Pyracantha, Past, Present and Future II

[Smoke]

This double trunk Pyracantha was dug at the same time as the first one. It started life with three trunks and I retained it for a while. I soon removed the third trunk and stayed with two. Today I did a repot and placed it into this Korean Grey speckled pot. The tree was rotated counterclockwise about 20 degrees and the main trunk was raised more verticle.

 

[Smoke]

This is the plant in its new pot. I was hopig the picture would show the improvements but alas it does not. The turn of the trunk added about 5 inches of depth that can't be seen in the photo. The apex area of the secondary trunk is masked by the foliage of the main trunk. It does show in person and is very convincing.


Pyracantha Agustifolia
Height: 26" tall
Trunk: 4" at waist
Spread at soil: 7"
Pot: Korea
Table: Al Keppler

Cheers, Al

 

[Graydon]

Al,

I'm keen on this tree. Very nice. I have a thing for pyracantha, especially when they are in berry. I think the last photo does show the added depth that the left trunk brings to the composition.

The bark that can be seen better in the other photos is very nice. It looks to be healthy and happy. I saw this at bonsaiTalk and the root pad has turned out good. I'm glad you have detailed how you were able to get a nice root pad with these, that's info I will need to use in the future on my trees like this.

Overall I like it a lot. I understand how long it will take to get some ramification on one of these based on my experience. You have made some good progress and I am sure it will continue to develop in to a great specimen in the future.

Thanks for the photos!

 

[cbobgo]

Nice tree, I like the bark alot.

A couple of things bug me a little, however. The bulge/jin on the main trunk really draws my eye, and not really in a good way. Maybe this could be carved a bit more to reduce it's visual weight? The other aspect is that the smaller trunk comes off a bit high. In some of the earlier pics you had some mounds of moss that hid it pretty well, but in the last pic its pretty apparent. Maybe you could stick a rock in there? Or, another option would be to reduce that trunk and turn it into the main branch instead.

Just my opinion, of course.

- bob

 

[Smoke]

Two years later. Lots of branch work. Graft has taken well and was severed last summer. Wired it for the first time this year with the repot. Defoliated it and shot a pic to post here.

 

[Smoke]

Here are the other sides. Right side, back, left side and a close up of the graft.

Cheers.

 

[greerhw]

Nice Bonsai, but don't even think about planting in the yard, the trimmimgs will shread a plastic trash bag in a matter of minutes.
Hey bigAl1 do you cut the spikes off ?

Harry

 

[Smoke]

Right now the whole tree has only 4 thorns. They will not grow thorns if the branches do not grow past 4 pairs of leaves. Once they get past that point the branch will thorn up in a matter of days. If I let it go for say a month, it would turn into a firethorn.

 

[Anonymous User]

What exactly is happening at the soil line Al? It appears, well I don't know, but the black at that level gives a sense of shadow and instability, maybe because it is undercut or perhaps it is just the lack of nebari that is fooling my eyes?. Also, the dead center pot position robs the composition of perspective.


Ramification is coming along nicely and the bark texture is good.





Will

 

[Chris Johnston]

What exactly is happening at the soil line Al? It appears, well I don't know, but the black at that level gives a sense of shadow and instability, maybe because it is undercut or perhaps it is just the lack of nebari that is fooling my eyes?. Also, the dead center pot position robs the composition of perspective.

Ramification is coming along nicely and the bark texture is good.

Will

On the contrary, This tree has an excellent nebari. The black is distracting on the photo, but the nebari is obviously there.

While I don't believe the tree is dead center in the pot, just a bit more to the right might or might not improve the composition. I'd have to see it.

Al, it's a fantastic tree. I love what you are doing with it.

Chris

 

[Smoke]

What exactly is happening at the soil line Al? It appears, well I don't know, but the black at that level gives a sense of shadow and instability, maybe because it is undercut or perhaps it is just the lack of nebari that is fooling my eyes?. Also, the dead center pot position robs the composition of perspective.


Ramification is coming along nicely and the bark texture is good.
Will

The black is just water leaching onto the trunk from the soil. Pyracanthas are very soft and corky and will draw water like a wick. They also rot very easily. One year on an open wound will rot the wood severly.

The tree is in the pot with 5 inches on the left and three inches on the right. That is where "I" felt it would look best, Asthetically and horticulturally (root spread). The base at the soil line is 7 inches across, just in case you wanted to know....

Thanks for your input.
Al

 

[RyanFrye]

Very Nice Tree. The new design really works. I'm just starting to work with Pyracantha. What is their growth rate?

 

[Smoke]

Very Nice Tree. The new design really works. I'm just starting to work with Pyracantha. What is their growth rate?

Moderatly fast. About like trident maple.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Glad the graft took. It really needed a primary branch on the lower right. The design will be much more balanced now. Looking forward to seeing the continued evolution of this tree!

 

[JasonG]

Hi Al,

Following the progression of this tree has been fun. It has come a long way in a short period of time, good work! To me though, the pot color seems to blend in with the trunk color a bit, but I know how much of a disservice pictures do to a tree....I am sure it is fine in person.

Good work and thanks for sharing some tree work

Jason

 

[FourMileMarc]

Hey Al, how does the ramification go on these? Do you have any updates? I gave my only one away as a young little tree because I noticed they only sprouted the last terminal bud at the cut which would always dominate. They also did not thicken very quickly in my realm. What did you see after defoliation?

 

[Smoke]

It goes well.

I seem to be drawn to these drought tolerant trees for many reasons. Fast growth, speedy growth, and super fast growth. It is very easy to get from point A to point B in a few years versus a few decades.
Look for an update next weekend after the Toko-Kazari when the double trunk Pyra will be the centerpiece of my Tokonoma Display.

 

[Smoke]

This pyracantha was also due to be repotted. It too was walking out of the pot. This tree has not ben repotted for three years. the tree had many overgrown branches and a couple had died. The tips had grown in sme cases to almost 3/8 inch and the tree was in dire need of a good hard pruning and rewire to salvage the shape.

 

[Smoke]

It is hard to tell this treeis a double trunk with all the shoots. After pruning back the branches and trimming the roots , the tree was fitted back into the same pot.

This is a photo after placing back on the bench. Easy to see how much I took off!

 

[tmmason10]

Very nice Al. Thanks for the update.