I like your virt. I think I would let it grow out for a year or two then chop it back so that the trunk gets quite a bit thicker, then work on creating the canopy.
Thank you for your reply. Where would you suggest making a chop?
Coral is an appropriate rock for it to grow on, but I'd wish this was a much larger piece.
You're on the right track.
JKL,
I agree; I have had this thought myself. Perhaps I will find a larger and more interesting piece of coral for this project.
Hello JD SouthFL, welcome to the BNut house. I assume you are in South Florida? The best advice I can give you about these schefflera is go check out David Fukumoto's website FukuBonsai.com . He's located in Hawaii. There's a lot of good info and inspirational pictures of these bonsai on there.
About your tree, I will echo what JKL said, and that is it is too small. It will never grow in a small and compact look like that. Your vision for it is not realistic if you are aiming for a natural banyan style tree. The compound leaves on these schefflera are too big to fit into your design. If you want a classical banyan style tree, then your design needs to be much bigger. The fastest way to do that is to get a bigger rock and tie a bunch of small trunks together and let them grow freely for about 4-5 years in the ground. Then chop it back hard to about 24 inch and then start branch ramifications. In your climate, you should be able to get a really nice bonsai in only about 5-6 years.
I have seen super nice almost shohin size schefflera bonsai, about 9-10 in tall, but they are not of a classical banyan style, instead, in this size, they would have to be more of a bunjin style design with just few leaves. But they also need to be grown out in the ground freely for 4-5 years in order for them to acquire the grey bark of a mature tree and to lose the green color trunk.
Do a search here for pics of other schefflera too.
Good luck.
Si
Si,
Thank you for your warm welcome as well as your informative advice. You are correct in that I am located in South Florida.
I have made a point of it to read every single webpage on the Fuku Bonsai website. Talk about a wealth of knowledge! I often find myself going back to the website and studying it in my downtime. I have also read every thread on B-Nut containing the word "schefflera".
I don't think that JKL was referring to the size of this plant, but rather the size of the piece of coral I have placed it on. Perhaps I am incorrect. JKL, could you chime in on this?
Fusing several young scheffleras would certainly create a very interesting and desirable look. You may have inspired me to begin a new project.
Perhaps my goal of 9-10" is idealistic. Most schefflera banyans that I have seen in this size have canopies that appear rather immature, and that is not the image I am trying to acheive. A finished height of around 15" would be more viable.
I have only ever seen "bunjin" style scheffleras larger than 9-10", but I imagine such a design could be accomplished in a smaller size. None of the people whom are in my area and who work with this species have trees like you are describing. However, I have seen larger "bunjin" style scheffleras on the Fuku Bonsai website. It is quite an attractive design.
It will be difficult if not impossible to achieve that look at that small of a
View attachment 37358 size. This one is almost 6' across.
Agraham,
Thank you for the fair warning! Fortunately, a very healthy and prolific scheff can stand to be defoliated up to twice in a year (and partially defoliated on a nearly constant basis). It also helps to live in an area with a 365 day growing season
As such I am fairly confident that I can keep the foliage miniaturized once I have developed a more mature branch structure. However until I am able to develop the branch structure that I desire I will have a plant that looks very young and immature, with large leaves and a thin canopy.
Irregardless, I will take this "difficulty" in stride and accept it as a challenge.
-JD
