Pot recommendation for my wife's boxwood please

Yeah, I lost the custody battle.

She is interested in buying a pot for this boxwood which is currently about 18" high x 20" wide. Trunk is about 4.5" above the nebari which is about 8" wide at the current exposed level.

Current container's outside dimension is approximately 15" x 12" x 5.5" deep and I plan to keep it around same dimensions but an inch shallower. It should have enough allowance for its final size which I am thinking will be around 21" x 24"

All suggestions on pot size, shape, color, texture, etc. will be much appreciated. Virt is also very welcome Thanks!!!

BTW, this shrub is FAR from FINISHED...it is only 6 months old from collection date and have a long way to go. Who knows, I might even lose the 2 lowest branches in the future.

shes a beauty. i see alot of people using blue pots for boxwoods n related, mine came with a blueish pot also when i got my kingsville. im looking for a nice cream/white color with a brownish cracked glaze. i think that combo would look awesome with the bark of boxwoods imo.

Lovely tree, i have a few and i have a couple in blue pots as said above.

Dario,

it would help a great deal if you shrank the image enough to show the entire shrub.
Presently it just looks like a ball and heading towards a broom style.

It is also an extremely attractive shrub!

Choosing a pot is like choosing a frame for an oil painting. They must function as a unit, but the eye must want to stay on the tree, not the pot.
Until.
Khaimraj

Guys,

I am actually leaning toward a rectangular pot with dark blue-green glaze w/ splash of brown/beige and maybe some crackle texture as well. Thank you for the input.

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:it would help a great deal if you shrank the image enough to show the entire shrub.
Presently it just looks like a ball and heading towards a broom style.

Khaimraj,

Not sure what you mean but the pic shows whole in my monitors (on all 3 PCs I use). Is it chopped on yours?

Poink88 wrote:Guys,

I am actually leaning toward a rectangular pot with dark blue-green glaze w/ splash of brown/beige and maybe some crackle texture as well. Thank you for the input.

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:it would help a great deal if you shrank the image enough to show the entire shrub.
Presently it just looks like a ball and heading towards a broom style.

Khaimraj,

Not sure what you mean but the pic shows whole in my monitors (on all 3 PCs I use). Is it chopped on yours?

Picture looks perfect on mine. It's not chopped or cropped at all.

That's a fine tree, Dario. I wouldn't lose the two lowest branches, if it were mine because I've seen a ton of old oaks out here that look just like that guy.

Good luck with it. Try Rob Addonizio at Taiko Earth. He does great pottery and can make custom orders if you'd like. He's on here and FB.
Sam

Oops sorry Dario,

I have my screen set so the letters are at the size books used to use back in the 60's before everyone had eye problems. Same goes for the brightness of my screen, so if this new image seems bright to you, it is because my screen is darkened.Apologies.
Dropped down from 125% to 100% I can see the whole tree.

Tree presently looks like a modified broom, angled and would need some play with negative spaces [ for the birds to fly through.]
Nothing too difficult.

Is it a single tree out in rolling fields ?
Did it grow as a monarch near a waterfall?

My suggestion would be to grow it on, get it healthy for about 2 or 3 years, learn how to best prune and look after it.
Resist the urge to show off and use a larger, but not deeper pot to heal wounds and enjoy the learning.
Do you keep a notebook, I do.
I don't need to know everything, just where to find it.

Also it helps the imagination to image a tree at postage stamp size, against a white background and study the patterns, the negative /positive spaces.
This is what we do with paintings.

The impact of your tree is to be seen as a big shape, long before you can make out the branches and leaves etc.
Good luck.
Khaimraj

Smaller image of Dario's tree.

Sam Ogranaja wrote:
That's a fine tree, Dario. I wouldn't lose the two lowest branches, if it were mine because I've seen a ton of old oaks out here that look just like that guy.

Good luck with it. Try Rob Addonizio at Taiko Earth. He does great pottery and can make custom orders if you'd like. He's on here and FB.

Sam,

Thanks, I already sent a PM to Rob A...just waiting for a response. I know he is busy.

Re: the branches, I intend to keep it as is but open to other (better) possibilities if ever.

hi m8,

even though it is tempting to buy pots too soon this is a tree still so many years away from needing the final bespoke pot. Let it settle from being dug up (it cant be more than 12-20 months?) , let it grow all the branches and proper ramification it needs while settled in the tub it is happy in atm. 3 years if you are impatient - 7/8 years if you want to do it properly and only once. i have trees here that have taken 10+ years to look good - over the next 3 years they will get their pots. Also there is a common mistake to instantly want a new pot - look for an old pot to complement the old mature look of the tree - glazed, oval or curved edges (tree is round, curvatious and feminine).

remember the wish list Ryan tree................. .........sacrifice of unneccessary stuff will get you one so much sooner

can you resist.........?? haha regards Marcus

I'd agree on waiting a bit. Building a pot to fit this isn't going to be inexpensive. There may be more "settling" by the tree in the coming year or two and its look could change a bit.

FWIW, I've had great luck with Ron Lang. He can build and very large pots in his huge wood-fired kiln. He will also work very closely with you on design, price, etc.

http://www.langbonsai.com/

Well you could take a few pottery classes and make a stoneware training pot or two or three or .......
Finding kilns to fire in shouldn't be difficult on the US side.

Additionally,you do tend to appreciate your trees a good deal more.

Now from seed, well that is like creating an imaginative, multi-figurative oil painting from scratch.Some serious flow of endorphins.Addictive.
Later.
Khaimraj

Thanks guys!

I know it is premature to get a pot for it now but I cannot stop the wife LOL ...and I do want to enjoy this tree as soon as possible too. At the rate it is growing, I think it will not matter much if I repot come spring.

We are getting a similar sized pot anyway so soil volume wise, it will stay almost the same. If we ever need a better or bigger pot in the future, I know the pot won't go to waste...we have a lot more trees around the same size.

Rockm, thanks for the link. Ron Lang sure have nice pots and the prices seem reasonable as well. It is always nice to have other options.

Now, back to your recommendations on size, style, color, texture...

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:Well you could take a few pottery classes and make a stoneware training pot or two or three or .......
Finding kilns to fire in shouldn't be difficult on the US side.

The bigger problem is finding a space for it. Believe it or not, I saw a free working industrial kiln a few months back on craigslist that I cannot take due to the space issue...that and I will have to have my main electrical panel re-wired. IIRC, it is 3-phase 240V and can fire 24" round pots .

I had several hobbies in the past that was started by the idea of doing it myself to save...well those didn't work well and I ended spending more than 10x if I just bought the darn thing to begin with. LOL I am sure there are some here who can relate.

That said, I am (and my wife) is interested and would probably have done it, if we have the space needed.

At the rate you're collecting trees, you're going to need a bigger place pretty soon anyway! Might as well start planning for the inevitable

Dario,

if I might encourage you and yours - try the pottery classes.

My gas firing kiln can handle 24"+ sized pots, and it sits in the garage. You can also make your own kiln or look for a kiln that is only 18" tall or so and a size able to handle 24" pots.

Remember you will get older and even 15" tall trees can have pots that are too heavy for one person to move.

See youtube for papercrete pots. They can be made more smoothly and coloured to look more like stone and less like plastic.

I figure you and yours already have an idea of what pot you would like, so I will just wish you,health to your tree.
Later.
Khaimraj

Khaimraj

I know about getting older...I can feel it already and I am already gearing some of my plants for shohin

Moving from a 4 bedroom 2 car garage to a 2 bedroom 2 car garage can eat up a lot of your garage space . As it is, I am lucky I can still park my car in it. I am sure if I really wanted to, I can make it work but barely. I will look at gas fired kilns.

We have several ideas of what we want but not sure if any of it will fit this tree (or what is the best). That is why I am asking.

I have my (small) boxwood in a very pale slate blue pot, which feels really nice with the tree. Yours tree feels stronger, so don't know if you should go with something darker. But the trunk color seems to work well with a light blue/grey feel. Prob. grey/green would be good as well. I've seen a wonderful boxwood in a RED container that was very nice as well. My pot is round, but I think you'd be better with an oval, or a rectangle with rounded corners.
Just my 2...
J

Dario,

your tree feels traditional to me. Boxwood on my side is probably some form of the Chinese types. Leaves are dark green and the newer growth is much lighter green.

I would probably work with the Chinese design which is brown. Two here, top of the page and BP12-UGRE

http://www.shbonsai.com/dev/productstabP.php?ProductCategory=CPottery12

The colour should bring up your bark nicely,lend a quiet,relaxed feel to an ancient tree that lives in a valley high in the mountains, with a spring running by. A moss covering might add to the illusion.
Until.
Khaimraj

Thanks Judy!

Would you think something like this (but oval) will work?
From (Rob A) http://www.taikoearth.com/ovals.html

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:I would probably work with the Chinese design which is brown. Two here, top of the page and BP12-UGRE

http://www.shbonsai.com/dev/productstabP.php?ProductCategory=CPottery12

Wow Khaimraj, those are really affordable! I'll check with my wife if she sees anything she'd like (or willing to settle with for now).

Maybe this 14" x 10-3/4" x 3-1/8" for $29.95,

or this 16-1/4" x 12-3/4" x 3-3/4" for $44.95?


Of course they are not the same quality so I am still leaning on going with Rob A's pot.

Dario,

have you tried Amazon.com or Bonsai by the Monastery?

Amazon.com has a buyer protection programme, if the pot is not what was visually/verbally promised, you can request a refund.

You have Tokoname and Yi Xing, Hotoku and generic Chinese pots, like Lotus International. all are on-line. If all of this is new to you, please take your time.
There is also - gasp - Mica

Have fun.
Khaimraj

I like that pot, (rob's), but then again, I like all his stuff. You should do a virt to see what the tree would actually look like in it. Me, I'm no good at virts, so I print both a pic of the tree and pot, and do old school paper-doll virt with it...

(Someday I'll learn how to post a pic on this site.... I would post one of my pot if I figured it out... I've tried a couple of times.... )

"Now, back to your recommendations on size, style, color, texture..."

I have several boxwood in low ovals and rectangles. They can go in pretty shallow pots once you've flattened the root mass over a period of years. I've got a boxwood about as big as yours in 2 inch deep rectangle from Bryan Albright. Took me a while to get the root mass worked out, but it got there. Point is, you don't really have to settle on an immensly deep final pot...In fact, too deep can be an issue with boxwood. They don't like wet feet and a large deep container can keep soil deceptively moist inside the root mass.

Anyway,
an oval like this:
http://www.langbonsai.com/ovalY.htm
or this:
http://www.langbonsai.com/ovalAb.htm
would work

with Ron's "Peachy satin" glaze (don't let the term fool you, the glaze breaks to rusts, darker and lighter tones) or unglazed haystack matte would work, as would "Orange over frog."



I would tend to stay away from blue and green glazes as they tend not to be strong enough for such a rugged trunk.

Dario,
I think all Bonsai look best in handmade interesting pots.. I wish I had more! I like the glaze of the one you showed but think it would go better with a flowering/fruiting tree rather than only the greens of Boxwood. Maybe the crabapple you have would match it better.

My suggestion is to take the Boxwood with you to either or both of the Bonsai nurseries here and go pot shopping with the tree in hand. If nothing else, you may get some ideas about what direction you like or dislike with this tree. Or rather, which style Jo prefers!

If you have the desire to make your own pots, check out do it yourself studios in Austin, where they will fire it for you.. there's no need to invest in all the supplies just yet. There are also a few local potters in the Dallas area that are making some nice ones (Sandy McFarland, Bill Webber, Andy Sandowski, etc). One of our Austin club members also makes pottery, but so far only shohin/kusamono pots. You could ask if she makes larger as well.

rockm wrote:...or this: http://www.langbonsai.com/ovalAb.htm would work
.....
I would tend to stay away from blue and green glazes as they tend not to be strong enough for such a rugged trunk.

Thanks rockm!!!

My wife loved this... ...and asked me to check it out.