Crying Nursery Ilex Vomitoria

I got this plant yesterday, I forgot to take a picture of it before I pruned it. All input is definitely welcome.

The straight branches are a bit too long...some of it I will chop down by 1/2 to 2/3.

Yeah I wasn't too sure how much to take off...so I decided to stop before I did too much. I'll probably sit down with it again tomorrow and do a little more, with a fresh mind and some input from you guys.

Luckily, I. vomitoria buds back with some ease. You're always wise, however, to leave some green on each branch when you prune it severely as you did here.

Oh dang, I appreciate the heads up. I tried to read up on these before I cut them, and saw several people saying that they could be cut back to no leaves. I have two smaller ilexes, and I'll be sure to leave some green on them.

As I said, you're probably all right. I. vomitoria does bud back regularly. It was just a caution for the future not to remove all the foliage until you know how that plant works. You did fine on the boxwood. If you had taken all the green of of it, you'd probably have been in trouble.

I'm hoping to maybe turn the larger cut mark (in the first pic, at the bottom of te trunk) into a hollow. Any suggestions on when to do something like that? Should I let it start to callous over first or should I go ahead and do it now?

Don't worry, I picked up a few Ilex that were dug and left exposed maybe a couple of days 2 weeks ago. I chopped them hard w/o any leaves left....3 of 4 have buds now.

They are as shown here https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t10505-added-2-big-boxwood-4-ilex-to-my-collection-d-pics-added#110914

Yep, that's actually one of the places that I read these could be cut back to no leaves. Good luck with your's and thanks for commenting.

I wouldn't be concerned with hollowing that out now. I think it would be too stressful on the tree. Let it recover and start pushing new growth first.

Sounds good. Thanks Ryan.

Mr. Carter wrote:Yeah I wasn't too sure how much to take off...so I decided to stop before I did too much. I'll probably sit down with it again tomorrow and do a little more, with a fresh mind and some input from you guys.

If you will do it, do it soon so your new growth will be on the right location. I (personally) hate/regret cutting branch later on full of new growth...just because I hesitated earlier. I know it is hard and I still fall victim trying to save branches I don't need but it gets easier in time.

Good luck!!!

I'm about to go do it right now. But before I do, would you suggest I go ahead and cut off all the branches I don't want? I already have a design for the tree, the tallest branch in the picture will be the trunk line (but much shorter). But I left others just in case I didn't get buds where I wanted them...so I'd have options. So do you think I should go ahead and do away with everything that I don't want now, or leave some for a "plan B"?

I usually leave extra on newly collected trees because of possible die back (for various reasons) but on established Ilex, I will take out all branches that I don't need esp. since you totally defoliated it already anyway.

I hate to resurrect this thread, but my ilex is crying. One of the wounds seems to constantly leak water out of it. I'm unsure what to do and how bad this might be. After noticing it, I tried to seal the wound with Vaseline...that's all I had on hand at the time. Any help?
Thanks.

Have you reduced the rootball yet? Azaleas are bad about this seeping too. Cut off the bottom half, and it will stop. Yaupons are really tough, but DO NOT hollow out anything on a yaupon. Seal your cuts when you make them, Tight Bond II glue (exterior wood glue) works great.

And I can do it at this time of year? It's been ridiculously hot here lately, towards the hundreds. Also, when using a glue like that, do I peel it off later or what? I've never used anything to seal wounds before, so a little advice would be great. Thanks.

Yeah, it is a little late. Maybe just take the bottom third. Yaupons can take a lot of abuse.

I always seal cuts, or at least try to. You don't have to peel anything off. If I remember correctly, the big yaupon I had didn't heal over quickly like a maple of elm.

[quote="Poink88"]
I (personally) hate/regret cutting branch later on full of new growth...just because I hesitated earlier. I know it is hard and I still fall victim trying to save branches I don't need but it gets easier in time.[quote]



woohooo .....does this mean you've finally gone back and cut all the stumpy stumps off in the right places? it will be good to see the pictures of the trunk lines you've decided on...and the pile of spare bits !

On this one now it has no green left remove all bits not needed flush with the trunk, hollow the cut a little and cover the wounds to preserve more moisture in the trunk. In honesty none of the branches are much use in the future design as they are thick and very upward - I'd select new branches from the mop of shoots that are going to come. Any you are unsure of leave 1" stubs and select 2 buds from the ends - that is plenty to start the new branch structure from on a short tree.

cheers Marcus

marcus watts wrote:
On this one now it has no green left remove all bits not needed flush with the trunk, hollow the cut a little and cover the wounds to preserve more moisture in the trunk. In honesty none of the branches are much use in the future design as they are thick and very upward - I'd select new branches from the mop of shoots that are going to come. Any you are unsure of leave 1" stubs and select 2 buds from the ends - that is plenty to start the new branch structure from on a short tree.

uite agree. I would at least remove the lowest thick branch, flush with the trunk. Then decide whether you want to get a sharp bend, or a smooth continuing trunkline, keep the one branc needed for than, and remove all other branch stumbs too.

Just a heads up. I lost 2 I collected due to winter. I didn't protect the roots in any way. Someone here warned me of this, I was just silly for not remembering.

When they were around... I did however cut them back hard the year before and had excessive back budding and branch growth the same year they were exhumed. They were very easy to work with. Lots of fun.

marcus watts wrote:

woohooo .....does this mean you've finally gone back and cut all the stumpy stumps off in the right places? it will be good to see the pictures of the trunk lines you've decided on...and the pile of spare bits !

Marcus,

I treat my plants differently. As mentioned, I keep more branches than needed on newly collected plants in case of die backs. I do try to cut them as short as needed (again depends on the plant, style, etc.). If you are referring to the azalea, I did not touch it yet. Even my collected Ilex that were chopped hard have a lot of extra branches that I will probably remove early Spring.

Ignoring some wise advise earlier on, I learned the lesson the hard way. I now concentrate on the tree survival first, styling 2nd.

Thanks for all the responses. This tree has under gone more pruning since I posted those pictures. Every branch was cut off completely, flush with the trunk, apart from the tallest branch in the first picture, which was shortened to about an inch long. That will be a section of the trunk. It's still leaking profusely, but I haven't had a chance to remove any roots or reseal the wounds yet. Any other advice?

Also, I'm wondering how bad this could be if the tree kept on leaking water like it is.