Are you supposed to prune the flowers on a tree in development?

[electraus]

I bought my first crabapple from Brent at evergreen garden works this year and it is flowering profusely. This is also my first flowering tree in general, and while it looks very beautiful in my garden, I can only imagine how much energy this tree is allocating to produce those clusters of flowers— energy I’d rather have it allocate to growing branches/trunk thickening.

Should flowers be removed on developing crabs and flowering/fruiting trees in general? And if so, how do you do this without pruning the leaves off as well? Thanks!

 

[Dav4]

Maybe...??? I know flower/fruit production is a net negative energy flow, but not seeing flowers on a flowering tree sort of sucks. Most of the energy cost is in producing the flower bud followed by the fruit. I say that if you really care, you can remove those developing buds as they develop and become apparent, but I don't bother any more. I let my flowering plants flower to their heart's content... that's the whole reason for having them, though I might remove the spent flowers/developing fruit. fwiw, I have 2 different crab species I got as 1 gal size from brent maybe 4 years ago. They both are at least a decade from being anything special but I'm watching the flower buds swell as we speak and would never remove them.

 

[Carol 83]

I let my flowering plants flower to their heart's content... that's the whole reason for having them, though I might remove the spent flowers/developing frui

Thank you! That's what I think but kept to myself since everyone's always talking about cutting off the flower buds to direct energy, blah, blah, blah. I wouldn't get flowering plants if I didn't want to see the flowers.

 

[Mike Westervelt]

My understanding is flowers are OK, but fruit should be removed unless you plan on showing the tree.

 

[Glaucus]

If you don't, the bonsai police might arrest you!

But seriously, it depends on the species. If all you care about is development, maybe.
But what about the journey? Flowers are their own reward, in many cases. Though removing fruits/seeds is probably a good idea.

What is the point of a flowering bonsai if you never see the flowers?

 

[Ininaatigoons]

Then there is that moment at the show you ask the guy with the 6" trunk how old his tree is and it's much younger than yours! LOL JK

 

[shinmai]

I have a big hinomaru azalea, 20” across, 3”trunk, that was losing vitality. I took off all of the blossom buds in March, and it seemed [maybe coincidence?] to really pop and become much more robust. Nothing else changed in my treatment of the tree from the prior year, so I’m inclined to think the tree applied the energy elsewhere.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Flowering. fruiting or going to seed creates a large energy drain of a tree.in a small pot

It’s a choice, hopefully an informed choice which depends…

- On one’s goals.
- The condition of the tree
- The climate….. etc…

If one does let a tree bloom, there is always the option to reduce the bloom, as is done with azaleas in show prep, usually by keeping only the medium size buds and removing the rest the month before bloom…this keeping the sap flow high…

If one wishes to display fruit / go to seed there is always the option to limit the amount of fruit and seed pods.

Cheers
DSD sends.

 

[Cadillactaste]

I personally...think bonsai is structure. Flowers are superficial and short lived. I don't permit flowers until my structure is set. I'm doing bonsai...I'm working to set structure first and foremost.

That's just me. I know many I respect...who allow flowers to set.

 

[shinmai]

I also have a shohin-sized issho-no-haru. The blossoms are quite large for the tree [funny thing, we talk a lot about leaf reduction, but not blossoms] so when it’s ready to flower i remove about half of the buds. I take them from specific locations so that the remainder have enough room to open and don’t overpower the tree. This is an old photo, but you can see the relative sizes.

 

[crab apple]

I cut the flowers off a crepe myrtle and it completely reflowered, wasting even more energy. I guess you gotta know when to cut them off too

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Just for fun…. One of the trees on display back at the shop today …



Gavenstien Pie anyone?

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Mikecheck123]

I have a little specialty Trident maple that absolutely exploded with flowers this year. I've had it for five years and never saw anything like it. It was so awesome that I couldn't bear to remove them.

As a result, now it's covered in one bajillion seeds.

But the downside is that it basically didn't grow at all this year, so maybe that was a poor choice?

 

[Mikecheck123]

 

[Mikecheck123]

 

[Shibui]

But the downside is that it basically didn't grow at all this year, so maybe that was a poor choice?

This may be chicken and egg.
Did abundant flowers cause less growth or did less growth cause the flowers?
My JM flower on smaller shoots that don't grow much - a bit like fruiting spurs on apples maybe?

It appears that tree is Taiwan maple which I believe is a subspecies of trident. My experience is they flower and produce seed like this from a very young age.
It will be interesting to see if you remove the flowers next spring whether growth will be better.

 

[Mikecheck123]

This may be chicken and egg.
Did abundant flowers cause less growth or did less growth cause the flowers?
My JM flower on smaller shoots that don't grow much - a bit like fruiting spurs on apples maybe?

It appears that tree is Taiwan maple which I believe is a subspecies of trident. My experience is they flower and produce seed like this from a very young age.
It will be interesting to see if you remove the flowers next spring whether growth will be better.

Thanks. Taiwan maple looks right. It was sold to me with a fancy name, but lost the tag. Golden something, I thought.