Jeremy
Shohin
This is a little pre-bonsai I purchased in 2014, I'm unsure of the species but it may be heterophyllum? I believe most would know it as Escambron? An extremely fast growing tree, back buds all over old wood, callus rolls fast, small leaves and internodes, nice flaky bark, and if you treat it like a crepe myrtle in summer you will get a beautiful display of small white flowers (flowers on new growth).
Kicking myself I don't have any before or as purchased photos. This is one of those trees I probably shouldn't have purchased if we look at what makes good pre-bonsai stock, but I'm a sucker for 'project' trees and in my climate, its comforting to see results in short periods of time.
The only pro was the kink in the lower trunk (no longer evident) and a half decent root spread. I chopped the trunk down in height, put it in a large plastic container for the next 2 years growing 2 low sacrifice branches to try and rid the trunk of reverse taper. It had worked quite well but not completely fixed.
The trunk chop had resulted in 4 branches developing in the same spot which was going to cause the same issues higher up, so I recently took to carving out the chop to give definition to the branching and help with taper.
Repotted into a small Erin pot, took off a LOT of roots and unfortunately lost the first branch on the right, not to worry though as it has sprouted and will be replaced Looking at the photos I think the canopy needs to be lowered and rounded out more, and the low branch needs time to catch up. More future work on deadwood including treatment.
The trunk chop was planted as a cutting in my grow bed for roughly 12 months, I'm planning on digging, pruning and replanting in the next month or 2. I'll take photos when I do, its already fatter than the mother plant.
Kicking myself I don't have any before or as purchased photos. This is one of those trees I probably shouldn't have purchased if we look at what makes good pre-bonsai stock, but I'm a sucker for 'project' trees and in my climate, its comforting to see results in short periods of time.
The only pro was the kink in the lower trunk (no longer evident) and a half decent root spread. I chopped the trunk down in height, put it in a large plastic container for the next 2 years growing 2 low sacrifice branches to try and rid the trunk of reverse taper. It had worked quite well but not completely fixed.
The trunk chop had resulted in 4 branches developing in the same spot which was going to cause the same issues higher up, so I recently took to carving out the chop to give definition to the branching and help with taper.
Repotted into a small Erin pot, took off a LOT of roots and unfortunately lost the first branch on the right, not to worry though as it has sprouted and will be replaced Looking at the photos I think the canopy needs to be lowered and rounded out more, and the low branch needs time to catch up. More future work on deadwood including treatment.
The trunk chop was planted as a cutting in my grow bed for roughly 12 months, I'm planning on digging, pruning and replanting in the next month or 2. I'll take photos when I do, its already fatter than the mother plant.
I think I'll look for a slightly more conventional pot with a bit more room to move
