Manzanita

[Yosemite]

Hi folks.
Quick introduction... I used to have a nice small collection of bonsai for many years but lost all of them in the hot summer to a family emergency in 2006.Several species of my large carnivorous plant collection made it but swamp plants in deep tubs of water are more forgiving of neglect than trees in shallow pots.
Now with the virus keeping me mostly at home I have attempt number one in a pot.I know it's said to be nearly impossible by some to pull off collected manzanita but there is a method to my madness.First,it's free in my yard.Second, I've been watching this little bugger since it first showed up at the edge of my driveway a couple years ago and third, it came out with all it's roots,I kept the bad soil it was growing in including the driveway gravel.Third, it's already used to our brutal California summer.
I look forward to very slowly starting a few "normal" bonsai in the coming years enjoying the pictures and tips and learning from all the people on this forum.

 

[ponderingsage]

I collected one years ago. It didn't make it...didn't have many roots ro speak of.
Perhaps getting yours when it is small allowed you to transplant ot easier.
Good luck!

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

If your focus is better than your camera's, you got this! Lol!

Sorce

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Manzanita are notorious for being recalcitrant to bonsai pot horticulture. They thrive in very harsh conditions, growing in poor, rocky soils with sparse rain. One would think they would thrive in the "to our eyes" mild environment of a bonsai pot that gets water regularly. But for some unknown reason, most, if not all have trouble with them.

I have nothing beyond wild speculation to offer. I will say they are ericaceous plants, meaning the blueberry & azalea family, and I suspect that part of their resilience in the wild is due to their mycorrhizal associations. How to cultivate their mycorrhiza in a bonsai pot, I have no clue.

Good luck.

 

[cishepard]

I’ve been collecting info on Manzanita bonsai. Here is some of my findings:

Manzanita Thread

Arctostaphylos - Manzanita

Threads on a couple of similar species:

Kinnickinnick

Madrone (Arbutus)

Some notes from Bonsainut, but did not save who they are attributed to (so sorry!):

I'm finding the key to successfully keeping manzanita happy in a bonsai pot is giving the roots plenty of room as indeeper pot. They also don't like to have thicker woody roots removed or cut back. The tree in this post has woody roots at the bottom of the pot; I tried to preserve as many roots when I dug as I possibly could. I think I'll let this go one more season before I re-pot it as I initially potted it in pumice, akadama and lave in equal proportions. It's also important to feed them well through the growing season, which for here was kind of late this year. It didn't open buds until June, but grew strongly through the summer. I fertilized it with organic cake type fertilizer.

Collect Manzanita off of rocks where they are in situations that you can get the whole root system. Usually these trees grow on rocks with a shallow pocket of dirt where you can scoop the tree up getting the whole shallow system.
Manzanita are notoriously finicky if you mess with their roots, and they require free-draining soil that is low in organic material. Additionally they regularly die back, even when healthy, leaving dead branches and shari on the tree - even if it is relatively young. They also have very hard wood - slightly harder than hard maple - so they are extremely difficult to style once the wood has set.

I have two different species I am currently working with. I managed to kill (almost instantly) individuals of both species when I applied acid fertilizer to them (in the same strength that my conifers and maples love). I am being careful to keep the soil alkaline going forward.

And finally, some photos of bonsai:







Some Arbutus:

 

[Yosemite]

thanks for the replies folks.... I'm hoping this little one will adapt since I took it ,soil and all(it's mostly decomposed granite around here) with no root cutting at all..... just shoveled it out in one big clump...ground to pot... I will let it be for at least a year, if it makes it, before pestering it again ... I've got my eye on some live oak and deer brush at the other side of my yard for my next subjects... who knew a corona quarantine would give time do more than just chainsaw and hack apart the brush in a mad rush to try and keep Calfire from getting on me about it?

 

[Shima]

Here I go again! Whenever Manzanita shows up I always ask about ground-layering and never a reply. The focus of my life for many years was ground-layering difficult trees on Pahoehoe lava with great success. These trees were mangled, stunted victims of drought and heat but ground layering with care resulted in ancient trees that could be plopped into a bonsai pot after 4-5 months. You have to be near enough to the trees to water the moss frequently. When I lived in Sonoma Valley Manzanita were everywhere and I love them but wasn't far enough along to think of layering at the time. If anyone is interested I'd be happy to describe the process in detail.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Thanks for great pictures. Kinnickinnick is Manzanita not similar species. Is Arctostaphylos uva-ursi I believe. Also seems to be easier to keep. Wish to have good to great Manzanita one day but do not live in their area.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Please would be glad to see how you do this.

 

[BrianBay9]

Here I go again! Whenever Manzanita shows up I always ask about ground-layering and never a reply. The focus of my life for many years was ground-layering difficult trees on Pahoehoe lava with great success. These trees were mangled, stunted victims of drought and heat but ground layering with care resulted in ancient trees that could be plopped into a bonsai pot after 4-5 months. You have to be near enough to the trees to water the moss frequently. When I lived in Sonoma Valley Manzanita were everywhere and I love them but wasn't far enough along to think of layering at the time. If anyone is interested I'd be happy to describe the process in detail.

I decided to try air layering some manzanita that are close by. I started 6 air layers last May. I unwrapped one in October and found a very small amount of callusing. I've let the rest run through the winter. I see no root development, but I haven't unwrapped any others yet. I'll have a look at the end of April and either see some progress or call it quits.

 

[River's Edge]

Manzanita information is scarce. The best article I have come across is one written by Tom Kelly, it incorporates responses from Greg Brenden, noting his experience with successfully collecting and maintaining manzanita in Arizona. Golden Statements, Vol XXVII No 5. The article is nine pages long and contains some very useful information. October 2004.
Here is a short summary of key points:
1. Most effective collection site is on top of bedrock in decomposed granite.
2. Look for special condition where you are more likely to collect a complete root system.
3. Seedlings springing from a dying tree are a good choice for traditional digging style.
4. Collect only after a significant rainfall or snowmelt. This will mean the tree is hydrated and pushing feeder roots. Better collection scenario.
5. He believes march is the best collection time. Between flowering and budding.
6. Stabilize the root ball so it is not jostled on the way out!
7. Leaky grow box, no larger than needed, drainage layer of larger particles and pumice for soil choice.
8. Removal of original soil very gradually to retain natural mycorrhyzae . ( mulch or moss on surface of soil)
9. Recommends use of rainwater, if using other than avoid watering leaves ( residue)
10. Mist newly collected trees twice daily. Avoid watering leaves on established trees.
11. fertilize only after signs of new growth. Usually budding after flowers. will shed leaves and bark between, wait it out, care as normal.
12. Can be struck from cuttings and have a natural tendency to ground layer!
13. Cut paste must be used on pruning or significantly die back will occur!
14. Wire carefully to avid damage to thin bark, branches up to 1/4 inch can be wired. Best time to prune is after flowering and before budding!
15. Root prune cautiously and less frequently! Reduce stronger roots, retain as many feeder roots as possible. Cut less than 25% of feeder roots at a time.
That is the gist of it folks. Recommend finding the article if possible as the above is just a summary.

 

[Shima]

There's an article in Golden Statements Jul/Aug 2011 about my work. Also in a piece about Bottle Brush on Bonsai Bark Wayne Schoech mentions my Bottle Brush and had a link to the article about the story in Golden Statements.

 

[Shima]

I decided to try air layering some manzanita that are close by. I started 6 air layers last May. I unwrapped one in October and found a very small amount of callusing. I've let the rest run through the winter. I see no root development, but I haven't unwrapped any others yet. I'll have a look at the end of April and either see some progress or call it quits.

Interesting. Trying different methods? Open mix in a pot with moss on top? H20 frequently. Live sphagnum? (works better for me)

 

[BrianBay9]

Interesting. Trying different methods? Open mix in a pot with moss on top? H20 frequently. Live sphagnum? (works better for me)

First shot, one method, six replicates. Bark removed, hormone dusted, sphagnum moss, wrapped in plastic wrap, watered once a week until regular rains started.

 

[Mikecheck123]

I find driving around Lake Tahoe very difficult because all you see is gorgeous manzanita after gorgeous manzanita just carpeting the hillsides, mere feet away. Where's my shovel and ski mask when I need it, damnit??

 

[Shima]

First shot, one method, six replicates. Bark removed, hormone dusted, sphagnum moss, wrapped in plastic wrap, watered once a week until regular rains started.

I had the best results with dip N Grow liquid undiluted. Lost some to too soggy moss. That can be a problem with using moss.

 

[BrianBay9]

I had the best results with dip N Grow liquid undiluted. Lost some to too soggy moss. That can be a problem with using moss.

Good to know. If I had to guess right now I'd say I'm 0 for 6, but I'll give it another month, just in case they push most of their roots in the spring.

 

[Yosemite]

I just checked on my little manzanita .... the deer have nibbled off the ends.... I have an acre with manzanita growing on it and I never see the deer messing with them but I guess it's just too tempting once it's in a pot.... oh well.... only the tips got chomped off, just like they do to my roses so it probably won't hurt anything

 

[oddirt]

Every time I plant a manzanita, the deer come munching like the garden is a salad bar. I’ve had to cage them ‘til they’re tall enough.

Here’s an Arctostaphylos manzanita ssp laevigata cutting that struck with 7 or so radial roots. There are two other species that I did cuttings on that have also produced nice roots. I wanted to try cuttings to get them used to bonsai culture early on. Hoping they’ll become bonsai in a few decades.

All were started in the early winter in a 2:1 mix of pumice and large-grained quartz-based horticultural sand, bottom heat but ambient temp lower at around 50-60F. They were transferred into a pumice-lava-akadama mix in the greenhouse for a couple weeks and are doing great. During transplant, the roots were inoculated with a mycorrhizal mix that includes local species. I’ll start a separate progression thread if these do well.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Thank you Frank for info. So interesting, so difficult. Almost a holy grail of species for Bonsai. Currently looking avariciously at landscape Kinnickinnick. Same great bark somewhat easier of culture perhaps?