Japanese Ligustrum with withered trunk

There are so many people who absolutely despise the Japanese Ligustrum (Ligustrum japonicum) that they actively eradicate it where ever it is found.  Truth is, the family of Ligustrums, or Privets, are a highly invasive plant in this area, and seem to reproduce and pop up everywhere.  Birds eat the berries and drop the seeds everywhere.  What I've never understood though, is a reluctance some have to grow it as a Bonsai.  If there is fear of seeds spreading, simply clip the berries before they ripen (if you're lucky enough to get them to fruit in a pot).  Plus, with all the rampant ripping of these bushes and small trees, there is a wealth of terrific material right at our fingertips! 

This one today is a Wax-Leaf variety, with a very thick glossy leaf bred for the landscape.  It grows slower than the wild ones that get loose, and often have nice bulbous or twisty, hollow trunks.  Wild seeded plants tend to look like poles with no taper or movement, and little reason to collect.  If you find some old variety landscape Ligustrums such as Wax Leaf, Curled Leaf, Variegated, etc., give the trunks a good inspection to see if there is something worth collecting.  There is often a surprise!  Ligustrum varieties are in the Olive family and have a similar growth pattern as well as similar requirements.

My neighbors were expanding their home and wanted an overgrown line of 30+ year old Japanese Ligustrums removed in the Spring of 2008.  Here is the "before" photo that I took with some branches taller than the roof line:

After clearing the weeds and trenching around the roots a bit, each plant is ready to be removed.

 

 

Timber!  And down they come, one by one.  For size comparison, look at the blue reciprocating saw and the shovel laying by the tree: 

 

 

 Finally out of the ground and hauled to my yard, the roots were washed to remove all the heavy clay soil.  Here they can be evaluated much better.  I don't like to try to second-guess too much while I'm collecting.  Just get in, dig and get them home.  Contemplation comes later! 

 

This plant has an interesting right-side trunk that is mostly hollow and withered away.  It doesn't work at all with the other side, so they are separated quickly with a saw.

The better half on its own.  Nearly all the roots collected belonged to the other side.  That must be some sort of Bonsai "murphy's law".

The useless top chopped back, leaving a stub.  You can see in this photo where the original soil line was (the dark mark up to the middle point of the trunk).  Sometimes what you see above ground isn't the whole story!

Potted up into a colander with gravelly, aerated soil.  In these conditions, with proper watering, a Ligustrum should recover quickly.

Spring 2010.  This tree grew out wild, then was cut back - several times.  Here is the photo two years after collection.

 

 

 

One of the best features of Ligustrums is they develop quickly, and I felt it would already tolerate a Bonsai pot.  I found a suitable training pot and in it went.

 

 

 

About a month later, I found that a much better viewing angle would be turned a bit clockwise.  The base looks much wider at this angle.  This front was marked and would be changed at the next repotting time.   

 

 

 

Long internodes between branches can be distracting now, but if they are left alone you're later stuck with bare sections of branch without buds.  Better to cut back hard during the growing phase and keep the internode length short. Plus, wire Ligustrums when the branches are young and pliable.  The older they get, the more likely it'll just crack.

 

October 2010.  I began to worry that some of the wonderful waterfall deadwood would rot away.  This is the focal point and main feature on this tree, so to preserve it, I applied Minwax wood hardener, brushing it onto the dead wood until it stopped accepting the liquid.  Note to those using this product - be very careful not to get it onto your skin, and if so, wash it quickly.  I worked on this tree for over an hour and in that time I didn't notice the brush had some of the chemical dripped on the handle which got onto my fingers.  A mild chemical burn later, and lesson learned! 

After the wood hardener sets, the deadwood now appears shiny.  This is a temporary effect and with sun and water will soon return to its normal look.  The wood hardener actually fills the pores of the rotting wood with a polymer which helps keep out fungus and insects, plus protecting it from the elements. 

 

 

March 2011.  The deadwood looks pretty much as it did before, only now it is rock hard.  Time for a change of shoes..

I had this pot in mind for a couple of years actually.  It is handmade by Horst Heinzelreiter and has this terrific stone/ice natural looking finish.  I absolutely love the way it works with the old swirling deadwood on the trunk.

October 2011

September 2012.  I am cutting the larger leaves in half to perform a partial defoliation on the plant to get smaller leaves.  It seems to be working.

April 2013.

This little tree has filled in enough, that I bring it to its first show, the LSBF Convention exhibit.  Colin Lewis really enjoys this one in the critique, noting the completely natural deadwood that has not been carved by man, only nature.  He says this may be one of his favorite Ficus he has seen.  I tell him that it is actually a Ligustrum.  He says, "It's a bloody privet?!?  I hate privets!  I take it all back then!"  We all laugh and he finally says that he really does like the Bonsai, and it's surprising for this species.

 

 

The coming years on this one will be focused on reducing the size of the leaves and developing branch density.  Japanese Ligustrums typically have leaves that are 2-3 inches long, and this one has leaves at about 1 1/2 inches. 

 

Love this species for Bonsai!

2013 LSBF Texas State Convention

Held in New Braunfels, Texas this year, the LSBF Convention was hosted by both the Austin Bonsai Society and San Antonio Bonsai Society.  Lots of people came together to make this a success!  Visiting artists Colin Lewis, Erik Wigert and Dan Robinson headlined, accompanied by local artists such as Terry Ward, Chuck Ware, Yvonne Padilla, Sheila Ward, Donna Dobberfuhl, Alisan Clarke, Bill Boytim and Peter Aradi.  It was a fantastic weekend of Bonsai fun!

Here is a slideshow of the event:
LSBF Photo slideshow - press play

2013 Austin Bonsai Show video

I thought I'd share a video I took at the Exhibit of our annual Austin Bonsai Society show this May 2013.  Getting the hang of my new "smart phone" and the first video I shot.  Enjoy.

Japanese Boxwood #3 - the Cemetary Boxwood

This medium-sized Japanese Boxwood (Buxus microphylla) started off its life with me in September 2004 when I bought it at our annual Austin Bonsai Society auction.  A member had collected it in 2001 from an old cemetery in San Antonio (they were re-doing their landscaping) and donated it to the sale.  Seeing age in the trunk, I snapped it up - it must be mine!

Here is one of its first photos.  As you can probably tell, it looks like the previous owner had wanted a windswept shaped tree.  What you can't see is a nice hollow in the trunk at the right.  Looking at this photo now, it sure doesn't look like much!

 

 

 

March 2005 now, and the Boxwood is beginning to fill out.  I may have given it a light trim here and there, but I probably just left it alone for the previous year.  Looking back when I first got it, it seemed a little thin and not very robust.  This wooden pot is a problem though - completely falling apart! 

 

Taken out of its wooden pot, the roots are good - no large "stilt" roots to deal with and an abundance of fine feeder roots.  Just what you want in a Boxwood.

I potted it in a larger but flatter container, a thin can box, to allow the roots to spread laterally.  Also, at this point, I wasn't feeling the lean the tree had, it always looked as if it were about to fall over.  Examining what I liked about the Boxwood, it didn't seem to "want" to be a windswept.  So upright it went.

 

March 2006.  It had grown out last year and just got its new haircut.  The tree seems to have a lot more structure and definition in the branches, they're beginning to come along.  The trunk is braced with wire for support, but the main branch on the right is also being pulled down horizontally.

June 2007, just after its yearly "big trim" after the strong Spring growth had hardened off.  The crown now is starting to look much more tree-like, and the branches have a good airy feel to them.  It hasn't had a lot of detail wiring just yet, mostly just a little directional wire. 

 

February 2008.  I'm enjoying this tree, but something's not right.  I like it more upright like this, but now it's too upright.  The trunk seems stiff, and suddenly boring looking.  I'd always looked at the tree from this front, but.....

 

Turning it around suddenly I found  - there's my tree!  I think I may have even said this out loud.  Epiphanies are fun when they hit!  All of a sudden the straight boring section of the trunk that was bothering me was gone and there was this gentle but dynamic movement, making it much more exciting.  Of course I had worked on the other side for so long, I couldn't just cut the back side away, so...

 

Airlayer opportunity!  The upper section of trunk on this side is still quite old and has had a number of years of shaping, so it would have been wasteful to chop and throw away.  Better to turn it into another potential Bonsai.

 

June 2009.  I probably didn't need to let the airlayer go for this long, but I figured it would be better to have a really good root ball when removed.  All the while, I let the tree fill out and grow to strengthen the entire tree.  I wanted it happy and very healthy.

 

 

 The airlayer was sawn off and potted, the entire tree trimmed back, and this is the new silhouette.  I like how it kind of bows forward, like an elderly person.  With the branches opened up this way, there is actually a lot more opportunity for styling and growth.

 

August 2009: another "aha" moment.  Turning the viewing angle slightly gives movement to the middle of the trunk and allows us to see that wonderful hollow that has been hiding all this time on the side.  All of this goes to show that you really have to look at your trees, pay attention to them, and you'll find things that have been hiding in plain sight for years.

 

February 2010 and it gets its first Bonsai pot.  It's a bit of a clunky rectangle pot for this delicate flowing tree, but it fits the rootball, so horticulture over artistry here.  Plus it's nice to be out of those red plastic shoes!  The branches have also continued to fill in. 

 

March 2012.  Examining it, I found that I really wanted to see MORE of that hollow area in the trunk, so another little angle change was in order for the next repotting.  If you have something in a tree that is unique, especially if it's the reason you bought it.. highlight that feature!  All these changes show that Bonsai is a living art that continues to evolve, even in our own backyards!

 

In the two years it has been in this last pot, the rootball has done well.  Look at that brick of roots that came out of the pot!

 

Combed out and lightly rinsed off.  Some surface crossing roots were removed and others were angled differently.  This is an important step everyone should remember to take when it's repotting season.  You may not see the effect for a few years, but when those roots mature, isn't it always better if they're arranged well?

 

Its first nice Bonsai pot - a Tokoname pot by Sankou.  I picked this up at one of our fantastic State conventions.  You never know what's going to show up.  It has a hand-drawn signature on the bottom:

 

 

And I think it fits the tree well, being understated, feminine-feeling, and gentle.  Also the pot is small but fits the rootball and lets the tree do the talking, not the pot.

 

2012, here it is after being trimmed and having a bit of wire to shape errant strands. 

 

This year it was shown at the LSBF state Convention held in New Braunfels.  In one of the Exhibit critiques led by Colin Lewis, he said he really liked the natural feel to this tree, and the nice bit of wild that it has.  But he said that he felt it was actually under-potted.  He said that this is a strange thing to say here in Tx, as most people over-pot to counteract the heat, and this is the first time he has had to bring up under-potting a tree in Texas.  Horticulturally, it seems happy in here to me, but Colin has given me thought to keep my eyes open for another pot that may be more suitable.

 

 

 

 

A few thoughts on Boxwoods:

To get good ramification, do NOT constantly "pinch" a Boxwood!!  You will soon have nothing but a dead boxwood. Instead, allow the lush Spring growth to elongate and harden off.  It only makes about 10 sets of leaves on each new branch during this time, which seems like a lot when you're looking at a mass of green obliterating your carefully planned style.  But if you allow these to "set" and then take them down to the 1st or 2nd new set of leaves after they've hardened, you'll allow the tree a rest and give it time to store some of the energy of that growth spurt.  In the South, Boxwoods will then resume growing slowly throughout the year and this can be lightly pruned as needed.  Always allow some new leaves to remain.  This means that you'll have to cut back on branches to shorten them back to a line occasionally.  But do not keep a Boxwood too tightly trimmed at all times.  Even if you don't see the effect this year, in the next few you'll see a decline, and branches will die back with nothing to be done.

One last rant about pruning a Boxwood Bonsai: don't just take scissors and cut across as if it is a hedge.  Doing this you'll damage leaves that remain on the tree for years and leave stubs and all sorts of mess.  Trim them carefully just above a set of leaves as you would with any opposite-leafed broadleaf tree.  Just because it's a Boxwood, doesn't mean you have to treat it like topiary!

I love this species for Bonsai, and think it is actually one of the best for any level.  It has shiny glossy leaves, cream-colored bark that can be either corky or plated depending on it's growing conditions, flowers in the Spring-time giving a spicy aroma to the yard, followed by the green fruit that ripen to a chocolate brown & opens releasing the seeds.  Boxwood can live a very long time, rivaling most trees, and they're mostly tolerant of many of our abuses.  Why more people don't embrace this plant as Bonsai I don't understand.  Every day there are hedge plants that are pulled out, heading for the local dump.  They've been grown and pruned for decades - the pre-Bonsai work has already been done!  So keep your eyes open, and ask friends and neighbors to be on the look out too.  You never know what you may find.

Freegan bonsai - crepe myrtle

I work with a lot of material that is locally-sourced, and that more people should use, so I decided to start this blog with the intention of steering people toward using the wonderful material that is growing all around them. 

Let's start off with this Crepe Myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica.  A friend of mine had a pair of these growing as landscape trees just outside his front door and wanted them out.  He had chopped them back many, many times and they just grew faster than he wanted to trim.  At one time they were far higher than his home.  I'd estimate they are probably 20 years old. 

A note to those planting Crepe Myrtles - there are different varieties to choose depending on the size of the landscape plant you want.  Some are very vigorous growers and want to be a tree, others are medium sized bushes that top out at 8-10 feet, and there are dwarf versions that grow slowly and only reach about waist high.  There are as many size choices as color choices.  Buy the right plant for the space and avoid having to fight them!

But back to Bonsai... So here I come in March 2012 and agree to dig them out.  Rocky soil and lots of tree roots mean this is about a half day dig.  The subject of this post is the tree on the right, the smaller of the two. though both were collected. 

 

 

Crepe's away!  You can tell the size of the tree, compared with my blue recip saw laying on the ground next to it.  A large dig!

Once home, I washed off the roots.  As you can see, it was left very tall.  This is because the two trunks had fused back together at the top.  I thought this was an interesting feature and hoped to incorporate it in the design.  Also there was a smaller Crepe attached at the back that was then removed and potted on its own.

 Nope, those trunks were just too tall!  They had to come down.  At this point I cut the roots back to a flat plane, so they would fit into the pot.  Crepe Myrtles can take a lot of abuse this way.  Don't try this with a juniper or pine.

One thing to note is that the species has a very thin and fragile bark that is damaged easily.  Be very careful when handling the trunk or roots, or you may end up with a scar.

Potted up at last into its fancy pink pot!  I use whatever is available and sized right when first potting up my trees.  My Bonsai friends affectionately call these "Joey pots".. and have learned to recognize all my pre-bonsai by their garish plastic shoes.  The plants don't mind, why should I?  This is March 18th 2012.

A few months of growth, here we are June 5th 2012.  I've let all the branches run for 3 months to strengthen the roots and to get a start on the structure.  No pruning and no bud selection at all, just rampant growth.  It was in semi-shade at this point, so the leaves are a bit big and the spacing is long.

 





 Chopped back now to a few internodes and it is strong enough to take some sunshine to get tighter growth and more branching.  I probably could have put it directly into the sun, but I was playing it safe in the beginning.

 August 17th 2012 - this is what happens when grown in strong sunlight.  Crepe Myrtles need the sun!  They get much more growth and much tighter spacing.  This was actually growing, propped up off the cement, in my driveway - the sunniest spot I have.  Keep in mind, I live in Austin Texas, and this summer we were well above the triple digits.  It's a Southern, happy tree.  Don't try to keep Crepe Myrtles in the shade or indoors, they won't like it. 

So at this point I'm looking at the two trunks.  Can't keep both, one has to go.  I really like the right trunk - it has a nice curve and actually has a flattened twist that you can't see in the photo.  It's by far the more interesting of the two.  But this is the front, the better base and the front says to me that the strong left trunk is the lead and the more important of the two.  I don't see a way to incorporate both, so..

 Chop and the right one is gone.  The taper and muscling of the base could only be used with the left trunk anyway.  Much better!  So now I'm playing around with the idea of taper.. what can be achieved?  I've taken a sharpie marker and colored in areas that I think I will want to carve away to give age and clean up the wounds.

 A quick sketch helps as well.  This was my thought, to keep the strong lean of the tree and work the crown from the high right branch.  Of course, with branches filled in like this, this would be a future image!  I'll leave it alone for the rest of the 2012 year though.  It was only collected months ago, and I'd like to plan for the long term and not rush or stress the tree.

 

 

Oh, and this year it also flowered for me, so I got to see the hot-fuschia colored flowers.  Nice.

Here we are now June 15, 2013.  I would have worked on this tree earlier, but I had a state convention to run and several other big projects, and the trees were left alone to grow and do their thing.  I think this Crepe was roughly trimmed back twice this year.  Probably just grabbed the long shoots and cut them all at once (like Walter Pall's Hedge Cutting method).  It needs some work now.

 

 



Here we are after a little while with the die grinder and some routing bits.  The tall branch pointed up on the right side, which I had planned on being the crown just seemed too straight and boring when I was finally faced with it, so I opted for a shorter tree and went with the new top on the left.  I figured this would also give that part of the trunk a bit of much needed movement.  All the "sharpied" areas were carved out - the teardrop opening in the front, the long shari up to the top, and the cut off branch on the right which became a hollow.  I actually created a hollow into the long shari which I joined into the hollow in the back, as well as the part in the front.  Why?  Well I wanted to release some of the weight (visual and physical) as well as give age.  Oh, and defoliating a tree before major carving or wiring makes everything so much easier!

Here we are after some wiring and placement of the branches.  I'm happy with the shape of the tree now and will let it grow, probably leaving it alone for the year.. oh wait, it's a Crepe Myrtle, no time to rest!

 

 

And now here we are 16 days later July 1st 2013, growing like a weed.  The wonderful side-effect of defolating the tree for styling, is each axil bud then is encouraged to sprout into a branch, increasing the ramification. 

This will need further shaping and branch selection, but that will be for another day.