic to them. (I am also a little allergic actually)

My very limited experience is that they are pretty brittle, and really like to make water sprouts more than anything else. If basal shoots are too strong, it will start letting the trunks die back

That’s a shame to be allergic, they are super easy to work with and backbud prolifically. They do put out a bunch of those basal shoots, I will rub off the buds as they appear to keep the energy focused on the shoots I want to develop.

Normally I would have put it in the ground, but we are going to be buying a new home this year so I’m sticking everything in pots.