"Live oak" Boxwood
- Thread starter jk_lewis
- Start date
davetree
Omono
That tree just keeps getting nicer and nicer if it's the one you have posted on previously. Do you have a pot in mind for it ?
larlamonde
Shohin
Really nice tree. I've got one in development not nearly as nice. Also wondering what pot you finally choose. Do you have any progression photos?
JudyB
Queen of the Nuts
Looking good! 
jk_lewis
Masterpiece
Thanks, folks. On the pot. I'm fairly happy with that large one. I prefer my trees healthy and happy, rather than fashionably dressed in a shallow, fancy pot. That pot is of good quality and looks fine when it is cleaned and oiled. Its weight and size -- I think -- balances out the visual weight of the canopy.
Here's what the tree started out as (right from the nursery and first potting):
Here's what the tree started out as (right from the nursery and first potting):
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JudyB
Queen of the Nuts
I think the size of the pot isn't as much the problem to my eye as is the general somber color of it. I think an interesting glazed pot, maybe with a flair to the side profile might set this tree off better. And you could perhaps go just a bit shallower without any problems... just a thought.
Poink88
Imperial Masterpiece
Poink88
Imperial Masterpiece
Pot size looks okay but the shape doesn't compliment the tree. Too feminine in my eyes.
misfit11
Omono
Nice virt, Dario. I agree. The current image has a bit of a rectangular canopy. I realize that it's a boxwood, but it shouldn't look like a box! (Just kidding, Jim
) I think the tree benefits with a more reduced, rounded canopy. JMHO.Nice tree anyway as always.
Cory
jk_lewis
Masterpiece
Nice tree but I feel it got away from you. I think a cut back (like attached or even more) will help this tree a lot then re-build some branches after. JMHO
Nope. You've made a "bonsai" - not a real tree. At the very least that makes it look like a MUCH younger tree and NOT like a Southern Live Oak. Not what I want(ed). Models below.
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jk_lewis
Masterpiece
Misfit . . . You're from California. Your version of a live oak (entirely different species) MAY look like Dario's virt, but you've got to see a real southern live oak with an 80-100-foot wingspan to know what a real live oak looks like.
jkd2572
Masterpiece
Let me start of by saying great material. Darios's vert looks like the old live oaks he and I see here in Texas. Either way great tree.
Poink88
Imperial Masterpiece
jk_lewis
Masterpiece
Gee. Thank you.
subnet_rx
Mame
I have several Morris Midget boxwoods that I am trying to train in this style. Do you prune branches back to one, two pairs of leaves? What time of year do you do it? Guide wires for training? Just like to know more about your process.
jk_lewis
Masterpiece
How you train them depends on how old they are, how large the branches are. The branches on mine were too thick to bend. I split them about 9 inches and bent and twisted them are the split. It took several years for the bends to set and longer for the splits to heal.
As I have said before, I like your tree Jim! It does an admirable job of capturing the essence of the Live Oaks that I know.
It is due a much better container though... If it were mine, it would be much wider and a little shallower oval with a very muted smooth glaze finish. I realize boxwoods don't do as well in a super shallow container like you might use with a maple. However, I do think a wider and shallower pot could significantly add to the impression of massiveness that this styles represents.
It is due a much better container though... If it were mine, it would be much wider and a little shallower oval with a very muted smooth glaze finish. I realize boxwoods don't do as well in a super shallow container like you might use with a maple. However, I do think a wider and shallower pot could significantly add to the impression of massiveness that this styles represents.
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GrimLore
Bonsai Nut alumnus... we miss you
I prefer Dario's virt. It looks a lot like the tree on the BNut homepage. The first and third example trees have more of an undulating canopy line like Dario's virt than a more flat across look. The second example has more of the flat across look, but it seems to me to be a different tree where the primary trunks all emanate from close to ground level, rather than further up the tree.
I think some styles are a bit harder to pull off in a small scale. Having a completely domed look runs the risk of the tree looking more like a hedge or topiary in my opinion. Not saying that it can't be pulled off, but I think you end up facing pretty strong headwinds.
I think some styles are a bit harder to pull off in a small scale. Having a completely domed look runs the risk of the tree looking more like a hedge or topiary in my opinion. Not saying that it can't be pulled off, but I think you end up facing pretty strong headwinds.
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sbarnhardt
Mame
This started out in 1999 as a large nursery boxwood -- Buxus mycrophylla. In the lat 15 years, I've pushed it into something that resembles the massive Southern Live Oaks. Now, if I can just find a bonsai-sized draping of Spanish moss.
Good job from a citizen of the Great State of North Carolina!! Go get 'em!!
As for the "bonsai-sized draping of Spanish moss" you spoke of. I wonder if you could find "something" that might work in/from sources for model railroading supplies?? They have all sorts of "scaled" landscaping materials that folks use to make those set ups.
