JTGJr25

Hi all,

I thought I'd start my first thread with my boxwood. I bought it last spring at home depot for $5. I cut it back dramatically and let it grown out this summer. It responded great to the pruning and I now have a solid base to create a bonsai.

The first pic is as it was from the nursery, the second was just after pruning, the third was late summer, and the fourth is how it stands today at around 5 inches tall and one inch at the base.

This next summer I will begin the placement of the branches.






I'll look forward to your feedback.

Tom

Bonsai Barry

It sounds like you have a vision and a plan for this tree. However, it still looks like a young tree. Planting it in the ground would speed up the process and add maturity to this tree more quickly.

JTGJr25

Bonsai Barry,

That is true I do have a plan for this tree and putting it in the ground could speed up the process. However, at the moment I'm not sure if I want to go that route yet I may leave it in the pot for a couple years I'm not sure. I have plenty of time and I'm in no hurry.

Tom

Phil

Although boxwoods throw out branches quite readily and can be pruned quite hard they are somewhat slow growers when it comes to the trunk. Just keep a close eye on the branches as once they harden they are almost impossible to wire. Once they harden they become quite stiff and brittle.

~Phil

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JTGJr25

This tree continues to amaze me. The first right hand branch has outstanding ramification considering how long it's been in training. It is bursting with buds all over. I have been pinching it back and I have removed the leaves that were way too big for the tree. Well here are the pics.










The first pic is the front and the last one is the back. In the front, I plan on making a small shari/hollow trunk where I removed that large branch.

In the third pic I need some help. I can't decide whether to remove the branch just above the first left hand branch or not. If I do, that area will be a little bare but I know it ruins the image. If I leave it, I will try to reduce the stub and make it into a back branch. Any thoughts?

The apex has some great buds on it and, at this rate, it should fill out very soon and improve the image.

There are two back branches, I'm not sure which one to keep just yet, in the last pic that just grew this year. I will leave them for now and decide on it next year.

I love the image it projects already. I see a very tall oak that remains after a storm killed the younger trees around it and took one of its branches with it.

Tom

pondering sage

Tom
I think you are right to sit and ponder it. It would take forever to grow out a branch that thick again, but it does seem too heavy to me. If you cut it I think the dense growth of box would fill in any gap quickly.
sage

JTGJr25

Thanks for the reply. As I have decided, and recently learned, to create a uro at the wound next to the first branch, I have decided I may do the same with that top branch as well. I will first try to reduce it now and then leave it until fall. If I am not happy with it by then, I will carve it out as well. I believe this will greatly age this tree and I'm very excited to get to work on it.

Tom

Ml_work

Tom,
I like the looks of this and the direction you are going. I have a couple in the works, very small. I have been looking at one at wal mart thinking about the same path you are going. What kind of boxwood is this?
Keep us posted with pics.
ML

JTGJr25

Ml_work, I don't remember exactly what variety it is but it said common boxwood on the tag. I may still have the pot so I can take a look.

Anyone else have any thoughts? I'd really like some constructive feedback.

Tom

noissee

in that first pic in the column of five pics, the top left branch is thicker than the one below it, that is the most obvious problem i see...it seems like there is a shoot growing from underneath that would be a perfect new branch. i would suggest perhaps making shari on the top side of that branch, just to thin it up a bit, and try to leave that shoot from underneath. do you think this is possible?