The little big azalea

october

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Hello all,
This is an azalea I have been trainign for about 4 years... It took a very bad hit last year. My hose nozzle was on jet and not shower.. The stream blew the entire back (about 35%) of the tree right off. Also, the tree fell about 8 feet off the ledge onto the cement and the pot shattered.

The tree was immediatly put into a large, for it's size, grow pot and left alone for almost a year. Here is the tree now. It has started to replace the lost back and in some ways, the tree actually looks better. It was put in a new pot that is almost identical to the old one. The tree is about 4 inches tall with about a 2 1/2 inch base.

Rob
 

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october

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Hello Dave.. Thanks and great to hear from you... Ya, I went up for the first work shop of the season a couple of weeks ago and thought.. man no Dave this year...I will say that out of all the material brought to the workshops over the years. I probably looked forward to seeing your projects the most.

Ya, this tree took a big hit and suffered quite a bit of damage, you would never know it though. Even the entire back that broke off is starting to look good again.

Also, I would really like to see your shohin azaleas.

Rob
 

R_F

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Rob I like it! You've been posting a lot of quality stuff lately...thanks for sharing.
 

october

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Thanks Ryan, I have been working for about a month now refining and reworking all my trees that I kind of let grow willd last season.
 

october

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For those interested in the 4-5 year progression of this tree.

Pic 1 is the tree with a few branches removed, root pruned and taken from a 1 gallon put into a bonsai pot.

Pic 2 is the tree 2 years later put into a smaller pot and a cut was made in the nebari in a workshop.

Pic 3. At this point, with a different pot and the nebari looking good, it was time for a rework. Pretty much the entire middle and upper tree were cut off leaving only a some main branches that eminated off the trunk. Also, rather than use a thick gauge wire it would have taken to bend these branches, I opted to just kind of guy wire them in place. This was also, so that the new, tender buds would not be compromised.

Pic 4 is the tree after it filled in

Pic 5 is the tree last year before the damage had occured. As you can see, the tree was kind of a broom style canopy with an informal upright trunk. With the elimination of the back and the tree sending up a new apex, the tree has some nice movement now. A slight tilt on the planting angle this year accentuated this movement as well.
 

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ericN

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a really nice little tree rob!;)

eric
 

HotAction

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Nice tree. Falling off the ledge may have been the best thing that could have happened:eek:

Dave
 

october

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Hello HotAction.....lol.. I thought the exact same thing..Amazing how the breaking off of about 1/3 of the back opened it up to show some nice movement to the left.. That and the fact that the tree is sending up a new leader in the exact right place on it's own is pretty amazing...Trees are truly one of natures greatest creations

Rob
 
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