Harvest from ground

[hezoos]

First and foremost I'm brand new here and have come to a bit of guidance. Super new (this year is my first year with bonsai) to bonsai but I'm rather well at growing things in the garden or flowers etc.

I have had a burning bush growing in the front for 10+ years now. And it had a baby coming out from under ground to try and get bigger and it was in an undesirable area so initially I was gonna cut it and toss it as it's been growing a few years and is an ok size. I decided now since I've gotten into bonsai to use it as material. I dug it up and it has some good sized roots and I kept as much as I could. Currently it was too large for any pot I had so I stuck it in a horse troth we use for a raises garden bed.

Now to the questions.
Should I repot it asap into a better suited soil?
Will it be ok if I repot since it's in a rather undesirable location since we might need it for veggies as that's what the area is typically used for?
Should I trim it back at all?

Any help or tips are appreciated.
Thank you,
Hezoos

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

Welcome aboard! I know nothing of burning bush but I would pot it up without trimming ASAP. Someone more knowledgeable than me will be along shortly & be more helpful, you can also use the search function. Please add your general location and USDA climate zone (looks like WI to me). That will help others help you. Good luck.

 

[hezoos]

Welcome aboard! I know nothing of burning bush but I would pot it up without trimming ASAP. Someone more knowledgeable than me will be along shortly & be more helpful, you can also use the search function. Please add your general location and USDA climate zone (looks like WI to me). That will help others help you. Good luck.

Ah yes I forgot that part. MI, zone 5 I believe. Right in detroit area.

Thanks

 

[Shibui]

It is not usually necessary to 'keep as many roots as you can'
I dig lots of deciduous trees both form grow beds and from wild grown trees and routinely chop roots back to fit into 20 or 30 cm diameter pots. The vast majority survive. Most are much better for the root reduction as new roots generally grow from the cut ends where roots were pruned meaning the harder you chop the roots, the more feeder roots you'll get close back to the trunk.
There's not a lot except the bricks in the background I can use for scale but I'm guessing this trunk is around 1" thick?
Euonymus are generally pretty hardy so I'd be chopping roots back to fit in a pot 15 or 20 cm diameter and expect good recovery. That should enable you to move it from the current unsuitable location to somewhere you can care for it better.

Will it be ok if I repot since it's in a rather undesirable location since we might need it for veggies as that's what the area is typically used for?

No sign of new leaves yet so it is still fine to move the tree again. Treat the first transplant as a temporary resting place rather than a real transplant.

Should I trim it back at all?

There's 2 opposing schools of thought on this. Seems both trim and leave intact work for deciduous transplant. I generally trim when transplanting deciduous.

 

[hezoos]

It is not usually necessary to 'keep as many roots as you can'
I dig lots of deciduous trees both form grow beds and from wild grown trees and routinely chop roots back to fit into 20 or 30 cm diameter pots. The vast majority survive. Most are much better for the root reduction as new roots generally grow from the cut ends where roots were pruned meaning the harder you chop the roots, the more feeder roots you'll get close back to the trunk.
There's not a lot except the bricks in the background I can use for scale but I'm guessing this trunk is around 1" thick?
Euonymus are generally pretty hardy so I'd be chopping roots back to fit in a pot 15 or 20 cm diameter and expect good recovery. That should enable you to move it from the current unsuitable location to somewhere you can care for it better.


No sign of new leaves yet so it is still fine to move the tree again. Treat the first transplant as a temporary resting place rather than a real transplant.

There's 2 opposing schools of thought on this. Seems both trim and leave intact work for deciduous transplant. I generally trim when transplanting deciduous.

Awesome info thank you!

Yes the trunk is roughly 1" thick and the whole plant is about 3' tall.
I'm 5'9" and held at my waist and it was over my head. I didn't have much to put next to it for comparison that I could think of on hand.
It is budding so I figured now would be best time probably.

Sounds perfect about the roots then the big roots got trimmed back a lot in the cutting as it was more like a branch coming from under ground to spread the bush. But also had small roots growing.