Unusual Arbutus

[ColinFraser]

View media item 985

Hi folks; I'm new to the forums and fairly new to bonsai (<2 years). I'm hoping for some feedback on this plant, but I'm also learning how to post/breaking the ice

So, formalities aside, I have this weird Arbutus (strawberry tree) that I picked up cheap at a local landscape nursery. I bought it late last year, so I left it pretty much alone over the coldest months (dec/jan here) even though it is seriously rootbound. It was the size and character of the base that wouldn't let me walk away for something like $15 . . . View media item 986
Now my trees, including this one, are starting to wake up (welcome to California) - I figure it's time to do something with it. The base is lovely, but then it has a big fork and a distressingly long straight section. Atop that are a couple of fairly nicely developed cascading/twisted branches. The other fork has more movement, but still straightens out and ends abruptly (although with small leads near the end).

View media item 991View media item 990View media item 989View media item 988View media item 987
The way I see it, my options are something like these:
1) Keep the straight section and go for something Bunjin-esque, removing the other main sub-trunk.
2) Remove the straight section (perhaps air layer the top) and work with the curvier trunk.
3) Chop the straight trunk an inch or two in and use back budding to develop more movement/taper down the line - this obviously also involves removing the other sub-trunk.
4) something I haven't thought of yet.

The 3rd option makes a lot of sense to me, but there is something really compelling about the twisted and cascading top section that stays my hand when I think about chopping it. I would love to hear thoughts on it, plus any tips if anyone has experience with these.

Finally, I'm thinking I'll just slip pot it up for now, but I really do want to get at the roots and open up that brick! Any suggestions for the order and timing of work would also be appreciated.

 

[edprocoat]

Colin do you know if this species backbuds well or even at all ? Some types abandon branches unless there is some active growing leafs to keep the nutrients flowing while others will backbud from a bare trunk. that is too nice a base to take a chance on losing it without really knowing it will survive such treatment. Personally I would cut off the lower trunk with the odd bend in it and be happy with the beautiful Bunjin that is waiting there for some minor refinement ! The leaves look naturally small to begin with, another bonus !

ed

 

[sorce]

Colin,
Great stache! Great tree!

I'd cut it first about 3 inches past that new bud on the curvy trunk. See what it does. A\L the top at a height and angle to make a cascade from the top of the straight trunk and cascading branch.

Found this. And another page that said they layer.
http://www.kaizenbonsai.com/blog/bonsai-gallery/the-strawberry-tree/

Sorce

 

[ColinFraser]

Colin do you know if this species backbuds well or even at all ? Some types abandon branches unless there is some active growing leafs to keep the nutrients flowing while others will backbud from a bare trunk. that is too nice a base to take a chance on losing it without really knowing it will survive such treatment. Personally I would cut off the lower trunk with the odd bend in it and be happy with the beautiful Bunjin that is waiting there for some minor refinement ! The leaves look naturally small to begin with, another bonus !

ed

Thanks for your input. I believe these back bud pretty well. I had a smaller one a while back (but killed it with clumsy aggressive root work); I did a severe chop leaving only a tuft of foliage and got several buds low on the remaining trunk.

In fact, in the 4th and 5th photos you can see an adventitious bud popping on the back of the curving trunk of this one right now!

 

[ColinFraser]

Colin,
Great stache! Great tree!

I'd cut it first about 3 inches past that new bud on the curvy trunk. See what it does. A\L the top at a height and angle to make a cascade from the top of the straight trunk and cascading branch.

Found this. And another page that said they layer.
http://www.kaizenbonsai.com/blog/bonsai-gallery/the-strawberry-tree/

Sorce

Thanks on all counts!

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Interesting material. Nice, thanks for sharing.
The first 4 inches of the trunk are totally cool, making this tree worth working on. A worthy long term project. Ten years down the road this could be a very cool bonsai.

I'm not trying to be harsh, but if it were mine, I would chop every branch back to just 2 leaves, put out in the yard and let it grow. Goal is to force as much back budding on the lower sections of the trunk. Let it grow out one full summer, see what sprouts, repeat the next growing season. Keep this up for as much as 5 years, though you might get lucky and get enough low branches in 2 or 3 years. Down the road you should have a dense bush with lots of branches to choose from. That is when I would begin to think about a style, not before. As I see it, none of the branches that currently exist I would use in any design. Both trunks have excessively long straight sections, those straight sections are unattractive and should be eliminated when possible. So all the stuff on top past the straight sections will eventually be gone. As I see it the final tree will come from branches that come from back budding within 4 or 5 inches of the base of the tree. You want back buds to develop low enough that they are in the curvy section of the base of the trunk.

When you repot, select and arrange the roots, to form a nice radial root flair, but don't expose the roots yet, pot it deep enough to keep the root flare buried half an inch. This will help the base and surface roots to thicken. Don't repot every spring, just once to sort out and arrange the roots and then only when the soil stops draining well.

I really like the base of this tree, it could be quite a nice specimen down the road.

 

[ColinFraser]

Interesting material. Nice, thanks for sharing . . .

I'm not trying to be harsh, but if it were mine, I would chop every branch back to just 2 leaves, put out in the yard and let it grow. Goal is to force as much back budding on the lower sections of the trunk . . .
As I see it the final tree will come from branches that come from back budding within 4 or 5 inches of the base of the tree. You want back buds to develop low enough that they are in the curvy section of the base of the trunk . . .

I really like the base of this tree, it could be quite a nice specimen down the road.

Thanks Leo; I feel like I'm starting to get my eye dialed in when it comes to trolling nurseries for stock.

Your suggestion isn't any harsher than my instinct to cut the whole top off! I recently turned two ten-foot tall bald cypress into forearm sized stumps, and it didn't seem harsh at all.

Because of the leaf size of this, I think I might need a bit more trunk than just the interesting bit at the bottom. Don't you think I would need to grow and chop at least one more section on top of the good part to get some height, taper, and movement (perhaps that is what you were saying and I'm misunderstanding)? If the first branch is 4" from the soil, the pendulous flowers/fruit might drag on the ground . . . Or, were you thinking something like a broom, with branches/sub-trunks rising more upright from a squat base? I just found an inspiring one done that way:
http://www.animabonsai.com/?p=2846#!prettyPhoto

I really appreciate the feedback I'm getting here, and I'm enjoying thinking about the options.

 

[sorce]

It'll be way sooner that you get low branches. That bottom cut has 3 buds at the collar already!

Looks like a prolific backbudder!

I'd waste no time, I

 

[sorce]

As Arnold would say....

Get to the chopper!

Sorce

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Colin, I suggested chopping back everything to 2 leaves because I did not know Arbutus would survive a total trunk chop. Clearly from the link to Andrija and Marija's site - it will survive a drastic trunk chop. So with that piece of information, I would change my suggestion to chopping the whole thing down, to eliminate all the straight branches - I'd chop about 2 inches above the curvy section of trunk. Re- grow the entire top of the tree. Their model is a good idea, though your tree may or may not co-operate, I say go for it.

 

[ColinFraser]

I am leaning increasingly toward the big chop! Soon . . . and when I do, I will definitely update with pictures.

If we assume for the moment that I'm doing the drastic chop now, does it make sense to reduce the pot-bound roots at the same time? Or, would it be better to allow the roots to push stored energy into new buds for a few months before reducing them?

 

[ColinFraser]

The time has come!


A client cancelled at work today, so I have an unexpected afternoon off - no time like the present! I'll try to take and post some more pictures as I go along.

 

[ColinFraser]

I decided I didn't really care that much about air layering the top; it's the base I'm into.



I decided to initially cut back to a small live branch, just for extra insurance:



As soon as buds break lower, I will cut the telephone pole back significantly.
You can probably also see in the latter photo that the base continued to flare under what was the previous soil line . . . more on that to come . . .

 

[ColinFraser]

It just keeps going! I got excited "digging for gold", but I don't want to get gold fever and overdo it.

 

[ColinFraser]

The big root on the left may emerge too high to be useful if I want to take advantage of the buried treasure in the future. For the moment I'm leaving it.

 

[ColinFraser]

For now, I buried it again, close to the original soil line, but in something with significantly better drainage. When I removed it from the 5-gallon pot, there was a layer of muck in the bottom that didn't even have any roots in it. Near the surface, there were a few strangling and crossing roots that I tried to mitigate, but I kept reminding myself that I read these may be sensitive to too much root work. I was able to remove a bit more of the nursery soil from the bottom and sides just using the hose.

 

[ColinFraser]

 

[ColinFraser]

That's it for today. I think I've earned a reward.

 

[ColinFraser]

I'm new to the forums and fairly new to bonsai (<2 years)

Well call me Brian Williams. While looking through some photos, I discovered that "about a year" would be a better description of the elapsed time since my interest in Bonsai really began. Technically yes, that is less than 2 years, but it isn't very accurate. It sure feels like longer (grow already!!), but I don't want to be claiming more experience than I have.

Since "EDIT" functionality appears to be very limited on BNut2.0, I am adding this as a quote/reply to my original message.
Cheers,

 

[Vin]

Colin, I like the material. Unfortunately, I think you should have gone even further and removed the middle trunk completely or saved a nub for jinning. It has no taper and is arrow straight. Just my opinion though.