Unknown species restyling

[youngsai]

I have two main questions.

1.) Any advice on the restyling
1.a.) Does the pot I showed work for this tree, I do not like it in the rectangular red sharp cornered pot its in now.

2.) Can anyone tell me the species

This tree is one of a bunch I will be asking advice on in this forum. I have acquired many many many many trees since my first few posts a couple years back, and I have read alot of books and done workshops and what not. However, I am still very unsure about styling sometimes, and don't like moving on major work unless I hear others advice.

I am also volunteering at a local garden that inherited a bunch of ancient bonsai from a local businessman. The material is old and beautiful, but is losing its beauty as bonsai because of lack of care and knowledge. With your help, I would like to fix this, if I can. I will make a distinction from my trees and theirs. This is one of theirs.

This tree is an indoor tree, and is light in wood and thick leaved not unlike a succulent, but it is not a succulent, it's like a semi-succulent if that exists haha. Anyways, any advice would be greatly appreciated.












Here are a few different replanting options, the first one is what I think was meant for the old front, but who ever planted it must have placed the front of the tree to the side of the pot.

 

[youngsai]

Sorry, the second photo is the front as it is shown in the greenhouse right now. Here is the photo of the pot i would like to put it in, this pot is awesome, a dark green glaze is dripping down in a few places of the rim, the rest of it is old and craggy-looking, a light reddish gray unglazed. the shape is round but its not perfectly round, it sort of undulates at the perimeter.

 

[youngsai]

here is a very terrible virt in the new pot. Please tell me what you think.

 

[october]

Usually tropical/ sub tropical/succulent trees are put in glazed pots that have color. Generally earth tone, unglazed pots are for conifers. However, this is not always the case and there are always exceptions. This tree does have aged bark so you could use that pot. However, I think before you go ahead, try maybe a blue or maybe a pot with earth tones, but glazed and a different tone. Also, I think a more smoother shaped pot would fit better. Round might be best or maybe even oval.

Rob

 

[bonsaibp]

I believe it is a Natal Plum.

 

[youngsai]

Thanks guys, now having looked at natal plum, I definitely agree with you. The leaves look the same as does the foliage growth habits and bark. Any advice on styling? I wanna do this tree justice, it has lot's of potential. It is a beautiful tree in person. I think it can make a nice literati. Thoughts?

 

[october]

Either pic 2 or 4 could be the front. Probably 4 might be a little better. I think cutting back the branches a bit making them little shorter might improve the design. Other than that, I like the natural look of this tree. I would like to add that although I do not keep this species, I think the tree could be a little healthier. I am not sure if repotting and styling at this time are a good idea. If you do repot, I would do it gently. Comb out the roots, but maybe not cut them. Then plant it in good bonsai soil soil. If the soil that it is currently in is not bad, you could just shorten some branches and repot next year. You might want to share a little history about this tree. How long have you had it, when was the last time it was repotted, what kind of soil is it in etc.? This might help us give better advice.

Rob

 

[youngsai]

This tree is a tree belonging to a bonsai collection in a town garden I volunteer in. A prominent businessman passed away some years back and gave his entire collection to this garden. I have been left with the exciting & daunting task of bringing this collection to it's potential glory (both health-wise and stylistically). Many of the trees seem root-bound, and all of them need styling work. But there are some phenomenal trees there, this being one of them.

This tree is being kept in the greenhouse, with the bougainvillae and orchids, and I do not believe it has ever been root pruned. While most of the foliage looks quite healthy, 1 to 3 leaves on every branch was yellowed and were removed quite easily. This tree is quite old, some of the trees in this collection have been bonsai for over a hundred years. They have done their best to keep the trees healthy, but do not use bonsai soil. I will be changing that (on that note, what soil mix should I use? I was thinking 1 part high fired clay, 1 part large particle sand, 1 part volcanic rock). Now because this tree is in a pretty good health I was planning on wiring it while knowing what pot it will be repotted into, but not actually repotting until next spring. However, there are some Bougainvillae that are yellowing quite severely, and I think I should repot those soon. Also, should these be moved outside the greenhouse?

In fact, perhaps I should start a thread maybe labeled as "Town Garden Collection" and throw everything I get from them on there? What do you think?

 

[october]

This tree is a tree belonging to a bonsai collection in a town garden I volunteer in. A prominent businessman passed away some years back and gave his entire collection to this garden. I have been left with the exciting & daunting task of bringing this collection to it's potential glory (both health-wise and stylistically). Many of the trees seem root-bound, and all of them need styling work. But there are some phenomenal trees there, this being one of them.

This tree is being kept in the greenhouse, with the bougainvillae and orchids, and I do not believe it has ever been root pruned. While most of the foliage looks quite healthy, 1 to 3 leaves on every branch was yellowed and were removed quite easily. This tree is quite old, some of the trees in this collection have been bonsai for over a hundred years. They have done their best to keep the trees healthy, but do not use bonsai soil. I will be changing that (on that note, what soil mix should I use? I was thinking 1 part high fired clay, 1 part large particle sand, 1 part volcanic rock). Now because this tree is in a pretty good health I was planning on wiring it while knowing what pot it will be repotted into, but not actually repotting until next spring. However, there are some Bougainvillae that are yellowing quite severely, and I think I should repot those soon. Also, should these be moved outside the greenhouse?

In fact, perhaps I should start a thread maybe labeled as "Town Garden Collection" and throw everything I get from them on there? What do you think?

Might be a good idea to post a thread with most or all these trees in the "General" section on this forum.

Rob

 

[youngsai]

Ok, I will be doing this. I will be taking your advice and putting off the shaping of this tree as well, since as a literati it will need heavy pruning and will not be able to withstand that in this season. This will be the last post on this, I will be posting all the trees from the garden on a new thread. I will post the link to the new thread after my Calc2 test on Wednesday, which is by far the bane of my existence.

 

[edprocoat]

That's definitely a Natal Plum.

ed

 

[youngsai]

Yea, this was my first experience with Natal plum, even the first time I've ever seen the species, so I had no clue, thanks for clarifying. I wired the tree, but then realized that that is not what it needs, it needs a haircut.

I will be removing some of the foliage to make this more a literati than it is now. Wiring, I found out, is definitely not an option for this species, it's definitely clip-and-grow.

 

[edprocoat]

Yea they are pretty brittle. You can wire the new shoots when they are still green. They do back bud well though so do not be afraid to cut back haard if you feel it needs it. You will also find the upper branches will quickly outgrow the trunk too. That is the weirdest thing I know about this plant, let a branch grow out and it gets bigger than the trunk while the trunk stays the same.

ed

 

[youngsai]

Ok, that is good to know, since that it is the case, then I'm thinking about cutting it down to the first branch on the right (using picture 4 as my front), letting that that first branch on the right fill in as the apex, and styling it as a far shorter literati.

What do you think of that?


If I cut off that top growth, will this work like a succulent and root if I plant it?

 

[lordy]

Ok, that is good to know, since that it is the case, then I'm thinking about cutting it down to the first branch on the right (using picture 4 as my front), letting that that first branch on the right fill in as the apex, and styling it as a far shorter literati.

What do you think of that?


If I cut off that top growth, will this work like a succulent and root if I plant it?

I have successfully rooted natal plum cuttings. I think I did mine in water only until I saw roots then put it in pumice. The photo below is the parent tree from which my cutting came. This tree belongs to a fellow club member.