Spirea cantoniensis 'Reeves'

Hyn Patty

Shohin
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Yes, it needs more pruning - but it is flowering and has lots of flower buds unopened. So for now I have only pruned out dead branches and very, VERY carefully wired the others. One of the oldest branches did crack and being brittle, I may loose it. But I sealed the wound and left the wire in place with another branch near by to move over more to cover that position should I loose that one branch. Otherwise all the rest are wiring up great! Shifted their positions and bit by bit I'll try to get a few more interesting bends going. Then once flowering is finished, I will be cutting out a few branches to tidy it up the chaos and shortening them to make the main trunks a more elegant focal point.

I've always wanted to work on a spirea. I love that this one has tiny baby's breath like flowers and small leaves. But what I like best is the beautiful autumn color this will have! I will definitely be working to make this one smaller and more compact. I only just obtained it so it's a work in progress. Still in the original pot - which is where it will stay for now until we get moved in May. Then I can think about a more suitable container. Comments very welcome! It will also look better with darker wire later.

Wired Spirea.jpgSpirea Flowers.jpg
 

Vin

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I like them as well. Yours seems to be coming along but it sure looks like there's a ton of wire on it. Unfortunately, my Gold Mound looked great after the first year but I haven't been able to duplicate the vigor since. It's still alive but just barely.

DSCF0582.JPG
 

Hyn Patty

Shohin
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Yours looks good! Nice dense foliage! I am sorry to hear it's not doing so well since then.

Once I prune out and shorten more branches and can get mine to thicken up the foliage, I am hoping it'll look better. It needed a lot of wiring though because the stems were bunched up and crowded all together. I wanted to open it up. Meanwhile shaping up some while the branches are pliable enough to take wiring, and deciding which branches I want to remove. I imagine I'll take that next step in May or June. In the future of course I'd only need wire for new growth once the basic spread is set. At least that's my hope.
 

Vin

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Yours looks good! Nice dense foliage! I am sorry to hear it's not doing so well since then.

Once I prune out and shorten more branches and can get mine to thicken up the foliage, I am hoping it'll look better. It needed a lot of wiring though because the stems were bunched up and crowded all together. I wanted to open it up. Meanwhile shaping up some while the branches are pliable enough to take wiring, and deciding which branches I want to remove. I imagine I'll take that next step in May or June. In the future of course I'd only need wire for new growth once the basic spread is set. At least that's my hope.
Mine had a lot of stems as well.

Purchased in 2014:

Spirea Before.jpg

Here it is a couple years ago:

Spiraea japonica March 2016.jpg
 

Hyn Patty

Shohin
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Mine had a lot of stems as well.

Yes, yours looks /much/ better in the second photo once cleaned up. That is exactly what I am aiming for with this one. Do you know about how long I should leave the wire on to set the spread in the branches before I remove it? I'm hoping I can remove it by mid summer? It'll look so much better without it. I really, really appreciate your input, Vin. Thank you.
 
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Vin

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Yes, yours looks /much/ better in the second photo once cleaned up. That is exactly what I am aiming for with this one. Do you know about how long I should leave the wire on to set the spread in the branches before I remove it? I'm hoping I can remove it by mid summer? It'll look so much better without it. I really, really appreciate your input, Vin. Thank you.
A long long long time.
 

Hyn Patty

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Then I will wait and see. Later this year I may rewire it with a darker wire and see how much I can get away with not wiring, and still retain the overall spread it needs. Thanks. You have been very, very helpful.
 
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