My first big purchase. Japanese Holly

[QuintinBonsai]

Well I finally gave in, and made my first "real" big bonsai purchase. I received it in the mail today, so I don't want to place it outside just yet. I know that they are outside trees, but I want it to recover from the shock of being inside the dark box for so long. I do not intend on keeping it inside.

Aside from the foam packing peanuts sticking like glue to the tree, I'm satisfied with this purchase. Maybe a toothbrush can remove that without scarring the tree? The seller said that it will flower, and produce berries. The two shoots that you see were said to be left for optional future styling.

 

[raydomz]

Very nice!
You will be very happy with this come spring time. I'm not sure about the two shoots that were left on though. While a good idea, they look a bit low to really be of any use. You will probably want something higher up, thread graft maybe?
Oh and since it looks to be in it's dormancy still, or coming out of it, it will have no problem adjusting to life outside of a box. For sake of further confusion I would place it outside.
The toothbrush is a good idea for the peanuts, those damn things do tend to stick like glue!


Great purchase, hope you enjoy!
Mind my asking where you got it?

 

[Dav4]

That is a NICE purchase...well done. Get it outside now, as keeping it inside will only stress it further. Place it in the shade for a few days and gradually increase it's sun exposure. Good luck.

 

[bonsai barry]

This tree has an interesting trunk and some nice movement. It will have berries if it is a female tree. I have several yaupon holly but they're all males... we do guy things together.

 

[Umeboshi]

I love deciduous holly. Nice looking tree, congratulations!

 

[QuintinBonsai]

Great purchase, hope you enjoy!
Mind my asking where you got it?

Thanks. I bought it on eBay. Sometimes you can find some really good trees, and equipment on there. The seller wanted to thin out his collection. I guess he has too many? He says it was purchased from Bill Valvanis several years ago.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. I will place "her" outside today. The seller said I would need a male counterpart in order for it to produce any berries.

 

[Ang3lfir3]

It will have berries if it is a female tree.

true....kinda .... you need to have a male pollinator around to get berries..... and even then sometimes it won't happen... also the flowers are minuscule but at least kind of interesting ..
assuming this is Ilex Serrata (im not sure about others)... you can tell if the tree is male or female by looking at the flowers ... i don't remember which is which now.... chances are tho that this is a female.... @capnk has males at Telperion which is where I got mine

 

[QuintinBonsai]

I'm not sure about the two shoots that were left on though. While a good idea, they look a bit low to really be of any use. You will probably want something higher up, thread graft maybe?

A thread graft sounds like an awesome idea. This may sound like a silly question, but do you think that it's possible to do a thread graft with the two shoots that are still attached to the tree? I drew a picture to help demonstrate what I am getting at.

The green limb represents the shoot to be threaded. The arrows show were a drill could be made, thus making a new lower branch to make up for the empty space.

 

[bonsai barry]

A thread graft sounds like an awesome idea. This may sound like a silly question, but do you think that it's possible to do a thread graft with the two shoots that are still attached to the tree? I drew a picture to help demonstrate what I am getting at.

The green limb represents the shoot to be threaded. The arrows show were a drill could be made, thus making a new lower branch to make up for the empty space.

View attachment 22331

The Good News: I did a successful thread graft from the same tree with a trident maple.
The Bad News: The tree died (Not related to the thread graft).

 

[Mac In Oak Ridge]

I don't think a thread graft would ever catch up with the size of limb 1 & 2. It would look odd and out of place for the life of the tree. I'd cut them off and get on with ramification of the tree.

The only place I'd consider a thread graft is directly through that big stub that limb 2 is built on. I'd aim it to the front of the tree and then when it took use to camouflage the fact that limb 2 is larger than limb 1.

 

[JudyB]

Hey very nice find, IBB. I really like this one.
I'm not sure you really need more branching down lower, I would wire the existing secondary branches down a bit to give it more foliage a bit lower.

Not that I'm one of the "rule" folks particularly, but if you do that thread graft, the threaded branch will be on the inside of the big curve....

And it looks like there is a small back bud that is putting out a shoot, you might be able to use that, as it's a bit higher than the two that were left on.
It's a very nice trunk, and lots of interesting movement.

 

[Nubster]

My local nurseries have loads of Japanese Holly. I wondered how they would do as bonsai.