40+ yr old Evergreen Azalea Yamadori, tips for transplant?

[leatherback]

I am personally of the opinion that leaving some branches is never a waster of energy. Last time I checked, leaves collected the needed energy for growth. Leaves come from buds which form along branches. You need a rootball to regrow and you want to allow for some die-back. So even if you leave some long branches this year that you cut off next year.. it will slow down the development, maybe, mainly because you will not get healing of the cuts this year and the branches at the end of a limb will grow stronger than those at the base. But it will be good for the overall energy balance of the tree, imho.

 

[Maloghurst]

Never? that's pretty declarative for someone who has not seen a tree in person. As it stands I can see 3 or 4 directions to take this tree, and would rather not burn any bridges/branches too soon. Pruning later will certainly not hamper a tree, think of how many times we leave a lower branch on just to thicken a trunk.

P.S. I'm a her last time I checked

It was an honest question for the two that I quoted. There is absolutely a lot of wood on this tree that will never be used. My line I drew was arbitrary of course not being able to see it in person. I was curious if there was a reason for leaving so much wood. Maybe safety? Most people recommend pruning hard at collection if the species can take it. A common mistake is not pruning hard enough at the beginning and then you realize a year or two later you should have taken a lot more off. Then your starting over again with a weaker tree. My line was not really styling advice because I agree it’s difficult to tell much from the photos.

 

[Maloghurst]

I’m not an azalea expert so that’s why I asked my questions. If this were most deciduous species the advice would not be leave long branches that you can cut down in a year or two.
In a lot of deciduous the trunk is where the energy is stored over winter so using that energy to build leaves to create energy to then cut off in a year or two is counterproductive. I’m just trying to learn here.

 

[Maloghurst]

When you start with a false premise all your conclusions from there are also likely to be false.
Allowing the azalea to have plenty of branches will also allow plenty of leaves on the tree for the recovery period - 1 or 2 years. Having more leaves will strengthen the remaining trunks and roots rather than weaken it. When the next reduction takes place the tree should respond strongly.

Thanks for the clarification and response. That all makes sense if she left a lot of leaves on the tree. But the tree is almost bare so I would think you would want to force back budding in a more focused way. Anyway thank you

 

[Rivka]

So did some final trimming and set it out to pasture for the remainder of the season. in the end, I trimmed off all but two flowers that are about to open so that I get a chance to see what they are like. and will trim them afterward.
I took down all the stumps that were sticking out and sealed the larger cuts, in places where they were being trimmed back to a rough lumpy area, I left them a tiny bit long so someday I can go back with a rotary tool and carve from matching texture in it. Otherwise, I went for smooth and matching contours to the surrounding surface.

the finally (for now) choice on the longer section (that was being kept because of its cool double fusion, but caused an issue needing to be addressed with its unappealing straight section and possibly excess height) is to leave it on, let it leave out and then next year air layer it along both branches it feeds and see if there is some interesting dual trucked tree in there that I can massage out. For now, the options are wide open and there is no reason to trim it back. the locations of future air layers and removal are marked in light blue in the main picture here.

In last picture just below orange mark on Rt side consider removing straight section between mark and base once well astablished.

her is a great explanation of how different this "straight" section looks at other angles. it is anything but straight from the side. Since it is also fused and I love that, it will be staying and I will work to style the leaves and future branches in such a way as to minimize the view of that branch section from straight on and instead give a good glimpse from the side as a great second viewing angle that also is the deepest angle for the overall tree with the windswept section flowing far out behind it. the faint darker orange line in the middle angle view in this triptych shows the fused section. hopefully, in a year or two after the fuse is stronger (this is the newest fused section), I can find a safe way to sculpt down the extra bit I left to be safe with the cut I made and allow the visual flow to be complete.



Overall this is it for the season and this image shows what will come off after the air layers are done in a year or two. the blue is the future cuts, the orange highlights the fusions that are left in the final design.
one of the last questions I'm left with, and thankfully I feel no need to decide any time soon, is how tall to leave the wonderful sinuous curve on the right side? clearly it's lovely, but it also seems too tall about half the time I stand in front of it, other times it looks interesting in a way that challenges the traditional ideas in a good way. I'm sure a lot will hinge on how it branches out.

 

[Rivka]

as for the section that I have hopes of air layering and turning into something interesting, I think setting up the two "trunks" to be in drastically different ground levels and clearly not coming from the same base would be really interesting. like some bonsai nod to Axel Erlandson or the like. So I'm thinking that the high one would either be root over rock or to even go so far as to put them in separate pots. Time will tell. here is a mock-up of the part that is planned to be removed. once again, the orange lines show where these two branches come around and are fully fused in two separate places, making a fully enclosed ring if seen from the right top-down angle.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I like the thoughtfulness you have put into this tree. And you have "mad photoshop" skills. Well, much better than mine. I think it is wise to go ahead and stop pruning, let the tree recover a year, or two or three. If wrangling the tree around the back yard is not a problem, there is nothing wrong with "go Big". If you attend major bonsai shows, there are some good ones in Seattle area and Portland area, the "best of show" trees tend to be large scale constructions. Kifu and Shohin size trees, even when exquisitely done, tend to lack enough visual impact for "best of show". So going large is good, if you have the show circuit in mind.

To me the branches that come from a trunk, go their separate ways, then cross and fuse is a phenomena that makes visual sense. To my eye, and just working from your virtuals, 2 separate trunks, in the same or separate pots, but especially separate pots, meeting and fusing is a jarring image, makes no visual sense, and no sense how it could happen in nature. Just my 2 cents. Of course there is really nothing natural about tiny trees in tiny pots, and all we have to do is look at works by Nick Lenz and David Crust to know that we are not limited to "scenes from nature" for our bonsai designs.

 

[Rivka]

Yes, I get that two different trees fusing feels less of a natural concept. However, inosculation happens between two separate trees in nature often and in arboricultural art even more. Axel Erlandson's massive works will stand monument to the amazing structures that are only limited by one's dreams and their detailed understanding of tree growth.

I'm not one for blind respect of authority and all for pushing the boundaries, so while I deeply respect the history and discipline of bonsai, I also know I will always have projects going that push it in all the right ways.
Will the little chunk every win a ribbon, not even I chance.
I do love how it looks like one person lifting a smaller lighter partner to higher ground, both their arms fused in some sort of endless commitment

 

[Ashadost]

Do you have any updates on these trees? I’m gonna be rescuing an azalea here shortly and this one really piqued my interest

 

[Rivka]

This one went to the great compost pile in the sky, it never budded out, no idea why. Every azalea i have colected since i have had roaring success with.

You can see some success here https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/rivkas-azalea-2020-2025-contest-entry.47650/

And some further discussion on collecting here https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/confessions-of-urban-yamadori-azalea-addict.50452/