New to Bonsai, new to this group - Growing from a cutting

Hi all,

I am new to all this, but really want to try growing something from seed as this year I will be having my first child and thought it would be nice to have a tree that is the same age as my upcoming family addition.

I am lucky enough to live in a house with a very large Conker tree out the back of my garden which year after year gives me many new saplings. This year I have collected a few of them and put them in pots. I am down to just 2 now as others didnt like to be moved. I also managed to find a tiny Oak sapling, but I think this is dieing (I will persevere with it a little while longer) and I have also taken a cutting from my Privet Hedge which seems to be doing well - Lots of new buds have sprouted on this.

So, firstly the Conkers. I have been looking online and have come to realise that these are not the easiest to grow, but, I have them for free so I cant complain. What is best to do with these? Just let them do their thing for a couple of years and then cut them back?

The Oak I am just going to leave alone.

The Privet, I am thinking that I just leave this to grow this year as it is a cutting? The trunk is about 1cm thick I guess and about 8cm high with a bend in the middle. Then in Autumn maybe cut it back to two leaves?

Any advice is greatly welcomed.

Adam

Welcome, Adam. You have lots of tree growing to do, both the one- and two-legged varieties! Good luck! I don't know the trees your growing, so no specific advice, but it will be all about thickening up the trunks right now, with maybe some trunk shaping thrown in.

It caught my eye about starting a tree when your child is born, so I'll share that we started a pie cherry tree(semi-dwarf, Northstar) in the yard when our daughter was born, and a purple autumn ash when our son was born. They're now 20 and 18 respectively. Lots of pies and lots of shade. It's been a fun family-bonding thing for us. My son's ash might not have long to live if the ash borers spreading across the country have their way, but heck, if that happens he and I can bond some more while we work to cut it down.

Hi Adam and welcome.

First, it would be really helpful if you could update your avatar details so we know where in the UK you are as this will have an effect on growing times.

The conker tree: Does it give white flowers in early summer or reddish ones? If white then you have Aesculus hippocastanum - Horse Chestnut. How big are the pots you have put the saplings into? To fatten up the trunks will require quite a bit of root run. HCs are a bit of a hit or miss in terms of bonsai in that they naturally have those huge leaves. Having said that, those who persevere with them are rewarded with nicely dwarfed leaves and there are a few decent bonsai HCs out there. At the moment, as Precarious says, you should be concentrating on trunk thickening and not worrying about the rest.

I'd leave the privet alone too, just as you are doing with the oak.

WOuld it be possible to post a few images of your saplings? It would be a great help.

Many thanks.

Fiona

Hi Fiona,

Thanks for your response.  I will update my avatar shortly.  I am in a small town between Basingstoke and Reading in the South of England.

The tree has white flowers early summer.  It is lovely to look at this time of year, it gets a bit annoying when it drops all its leaves into my garden though.  The pots that they are in at the moment are small.  About 5" diameter and about the same deep.  I am guessing that this is not the best thing for them?  I have a few spare pots I can put them in, alternatively I can probably put them in the ground somewhere, but was concerned about how far the roots would spread, is it best to have them contained?

I will take some pics, they are really not much to look at right now, but hopefully they will become things of great beauty!

Adam

Also, thank David for responding. I think it will be a nice to have the tree grow as my child does. Maybe every year I will take a picture of them both. Though, at the moment the baby is due on the 23rd December, so not sure it will look its best! But it will make a good time lapse in a 20 or 30 years time.

Me again..  So these are what I have so far..


This is the biggest of my 2 Horse Chestnuts..

Do you think the brown marks on the leaves are anything to be concerned about?
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This is the smaller one..


This is my Privet cutting..

Lots of new buds already which I am pleased about


This is a new cutting I potted up tonight, much bigger cutting with a thicker trunk..

It does have some serious damage in the trunk, but I am hoping it will become a feature..


And lastly, my sad looking Oak.  Though still not as sad looking as my Acer cuttings, but I think they have had it.



I just put the stones in the pots tonight to stop them drying out so quickly with this weather.

Let me know any thoughts you have.. I think I have worked out that I need to put them in bigger pots or the ground now.

Adam

<<My son's ash might not have long to live if the ash borers spreading across the country have their way,>>

Precarious, if your tree has not been attacked yet, don't worry. The solution is simple to save a tree of exceptional horticultural or sentimental value. Call the Bartlett Tree Experts. They will give your tree an inoculation every two years to prevent insect damage. Costs about $200 a shot. Our green ash is in the program. Not a beauty, but our biggest tree.
Iris

Thanks, Iris! I had never heard of that, and will look into it right away.