Rhamnus Cathartica (Common Buckthorn) #69

[Orion_metalhead]

This is a tree Ive had since 2019. It looks best in fall with the yellow leaves. Some pictures are in my general thread but here are some end of year shots and current:

Current:


Year End Pictures:

 

[A. Gorilla]

Its a sick joke. These things can grow really good nebari naturally, and the bark is nice. Easy to dig up. All around tough.

But holy shit. There is absolutely nothing you can do with new growth.

When pliable it will just break off from the trunk. After that it's stiff as a board and arrow straight.

Maybe starting at this size, there is another way to manage it.

Good luck!

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Treating this one as clip and grow. Might be the only way

 

[Orion_metalhead]

End of year. Not much to report. Repotted this year.... grew ok. Next year should be good. Im skipping a year repotting to gain strength. Was repotted twice in a row. Seems to have the start of a nice nebari.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Today. Looking very nice this spring. Should tiny white flowers soon. Lots of budding everywhere.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Today. Looking very nice this spring. Should tiny white flowers soon. Lots of budding everywhere.

View attachment 482820
View attachment 482819

Cool cool. I’ve got a couple that are still ticking.
I’ve found they can be wired alright.
Do have to be careful as they can thicken quickly leading to major wire marks

Have you encountered a lot of suckers?
I seem to be removing them regularly.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Not on this one. I grew another in a glass jar and the roots that hit the side basically all grew as if they were normal trees but under the soil surface.

 

[Eckhoffw]

Not on this one. I grew another in a glass jar and the roots that hit the side basically all grew as if they were normal trees but under the soil surface.

Very interesting. Have you found the roots to be very vigorous in your repotting?
Mine have not shown me serious foliage production in the last 2 years since collecting, so I haven’t repotted yet.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

The roots are not that vigorous on this.

I also am not 100% certain this is in fact common buckthorn. Here are some more pictures of the other one from the glass jar.




Im going to slowly continue to raise this one up in the pot continuously revealing the root structure.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Before and after:

 

[A. Gorilla]

No. Stop.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

No. Stop.

But I like!

 

[Orion_metalhead]

What a whacky plant.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

End of year. To say progress is slow is an understatement. I took that long whip and wired it for no good reason really. Still don't seem to have cracked the code with this one's development. Roots seem still not particularly rooted so... I'm skipping another year of repot. Will see how it flushes out next spring. Maybe unchecked growth followed by a winter prune, spring wiring is the right move?

Before unwiring:


After wire removed and cleaned up:


Center of tree:

 

[Orion_metalhead]

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Maybe next year it will do something. Its going to get repotted. Lots of little buds.

Had some scale on it to I gave it a hit with neem. Going into the overwinter bed.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Had some aphids on it after prufusely flowering this year. Sprayed it about a week ago with Malathion after soap and water just didnt cut it. Today I cleaned it up, fertilized... marked as a must-repot for next year.

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[Orion_metalhead]

End of year. Needs a repot so marked for that for next year. Would like to move to the right in the pot. Wired the new leader up. Would like a slighly slanted canopy ultimately.

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[Eckhoffw]

View attachment 622347

End of year. Needs a repot so marked for that for next year. Would like to move to the right in the pot. Wired the new leader up. Would like a slighly slanted canopy ultimately.

Jon Norberg Shared a CompanyCam Gallery

Check out these images that Jon Norberg shared using CompanyCam - a must have app for contractors.

app.companycam.com

How will you be wintering it this year?

 

[Orion_metalhead]

On ground outside. If temps are dropping below like... 20F I'll give it some additional protection under the bilco basement stairs but I really don't plan on much honestly.