Using redwood sorrel with my Coastal Redwood pre-bonsai trees

nichieagle0000

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Hello,
I am pretty new to bonsai, and I am working with some young Coastal Redwood trees I harvested from the wild in November. I have this question: is it safe to introduce redwood sorrel for aesthetics and as ground cover that occurs naturally in their habitat? If not, could you please explain why? I read that redwood sorrel can become invasive, but in this case it will be confined to the pot, so this should not be an issue. Could it compete for nutrients with my establishing Redwood trees? Thank you in advance for any insight.
 

R0b

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Hello,
I am pretty new to bonsai, and I am working with some young Coastal Redwood trees I harvested from the wild in November. I have this question: is it safe to introduce redwood sorrel for aesthetics and as ground cover that occurs naturally in their habitat? If not, could you please explain why? I read that redwood sorrel can become invasive, but in this case it will be confined to the pot, so this should not be an issue. Could it compete for nutrients with my establishing Redwood trees? Thank you in advance for any insight.
As it is a rhizome developing species I would say no. Some plants are possible to combine but the more aggressive their growth the more competition they will cause. A larger / deeper pot will lessen this effect but I prefers moss. i have tried to combine plants as well but started eradication.
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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No. Oxalis are known to launch their seeds everywhere and they're generally considered a pest plant because they're so difficult to get rid of. Within a year they'll pop up everywhere and their root systems dive deep, so deep that they are competing with bonsai for soil space.
Most succulents are considered to be generally safe because they have so few roots that usually don't dig very deep. So even if those grow like weeds, you can basically pick them off and they wouldn't pose a problem.
 

nichieagle0000

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Makes sense. Thank you. I was thinking about adding moss as well, so that's the route I'll take.
 
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LittleDingus

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I've used different varieties of thyme under trees. There are some very low creeping varieties that make nice ground covers. Other varieties grow more upright like shrubs.

20210801_172603.jpg

Just a thought...
 

LittleDingus

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I used to live near a nursery that stocked about 30 types of thyme in 2 1/2" pots pretty much year round. Enough variety to mimic many types of undergrowth in miniature. I've used it a lot in landscape plantings :) But we've since moved :(

Same place had 16 flavors of mint...I have a different flavor of mint planted under each of my apples trees in the new yard! The strawberry mint smells sublime when you brush it. The ginger mint is a bit...odd...
 

Shibui

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Any plant sharing a pot will compete with nutrients and water. With bonsai pots being small that competition can have big impact on the primary tree, even more if the additional plant is strong and invasive.
Agree with the others that oxalis is very invasive. You are likely to get one as a weed in potted plants anyway and have more than enough problems. No point introducing more.
 

nichieagle0000

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Any plant sharing a pot will compete with nutrients and water. With bonsai pots being small that competition can have big impact on the primary tree, even more if the additional plant is strong and invasive.
Agree with the others that oxalis is very invasive. You are likely to get one as a weed in potted plants anyway and have more than enough problems. No point introducing more.
Got it! My bonsai definitely don't need competition, other than the moss but that will actually help the tree by retaining moisture. Great ideas and information!
 

nichieagle0000

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I used to live near a nursery that stocked about 30 types of thyme in 2 1/2" pots pretty much year round. Enough variety to mimic many types of undergrowth in miniature. I've used it a lot in landscape plantings :) But we've since moved :(

Same place had 16 flavors of mint...I have a different flavor of mint planted under each of my apples trees in the new yard! The strawberry mint smells sublime when you brush it. The ginger mint is a bit...odd...
I may try finding some strawberry mint to try it, just for fun! Thanks!
 

LittleDingus

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I may try finding some strawberry mint to try it, just for fun! Thanks!

Just be careful where you plant mint. A 2 1/2" pot planted in the ground can become a 3' diameter patch in a season! That's about what my strawberry mint did :) It spreads by underground runners quite easily. And anything above ground that touches the ground roots very easily and spreads runners from there!

In my case, that's what I wanted. I planted a different mint under each of my apple trees with the intent to let them flower away until harvest time...then mow them down for better access to the tree. But my food orchard is loosely sprawled across about 2 acres and I don't care if the mint "gets away". I'm not a fan of well manicured lawns and mint smells heavenly when mowed ;)

Mint can be tough to corral in a small space...
 

nichieagle0000

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Just be careful where you plant mint. A 2 1/2" pot planted in the ground can become a 3' diameter patch in a season! That's about what my strawberry mint did :) It spreads by underground runners quite easily. And anything above ground that touches the ground roots very easily and spreads runners from there!

In my case, that's what I wanted. I planted a different mint under each of my apple trees with the intent to let them flower away until harvest time...then mow them down for better access to the tree. But my food orchard is loosely sprawled across about 2 acres and I don't care if the mint "gets away". I'm not a fan of well manicured lawns and mint smells heavenly when mowed ;)

Mint can be tough to corral in a small space...
I would plant it in a pot, so no problem with it spreading. I don't have the real estate to plant in the ground at this time. But thank you for the info!
 
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