Collected Boxwood 1

Here is a progression of one of my (free) collected boxwood.  

As collected - February 26, 2012




As of April 15, 2012 (less than 2 months after) After a pot adjustment and more pruning.


As of May 19, 2012 (3 months from collection)


As of October, 2012 (8 months from collection)


As of 04/02/2013


As of 04/18/2013..re-styled and did a minor carving


As of 05/19/2013...after some wiring and lowering the right branch.


As of Aug. 24, 2013 (18 months from collection)
Most wires removed and further trimming.


I am not happy with the dual apex so I destroyed this bonsai around fall last year.  
As of 04/27/2014 I repotted it (Bryan Albright pot) and trimmed some.  Not the best pot but the only one I have available for now at this size.  Will find a better pot later.

Still a long way to go but I am happier with my "step back" and should be moving forward from now on.


Did two (2) more main branch reductions after the last photo and more wiring...looking better IMHO but maybe it is just me.  Not much growth since because of our HOT summer (high 90*F to mid 100*F most of the time).

Will post update later.

Great material. Why not remove those lower spindly branches? I believe a much older image would emerge. Thanks for sharing regardless, keep us posted-Jacob

appalachianOwl wrote:Great material. Why not remove those lower spindly branches? I believe a much older image would emerge. Thanks for sharing regardless, keep us posted-Jacob

That is funny because everyone used to tell me not to remove the 2 at the left but I did. Now the opposite is being suggested, which is to take out more.

I know what you mean because the lowest branch should be the thickest but would rather work with what I have now and sort of make it work. It is not that small so hopefully, I can make it catch up some by weakening the higher branches some.

I appreciate the feedback. Thanks!

Sorry for the pics BTW, I'll fix it later. Apparently my photobucket pics are so much bigger here. It fits the screen well in the other forum.

I thought the all the branches looked great, I would have left them alone . Go by your gut feeling on the style not other opinions.
To many cooks spoil the broth.

Very nice tree though.

I like what you have done, Dario, I was partial to the twin apex though. This one has really done good in a short amount of time. By the way, the airlayer that you sent me is doing great and will get a pot this coming spring.

John

Letting the lower but smaller branches grow wild should also speed up their thickening, no?

Precarious wrote:Letting the lower but smaller branches grow wild should also speed up their thickening, no?

Yes it would. Dario's plan to weaken the crown and other upper areas to divert energy to the lower areas while letting them grow wild, is the way I would proceed as well. Sacrificial growth will aid in this.

Letting the lower branches grow wild without interrupting apical dominance will still thicken them up but not as quickly as when the apex and upper areas of the tree are significantly thinned out.

Garrett

btw, nice tree Dario. I like the reductions you've done so far, less is often more in this art.

Always liked this tree!!! Keep everything in my opinion.

Thanks for keeping us updated!!!

Have a great week!!!
Sam

Dario,

very nicely done, though you seem to be fighting with the two top branches trying to bring them into proportion.

Instead of removing them you could have simply grown the tree a little taller.

Additionally, we have many trees with smaller branches at the base, so your tree just looks very normal to me.
I might be a bit concerned about the cavity at the base, but you could sink the tree a little and get the bark to keep on sealing it up.
Hopefully your new images will be more green and no attempts at driftwood on the poor tree.
Watching and waiting.
Once again, well done.
Khaimraj

You made an interesting choice.

Keeping the other apical stem, instead, would have made the classic static deciduous tree image. As I see it, your choice makes a dynamic trunk with sweeping motion to the left. Now, I think the branches on the right need to be shorter - is it possible to chase the foliage on these back toward the trunk? This, I think would ease the discord/conflict between the motion of the trunk and weight of the foliage. Sometimes such discordance is a good thing, but it just feels to strong, to me, presently.

Thanks guys.

0soyoung, you are correct and spot on.  The 2 reductions I mentioned on the OP are:

- The branch going to top-right (2 o'clock) have been reduced to half...all the visible branch about halfway is now gone and a smaller back branch replaced every thing there.

- The apex was also lowered a bit.  I removed the last branch and chopped it down to the 2nd to the last branch.

2 small changes that kicked it up a notch and has much nicer "dome" now.


The left branch is also bent more and the main reason I haven't posted any current pics yet...it has guy wires, turnbuckles, jacks, etc. right now.

Khaimraj, I felt making it shorter and wider will create an older look.  Only time can tell if my choices are right. The cavity at the base is one of the nice features I liked on this tree actually. It is healing over though and a bit smaller now than when i collected it.

Sam, Thanks.

Garrett & Precarious, you are correct. That was the plan.

John, Good to hear.  Looking forward seeing what you do with it.

Judgie, Thanks.

I like where you are going with this tree. I would add that it should be potted more to the left in the pot. It moves to the right and looks a bit like its trying to escape. Just to keep in mind for the next repot.

Todd

Quick virtual of a shift to the left. I like it." />

Precarious wrote:Quick virtual of a shift to the left.  I like it.

Thanks and I appreciate the effort.  However, I still prefer the original potting position.  Note that the left will eventually get heavier in proportion to what it looks like now.  The tree might get rotated counter clockwise a tad bit but will most likely stay where it is in relation to the pot.  

Thank you.

Nice one Dario!
You must be enjoying it a lot...