New buxus Sinica

[GayGardenGuy]

This tree was growing in the woods in my neighbors yard and he graciously allowed me to dig it up. This was two years ago and the tree was about 5 feet tall with two main trunks. I chopped both back to an appropriate spot with a nice leader branch. the taller of the two had a bit of die back but more growth has sprouted. The first year I dug it up, I put it into the pot you'll see in the pics. Later that year I put it in the ground to let it grow. This year about a year and a half after it was planted in the ground I dug it up and put it back in the same pot. I'm thinking of letting the tree go another year without pruning but and think of wiring some of the new growth into position. The root base needs a lot of work but the plant has the tendency to send new roots from cut points and I trimmed the roots considerably so I'm hoping that it sends out finer roots for me to work with. There is also an aerial type roots coming out of the trunk. I'm thinking of letting it stay as its a unique feature and I'm hoping it will get larger and start to create some flare. I'm not sure which side will be the front but I'm leaning towards the side with out the aerial root. The tree seems pretty hardy as when I first dug it out I did some large root chops, it did not have many fine roots, but when I dug it back up it had quite the root system. These pics are terrible quality but I hope they show when I'm talking about. I'm also not too sure about the species but from what ive seen on the internet I think I've got it.

 

[cbroad]

I like what you have going on and the effort you've put into it so far, and it's thriving!

But I don't think that's a boxwood you have, the bark is way wrong, I think you have a type of holly. Hard to tell from the pictures, but a boxwood's leaves should be entire on the margins, meaning smooth edges without any serrations. It kind of looks like your leaves have a very slight serration, which would probably make it a holly, probably a type of creneta (the Japanese types).

Nonetheless, I'm really liking your tree!

 

[GayGardenGuy]

Wow lol yea I think you're right. There's a few of them around just growing in the woods so they could really be anything. They're growing from seeds presumably because I cant think of why someone would plant one in the middle of the forest. The leaves are lightly serrated so I'm gonna go with the Ilex Crenata. Thanks man

 

[cbroad]

I'm not too positive either about it being creneta, still I think something is off on the bark, looks too brown for me.

Unless these were originally planted on a forest edge, it doesn't make sense they were planted in the woods and creneta doesn't really volunteer so....

I wonder if this is a native ilex glabra, or ink berry holly, these are probably native around you in NJ.

 

[GayGardenGuy]

At the time these plants would have been planted my neighbors yard was all forest. There's a large bush of the same species about 7-8 feet tall and it has quite the thick trunk. Im guessing its the parent plant as the rest are all on the smaller side with trunks less than 4 inches in diameter. I find small seedlings around in the woods near paths and they have the tendency to root when they touch the ground so I have a few smaller plants that are basically air layers of the mother plant. Ill try and get some more photos that are hopefully clearer tomorrow. I had a second I dug earlier this year and it died probably due to lack of water but so did most of my plants lol. my house burned down and I'm living in a rental right now so i have to let the trees survive on thier own. I'm considering just planting all of them in ground and leaving them till I have the time and space for them.

 

[sorce]

lol. my house burned down

NOT funny!

Fuck! Glad you're OK!

S

 

[rockm]

"I'm thinking of letting it stay as its a unique feature and I'm hoping it will get larger and start to create some flare."

A very very bad idea. The flare from that "unique" feature will appear ABOVE the root base at ground level. That's called "inverse taper" and it makes trees look ugly, especially over time as the trunk above that root will thicken faster and more than the trunk beneath it.

BTW, those "unique" features are not unique. These kinds of roots are present on a lot of nursery source plants. They are NOT attractive. Don't make the mistake of thinking "ugly" = "unique."

 

[GayGardenGuy]

Thanks for the input @rockm. I'm gonna let it stay and see what happens. Bonsai isn't all about art to me, it's experimenting. I wanna see what happens for myself so I can see weather or not I could make it work to my advantage in the future or if I should avoid it like the plague. I'm only 16 so I have the rest of my life to learn how to do proper bonsai but right now it's something fun that keeps me busy. I have another tree I dug up out of the ground today that has much more conveniently located aerial roots that would contribute to the look of the tree. I'll post about that later.

 

[rockm]

Thanks for the input @rockm. I'm gonna let it stay and see what happens. Bonsai isn't all about art to me, it's experimenting. I wanna see what happens for myself so I can see weather or not I could make it work to my advantage in the future or if I should avoid it like the plague. I'm only 16 so I have the rest of my life to learn how to do proper bonsai but right now it's something fun that keeps me busy. I have another tree I dug up out of the ground today that has much more conveniently located aerial roots that would contribute to the look of the tree. I'll post about that later.

Keep in mind, the longer you wait on it, the worse the taper will become. additionally the stronger it gets (and it will overtake the roots below it at their expense), the more reliant the tree will become on it, which makes removing it an issue down the road--
I've had this on at least one of my Korean boxwood.

 

[sorce]

I'm only 16

Go you! Guy.... KID!

You see the Dwarf Alberta thread with the Grandson who's 15?

You nextgenners should probly know eachother and play fortnight and stuff yeah?

Good for yall!

Happy Friday!

S