New member's Glossy Privet/Ligustrum Lucidum

[CaptainJack]

Hello everyone,
I thought I'd introduce myself and our little tree here before I start asking some questions I have about it.
We bought it a year ago from Bonsai Boy(yeah, I know) and it has been sitting in the kitchen bay window ever since. It's condition on arrival was outstanding, maybe a half a dozen leaves in among the box packing material and very well secured.
It is supposed to be 27 years old and is 22" tall from the top of the pot.
We repotted it about a month after it arrived into what you see now in the pictures. The size increase between the pots was not very much, but with the new soil around the edges, it really took off.
I'd like to thin it a bit, but my wife won't allow much trimming. She points out that the whole reason we bought a relatively expensive bonsai was to fill the window so we wouldn't have to look at the sides of the neighbors houses; I guess she's right on that.
It has turned into something that we both really enjoy.
The window gets morning sun(from the right side) and right above the tree are two 50watt LED lights that are about 5k color. It seems to like it there, it's never been outside, but I'm planning on brief visits to the back deck this spring and summer after I trim the roots and add new soil.
If anyone has any thoughts on our current setup for our little tree, please chime in.
Jack

 

[berobinson82]

Your wife is normally correct about everything since she's your wife but I think you have a good idea about the thinning out here. This tree doesn't give me the feeling that it's a tree. The top is super heavy and perhaps a bit tall for the size of the trunk. It's a lovely tree and if it's healthy I think your set up is just fine. I think branch selection will make this look less shrubby and more like a miniature tree. Kudos.

 

[JudyB]

If the tree is happy, and your wife is happy, I'd do whatever I could to keep it that way....
I would do a bit of leaf pruning, to allow some light into the inner branching on the tree to attain some inner buds, then it'll be even fuller.


And then I'd go out and buy another bonsai for the deck that I could train any old way I pleased!!! (from somewhere other than Bonsai boy. of course...)

Welcome to the forum!

 

[rockm]

FWIW,

This tree is fine as is. If it's moderately happy inside, you're doing better than most. Privet is an extremely tough plant that can take a lot of stress, so your choice of species was really good.

However, the plant is showing some subtle signs it is losing some strength, probably because of low light and other stress factors inside. For instance, all the growth is at the ends of branches. There doesn't appear to be much, if any, interior growth on any of them. That's an indication that its light source isn't very strong.

That can be remedied by putting the plant out in full sun for the spring and summer and hard pruning the branches to half their size. The pruning will stimulate interior budding on the plant and "tighten" it up. If it remains inside and no one has the heart to prune it, it will continue to get leggier and leggier...A vacation outside might take it away from its primary duty of blocking the neighbor's house, but you will be amazed at how it will thrive outside and bringing it back in at the end of summer with denser fuller growth will allow it to do its job better (And probably protect your investment in the plant)

 

[CaptainJack]

FWIW,

This tree is fine as is. If it's moderately happy inside, you're doing better than most. Privet is an extremely tough plant that can take a lot of stress, so your choice of species was really good.

However, the plant is showing some subtle signs it is losing some strength, probably because of low light and other stress factors inside. For instance, all the growth is at the ends of branches. There doesn't appear to be much, if any, interior growth on any of them. That's an indication that its light source isn't very strong.

That can be remedied by putting the plant out in full sun for the spring and summer and hard pruning the branches to half their size. The pruning will stimulate interior budding on the plant and "tighten" it up. If it remains inside and no one has the heart to prune it, it will continue to get leggier and leggier...A vacation outside might take it away from its primary duty of blocking the neighbor's house, but you will be amazed at how it will thrive outside and bringing it back in at the end of summer with denser fuller growth will allow it to do its job better (And probably protect your investment in the plant)

Thank you rockm, sage advise. After I prune the roots and re-pot it, I'll give it a couple of weeks to get over the shock and watch for new growth, then I'll start with an outside rotation. It's only a dozen feet to the deck where a
small table will be it's home during the morning and afternoon, then I'll bring it in at night. We do really enjoy looking at it, so the extra effort every day to move it will be wroth it for it's overall health.
Jack

 

[rockm]

"It's only a dozen feet to the deck where a small table will be it's home during the morning and afternoon, then I'll bring it in at night."

Moving it back and forth inside and outside is not a good idea. You will be constantly changing the local environment and it will have to adapt to everytime you move it. Trees also do much better when they have cooler nightime temperatures along with the increased humidity that outdoors provides. Plants are not very well adapted to moving distances. Leave it outside for the spring and summer once.

Unfortunately, trees can't adapt very well to our requirements. We have to adapt to theirs. This isn't "tree hugger" talk. It's biology. Failure to accommodate them and they don't protest. They decline and die.

 

[october]

Hello captainJack..nice tree. One thing..You mentioned that when you got it, you put it in a different pot. Now, you are going to root prune and repot this season. Depending on how much the roots were disturbed less than a year ago, the tree might not like being disturbed again. However, if all you did last year was lift it out of one pot and put it in another pot and fill with soil. You would probably be ok to do root work this season.

Rob

 

[CaptainJack]

Ok, rockm, that is something that I had not thought of. But if our little tree has been doing well(a relative term, hence the recommendation for more natural light and pruning the branches back to promote more growth on the
inner branches) for over a year in the bay window, I would think an eight hour
sojourn to the great outdoors, for more exposure to natural light, would be more beneficial than not. It is already acclimated to being indoors at night, so the only change in
environment would be the increased exposure to light during the morning and early afternoon(before the temperature gets to high), but of course, keeping an eye on watering needs with the additional
evaporation from being outdoors.
I not trying to be argumentative here, naturally I defer to the more experienced in the field. I guess it's the old cake and eat it too thing.
Jack

 

[jk_lewis]

Trees don't have legs for a reason, one being that they prefer to stay in one spot. You may think that your tree is "acclimated;" in the long run, it will not think that itself.

 

[rockm]

"It is already acclimated to being indoors at night, so the only change in environment would be the increased exposure to light during the morning and early afternoon(before the temperature gets to high), but of course, keeping an eye on watering needs with the additional
evaporation from being outdoors."

You're thinking like an animal with legs, not like a tree.

It is NOT acclimated to indoors at night. It is acclimated to its immediate surroundings. It has no memory of the indoors once it leaves. Plants have no memory. It has to acclimate to each individual situation you put it in, EVERY TIME. The situtations you're forcing it to comply with are far mre drastic than those presented by leaving it in one place. The abrupt change from indoors to out and from outdoors to in is more of a shock than the gradual and gentler variations the outdoors provides between day and night.

 

[RosieO]

I've found privets to be fairly bullet proof. I don't think you'd have to worry about doing another repot this year.

Not sure from your pics which is your front but IMO Photo #1 shows the best side. For what it's worth, I would reduce the height by half.