New collected privet

Zach Smith

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And the final shot (for this year) in its new pot. Chuck Iker did a fabulous job.

Another update. I did a light trimming today, a good bit of carving and repotted the tree. It's performing very well. I do need to treat the dead wood with lime sulfur. There's plenty with this tree, since it had been treated so badly in the wild.

Comments welcome.

Zach
 

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rockm

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The progression from last December to this is pretty amazing. Are you going to leave the leaders?
 

rockm

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Yeah. The top branching.
 

Zach Smith

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Yeah. The top branching.

I probably need to work them back. I've been walking the fine line between having the tree look nice and thickening the apical branches so as to maintain the health of the tree. There was a lot of damage near the top, so the stronger it gets the more likely I'll be able to manage/maintain it for longer. I won't trim the apex any more this season, but I will restrain the lower branches.
 

rockm

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"I've been walking the fine line between having the tree look nice and thickening the apical branches so as to maintain the health of the tree."

Sounds familiar. I'm doing similar things with some of my trees.
 

mat

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for what it's worth, i'd let the main apical leader grow out for a while. that's a rough transition there near the top. still, excellent work, in a short time, on a tree that has great potential.
 
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would you be able to adjust the leader on the left, perhaps wire it slightly down as a branch??? Just enough that it is not competing... seems a shame to remove if it's position could be slightly altered...
nice tree...
 

Zach Smith

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would you be able to adjust the leader on the left, perhaps wire it slightly down as a branch??? Just enough that it is not competing... seems a shame to remove if it's position could be slightly altered...
nice tree...

No, what you can't see in the photo is that the apex was hacked off by one of those horrid trimming devices they use to whack off tree limbs and wild shrubs to clear fencelines. I have no idea who came up with that idea, but hanging or firing squad would be in order. Anyway, the left-hand leader is at the tip of a very stiff piece of wood which was part of the original trunk that had been whacked. I don't know its ultimate longevity, but it gave me a branch to work with in the beginning.

I think what I'll need to do, probably next growing season, is to find a well-placed shoot at the base of the right-hand part of the leader and let it grow wild to thicken the whole thing. Then I could theoretically remove the left one and hopefully there would not be any awkward transition.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Zach
 

will0911

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That is great material to start out with! Im going to take another trip to my dads house to look around and see what I can find. I also collect them from now until.....well let's just say I have collected them in not so perfect weather and they did perfectly! Great progression!
 

tmmason10

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Wow great progression in a short amount of time. I like that you pointed out that this is perfect for the impatient bonsai artist. Hmmm...
 
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