My Serissa Foetida

Initial styling and hard pruning



Hey every one, I am new to a forum so please bare with me . This is a serissa that I got in May, the pot is just a cheap training pot. Im just looking for a critique or any suggestions.

Thanks

Again the photo is too small to do justice to any suggestion, but Serrisa wants to have multiple trunks, but to be a decent bonsai you usually have to remove most trunks.

I keep trying to post it bigger (1024 px wallpaper) but it keeps going up this size, so im lost

Ok, so I fixed it. I hope this image is better.

You have four major stems, remove three and develop the largest as a single trunk, then wire/develop the branches off that stem.

So you think the multi-trunk plan is no good?

Jake16 wrote:So you think the multi-trunk plan is no good?

Yes

Gotcha thanks for input

Carefully clear around the base... Is it a cluster of separate trees or is it a clump - all from one base?

If the former, then you can try to separate it into 4 separate plants, or spread them out somewhat asymetrically, make them different heights and have a little forest/copse image.

If the latter, choose a trunk and turn it into a single trunk bonsai. Let any shoots low down low grow as sacrifice branches to try and build taper and keep cutting back to lower branches (for the same reason plus shape) else it will look like a cockroach with a spear in it... read the "development" stories here and on other bonsai boards for guidance on how to do this.

Serrissa can be great material, just kind of quirky.

I repotted it this year so I'm assuming that I should wait until next year to do any trunk chopping. When or if i decide to cut the trunks how much pruning can I do at once?

BonsaiJim wrote:Carefully clear around the base... Is it a cluster of separate trees or is it a clump - all from one base?

They want to make clumps, so my guess would be clump. You can remove the stems now.

It depends on the health of the tree. They are sub-tropical so I know I could easily get away with it heading into our fall growth spurt. Unless you are just eliminating trunks, I would cut back to an outfacing thinner branch. Ive had branches die back rather than sprout- and many times they will sprout at the root base instead so you are starting over.

I'm not sure what zone you are in - 6 or 7?

Just to put out there this style was what I was trying to make it look like.


From:http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/ATPrivetBonsaiRaftProgressionSeries.htm

BonsaiJim wrote:It depends on the health of the tree. They are sub-tropical so I know I could easily get away with it heading into our fall growth spurt. Unless you are just eliminating trunks, I would cut back to an outfacing thinner branch. Ive had branches die back rather than sprout- and many times they will sprout at the root base instead so you are starting over.

I'm not sure what zone you are in - 6 or 7?

zone six I think

So you'd go for the "trunk spreading method"... You want to get some distance between the trunk bases as best you can. You can either use sticks or wire. Also, you will get suckers off the roots so you may even end up swapping out for other trunks... If you want decent sized trunks like that pic, spread them some, let it grow freely till you are closer to the sizes you want.

Gotcha, I should of posted that pic of my intent from the beginning

Thanks, I should of posted that pic (what I'm aiming for) in the beginning.