Holly Hedge ... Now What?

[BobKat]

Greetings All - the 1st pic is from April '21 when I harvested this 'soft holly' hedge. The next 2 pics are from today (03/06/22).
I'm a bit new to Bonsai & would love some input on this one. Do I try to make a 'forest'? How much should I chop & where?
I love all the wrinkles & natural bends. Is it time to root prune this & 'pot it up'?
Sorry for all the Q's, but Hey, that's how I learn, right?
Thanks for your help ...

 

[Shibui]

It's not quite a forest. This is more likely called clump style but it does look like you have good potential.
As to where to cut the pics don't really give enough detail for me to give specific advice.
Try looking for:
A major trunk that sets the 'theme' for the whole tree. If it's curved the others will look better if they have a similar shape.
Branches on the outsides of bends and growing toward the outside of the clump where possible.
Thickest trunk is the tallest, down to thinnest generally being shorter.
Find a 'front' (best viewing angle) where the major trunk is towards the front and just off to 1 side if possible. Ideally shorter trunks to the back for perspective.

It's probably a good time of year for you to pot up and the new foliage looks like it has recovered well from the original collection but I'd usually do branch and apex development in a grow pot as they grow a bit quicker. In a smaller bonsai pot growth slows considerably and it may take a few extra years to do the final development.
Also depends how severe the original root prune was. Often better to allow a couple of years for root recovery before making more root chops.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Hey BK, that looks like Illex or yaupon holly. Shibui gave some good advice. Make sure that you seal all of the cuts well, the wood rots easily. Here are mine, they started just like yours -- the neighbor's hedge.

A Score, Maybe?

May neighbor was removing this hedge today and I pulled these. I think they are Yupon holley. Any tips? I did not have time to do anything other than grab them today.

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Tieball]

@BobKat …..A nice start you have with excellent potential fun with deciding directions and possible carving. Mighty fine!

 

[BobKat]

It's not quite a forest. This is more likely called clump style but it does look like you have good potential.
As to where to cut the pics don't really give enough detail for me to give specific advice.
Try looking for:
A major trunk that sets the 'theme' for the whole tree. If it's curved the others will look better if they have a similar shape.
Branches on the outsides of bends and growing toward the outside of the clump where possible.
Thickest trunk is the tallest, down to thinnest generally being shorter.
Find a 'front' (best viewing angle) where the major trunk is towards the front and just off to 1 side if possible. Ideally shorter trunks to the back for perspective.

It's probably a good time of year for you to pot up and the new foliage looks like it has recovered well from the original collection but I'd usually do branch and apex development in a grow pot as they grow a bit quicker. In a smaller bonsai pot growth slows considerably and it may take a few extra years to do the final development.
Also depends how severe the original root prune was. Often better to allow a couple of years for root recovery before making more root chops.

Thanks Shibui - I barely did any root pruning a year ago, so I think I'll start there & leave it in this 'grow pot' for at least another season. Appreciate the advice on which branches to keep & selecting a 'front' (thick to thin, taller to shorter) ... cleaning up any in-growing branches. Not sure yet about what sort of Nebari I'll be getting out of this ...

 

[BobKat]

Hey BK, that looks like Illex or yaupon holly. Shibui gave some good advice. Make sure that you seal all of the cuts well, the wood rots easily. Here are mine, they started just like yours -- the neighbor's hedge.

A Score, Maybe?

May neighbor was removing this hedge today and I pulled these. I think they are Yupon holley. Any tips? I did not have time to do anything other than grab them today.

www.bonsainut.com

Thanks MM for this (& the pics on your site). Pretty sure it is 'illex', what folks around here call 'soft holly', but there are a ga-zillion types of illex! Thanks for the 'rot reminder' ... I lost a smaller one last year that was looking pretty good, but then BAM 'trunk rot' all the way down ...

 

[BobKat]

@BobKat …..A nice start you have with excellent potential fun with deciding directions and possible carving. Mighty fine!

Hey Tb - hadn't even thot about carving, but the fattest trunk might lend itself to that one day in the future. Definitely 'fun' choices to make on directionality of branching, etc. (I'm sure there's correct Bonsai terminology for this that I don't know. )

 

[rockm]

Thanks MM for this (& the pics on your site). Pretty sure it is 'illex', what folks around here call 'soft holly', but there are a ga-zillion types of illex! Thanks for the 'rot reminder' ... I lost a smaller one last year that was looking pretty good, but then BAM 'trunk rot' all the way down ...

It is indeed Yaupon holly--Ilex vomitoria. "Soft holly" is a local name and those are highly unreliable as far as properly identifying species.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin

www.wildflower.org

yaupon holly makes excellent bonsai. It's used pretty extensively in the South as hedging material because it back buds easily.

 

[BobKat]

Hey BK, that looks like Illex or yaupon holly. Shibui gave some good advice. Make sure that you seal all of the cuts well, the wood rots easily. Here are mine, they started just like yours -- the neighbor's hedge.

A Score, Maybe?

May neighbor was removing this hedge today and I pulled these. I think they are Yupon holley. Any tips? I did not have time to do anything other than grab them today.

www.bonsainut.com

So I see the pics from 2017 of your "neighbors hedge" (& beer bottle) ... but what's it look like now?

 

[Mellow Mullet]

So I see the pics from 2017 of your "neighbors hedge" (& beer bottle) ... but what's it look like now?

The last page of the thread has pictures of the repot that I did on one of them this past Friday. I have three of them. If you read through the entire thread, it documents the development of all three fairly well (lots of pics).

 

[BobKat]

The last page of the thread has pictures of the repot that I did on one of them this past Friday. I have three of them. If you read through the entire thread, it documents the development of all three fairly well (lots of pics).

Thanks Mullet - will take a look later tonight! Always good to 'steal' ideas ... oh, wait, didn't my mother call that 'Sharing'?