"Gee, bonsai are cool....maybe that is something I should pursue!" said the Big Dummy

[Dav4]

Dangerous! Greatly raises the bidding threshold! I had to quit one or the other...

Matt O. bought me a bottle of Woodford Reserve for my Bday.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Says a lot on several levels. Though I always preferred Knob Creek.
He sent me a copy of the Tofu book.

 

[Metalgrootvader]

75% off sale at The Andersons..... Coral Beauty Cotoneaster

 

[barrosinc]

you are on a roll!
That is a nice cotoneaster

 

[sorce]

You have scored the tree I have been looking for for 2 years!

Nice!

Sorce

 

[ColinFraser]

75% off sale at The Andersons..... Coral Beauty Cotoneaster

Cool; I predict it will be much smaller the next time we see it

 

[Metalgrootvader]

Here is the cotoneaster plan: Let it be until early spring. Prune it way back since what I have said they are rapid growers. Hope it works. lol

Thanks all for the help!

 

[music~maker]

Here is the cotoneaster plan: Let it be until early spring. Prune it way back since what I have said they are rapid growers. Hope it works. lol

Thanks all for the help!

I beat up some cotoneasters this season to learn how they work. They can take some abuse, but are definitely a "one insult per season" plant. They will punish you with die back if you go too far.

You'll want a bigger pot to grow this out in, and I would recommend that you slip pot up to a large nursery pot in the spring to encourage growth (more of a light slap than an insult this way).

Trim a little bit off the bottom of the root ball and lightly comb out the outer perimeter of the root ball, but don't screw with the roots in any major way.

If you're going to hard prune roots it's best not to prune much foliage that year.

If you're going to prune back hard, do it early in the season and then just let it grow out. They don't respond as well to mid-season pruning. It's likely it will take 2-3 seasons to recover to a stage where you'll want to do any further styling.

After the initial styling, I'd just trim back the most vigorous branches each spring just enough to slow them down, but let it fill in until it starts to look like a bush again. After the 2nd major styling a few years later, it will probably start to really look like something.

They do grow relatively quick, but the growth habit is long and thin, so they need to put on some foliage and grow fairly uninhibited for a while to develop trunk/branches.

 

[armetisius]

I started in early summer. . . to get when I go back to Dragon Bonsai. This time we're taking the wife's van....

Take the truck. T
hat way IF, read that as WHEN, you find more than you
"thought" you still have a hitch for a rental trailer.

 

[coppice]

OH! Look! Bonsai!

You're screwed now.

 

[Metalgrootvader]

I beat up some cotoneasters this season to learn how they work. They can take some abuse, but are definitely a "one insult per season" plant. They will punish you with die back if you go too far.

You'll want a bigger pot to grow this out in, and I would recommend that you slip pot up to a large nursery pot in the spring to encourage growth (more of a light slap than an insult this way).

Trim a little bit off the bottom of the root ball and lightly comb out the outer perimeter of the root ball, but don't screw with the roots in any major way.

If you're going to hard prune roots it's best not to prune much foliage that year.

If you're going to prune back hard, do it early in the season and then just let it grow out. They don't respond as well to mid-season pruning. It's likely it will take 2-3 seasons to recover to a stage where you'll want to do any further styling.

After the initial styling, I'd just trim back the most vigorous branches each spring just enough to slow them down, but let it fill in until it starts to look like a bush again. After the 2nd major styling a few years later, it will probably start to really look like something.

They do grow relatively quick, but the growth habit is long and thin, so they need to put on some foliage and grow fairly uninhibited for a while to develop trunk/branches.

Great info! Thanks a ton!

 

[Metalgrootvader]

So I went fishing but the river behind my place is up due to the ACE drawing down the lake to winter pool. So I went exploring and found the brush pile that the lawn guys use. Found this. Got sad. I am guessing you all have had these moments...

 

[M. Frary]

My brush pile is composed of dead bonsai or bonsai wannabes. Cool looking brush pile.