I had some “emerald carpet” in the Williamette Valley. A really attractive cultivar. Unfortunately, too tender for eastern Oregon. Not familiar with “Andersonii”. A few species have a grey shaggy bark as opposed to the smooth red bark of most. Is this one of those?
Manzanita Thread
- Thread starter Arcto
- Start date
First thing I would do is start removing that nursery soil mix and if the bark is starting to split and flake off and the buds are starting to swell, it is a good time to do so. I have had success with smaller nursery material like this by gently teasing off soil from all sides with minimal tearing and pulling. The roots are very fine so keep them misted frequently. Avoid wetting the leaves. Incorporate a pumice-lava mix, I’ve had success at about 2:1. You don’t have to totally bare root it although I have with small starts. Best to leave a portion of the original soil for removal at the next repot. Manzanita feeder roots are very fine and delicate. Keep it moist to allow regrowth of those fine feeders. They die if dry. Leave the top alone. You won’t be styling any yet. After a repot I shade and shelter for a couple of weeks, keeping the soil moist. Did I mention avoid wetting the leaves?
Potawatomi13
Imperial Masterpiece
Dive in time
! You mentioned earlier acid fertilizer and curious where info came from and is info set in stone?
! You mentioned earlier acid fertilizer and curious where info came from and is info set in stone?
MaxTheSpy
Yamadori
Should I keep it under covers before I repot? Out of the rain?
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
Dive in time
Acid fertilizer is within the context of our crappy Southern California water with a pH of 8.0 out of the tap and super high in calcium and sodium. Other parts of the country with nice soft water may not need / benefit from it.
I also read an interesting article about root development in some of these semi-arid plants/trees. Because they often grow in rocky substrate, they will often extend roots horizontally instead of vertically. Light rains with a deep water table suggest that roots have to be shallow in order to obtain water. Additionally, these roots have the ability to extend long distances as a thick single strand, find a depression with a little humidity and extend fine roots into a pocket, and then continue on until it finds another pocket. There may be no fine roots within a certain distance from the tree, and there may be "balls" of fine roots scattered around depending on the underlying soil/rock. It is critically important to locate and collect these fine roots or the tree will usually die during collection.
Another tendency of these plants - branch die-back. Everyone talks about the presence of the beautiful deadwood on literally every plant in the wild. This deadwood can only be caused by die-back of branches and live veins on the plant. It gives the bush the character of a much older plant than it actually is. However this same character may make manzanita particularly challenging as a bonsai subject because it will be difficult to develop an apex and branching structure if the tree keeps dying back.
A last comment - there is no shortage of manzanita (in general) in this world. It is so ubiquitous in so many locations that it is considered a nuisance plant because of its hard deadwood. Branches are used in the pet trade for bird cages because the wood is so hard that most parrots can't chew through it. In its native range, it grows quickly and reproduces broadly. It also is highly resistant to brush fires and is an early colonizer of burnt areas in the forest. There are some limited species due to developmental pressure and destruction/development of native habitat. My "endangered" species is actually known locally as "Santa Cruz Manzanita" because it only grows in a small area in Santa Cruz. It is endangered due to housing and golf courses - not due to yamadori collection
BrianBay9
Masterpiece
Anybody every try an air layer from a large landscape plant?
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
Treat it like an azalea. Be really gentle with the roots during the first repot. Don't remove all the soil if the roots are really tangled or the soil is overly compact. Once the tree is planted in good soil, go in every year and bare root 1/4 of the tree - rotating each year as if you were eating a pizza.
theone420
Shohin
Here is one I saw a few months back while hiking in the San Jacinto mountains in Southern California. Really liked the live vien so I took some pics with my phone
And this one too
And this one too
MaxTheSpy
Yamadori
thanks for the advice! Im probably going to build a 5-10 gallon bucket for it to grow in. The tag said 5-7x10 What does this mean? 5-7 wide and 10 tall? It didnt specify feet or inches or anything
MaxTheSpy
Yamadori
That is beautiful! I wish there were more of these trees in northern Oregon. The closest one I could find was like like 6 hours away in Myrtle Beach.
Shima
Omono
I don't understand this.
Shima
Omono
My Cub Scout pack ran up that mountain in the 50's.
Shima
Omono
Long ago at a bonsai show at Japan Town SF there was a cascade Manzanita, like lightening. I asked the old Japanese gentleman what it was potted in, he motioned me to stick finger in, (it was up high). Sphagnum moss only.
Brian, I live in Northern Ca. Manzanita is everywhere I look. (Don't ask me for specific names because I don't know...yet) I plan on trying some air layers this year.
Also, while reading through this thread the idea occurred to me that a multi-year project of collecting a mature specimen might be an answer. So, I'm going to try that too.
Will post updates.
Vance Wood
Lord Mugo
From what I remember from when I was a kid just getting into bonsai and wandering the hills around Marin County most of these really good Manzanita seemed to grow in real rocky ground.
Potawatomi13
Imperial Masterpiece
Generally in USA means 5 to 7 feet wide and 10 feet tall(about)in landscape can be expected
.
Vance Wood
Lord Mugo
That too has been my experience. The hills above and around my house were covered with them as well as Live Oaks and Pepper Trees. All beautiful and unobtainable by the inexperienced and now the old. It seems the younger the Manzanitta the easier it is to collect. I have yet to see any of those trees of the nature I used to see when I was just learning bonsai that look like the driftwood masterpieces we see in the books.
keegan
Sapling
Following this conversation! I too am very interested in collecting these here in SoCal. Gotta love that maroon live vein and ash grey deadwood interplay!
Vance Wood
Lord Mugo
Good luck on getting one of these old-timers out of the ground. I know of no one who has successfully done it, I hope you succeed.
oddirt
Mame
Nice thread.
Has anyone tried Dan Robinson’s root enhancement technique for collecting conifers? This is where he adds soil around the base, waits for a rainy season to pass so the tree develops a health root system closer to the trunk, and then digs them out. Might be worth a shot.
There are a ton of nurseries in the Bay Area that carry them so I’ll be experimenting with some of those. The cultivars tend to have better tolerance for garden conditions than pure species. Not sure if that might translate into better tolerance for bonsai conditions. But this often doesn’t translate. If you heavily watered an Q agrifolia that’s in the ground in summer, it would die from root pathogens. But oak bonsai do fine, presumably from the airy soil.
Arctostaphylos are also symbiotic with ectomycorrhizals so maybe add an innoculant would help. Just speculating based on botanical info.
Has anyone tried Dan Robinson’s root enhancement technique for collecting conifers? This is where he adds soil around the base, waits for a rainy season to pass so the tree develops a health root system closer to the trunk, and then digs them out. Might be worth a shot.
There are a ton of nurseries in the Bay Area that carry them so I’ll be experimenting with some of those. The cultivars tend to have better tolerance for garden conditions than pure species. Not sure if that might translate into better tolerance for bonsai conditions. But this often doesn’t translate. If you heavily watered an Q agrifolia that’s in the ground in summer, it would die from root pathogens. But oak bonsai do fine, presumably from the airy soil.
Arctostaphylos are also symbiotic with ectomycorrhizals so maybe add an innoculant would help. Just speculating based on botanical info.
