Wisteria hernia

[rockm]

This monster is in the garage of a friend of mine. He dug it a few years ago. It's beginning to bloom reliably.

 

[Cadillactaste]

NICE! What a beast it looks like. What size is it?

 

[penumbra]

Its old a gnarly but hardly a bonsai yet. IMHO

 

[rockm]

NICE! What a beast it looks like. What size is it?

About four feet from base to tip. Weighs about 100 lbs, possibly more.

 

[rockm]

Its old a gnarly but hardly a bonsai yet. IMHO

Well, yeah dude it is more bonsai than landscape plant. Don't know if you've ever worked VERY large wisteria, aside from having it survive collection, to get that amount of short backbudding and branching that close in requires some effort. No, it's not museum bonsai, but it is a bonsai.

 

[rockm]

And BTW, it could be for sale if you're local. PM me if anyone's interested.

 

[penumbra]

Well, yeah dude it is more bonsai than landscape plant. Don't know if you've ever worked VERY large wisteria, aside from having it survive collection, to get that amount of short backbudding and branching that close in requires some effort. No, it's not museum bonsai, but it is a bonsai.

I here you and know from whence you come, and the realization that this is more a bonsai to some than to me. I seem to find myself in a position now where perhaps I should not have put my nose. Yet still it is only my opinion. I am sure that there are others, yourself included, that could turn this leviathan into a thing of beauty.
As a side note, I have not worked on large wisteria as a bonsai, but I have pruned several with trunks exceeding 10 inches. The ones at Biltmore must have trunks at least 18 inches in diameter. I believe they were part of Olmsted's original plantings upon completion of the estate in 1905.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Beautiful bark and it is what it is, a wisteria and they just look different than your run if the mill bonsai. My question is how well do they callous over when old branches are cut off the main trunk? On one I collected last spring I removed a coulpe low branches leaving bare wood circles where those were removed. Will the bark cover those eventually or will they just become openings for rot to start?

 

[rockm]

Beautiful bark and it is what it is, a wisteria and they just look different than your run if the mill bonsai. My question is how well do they callous over when old branches are cut off the main trunk? On one I collected last spring I removed a coulpe low branches leaving bare wood circles where those were removed. Will the bark cover those eventually or will they just become openings for rot to start?

That's the issue with wisteria. They are NOT trees. They are vines. They don't make strong, resilient wood. Hard pruning produces wounds that heal slowly or not at all. You have to get creative with how you grow them to grow away from wounds. The one above, like many large bonsai has rot issues at the soil line. the trick is to get it to grow enough every summer to put on wood faster than wood rots. It's a balance. Big wisteria bonsai without wounds and rot are very rare. This one at the Arb is from the Japanese Imperial collection. It is walking a tightrope with rot too.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

I figured that would be the case, so you really have to be ready to incorporate the wound and any rotting wood into the design. Maybe I’ll plan some carving to turn it from a bull’s eye ring to an elongated oval running down to the soil line. Last summer was about getting it to survive and thrive after being dug up and this year I am waiting for the buds to pop. One step at a time!

 

[rockm]

I figured that would be the case, so you really have to be ready to incorporate the wound and any rotting wood into the design. Maybe I’ll plan some carving to turn it from a bull’s eye ring to an elongated oval running down to the soil line. Last summer was about getting it to survive and thrive after being dug up and this year I am waiting for the buds to pop. One step at a time!

I would NOT purposefully remove wood or carve anything. You're only accelerating the rotting process. Keep as much sound wood as is available. In the coming years, you will have time enough to carve out all the punky rotted wood as the plant adjusts to life in a container. Expect to lose at least half of the trunk in the next couple of years to die back--doesn't mean that will happen, just that it CAN happen (and mostly does).

 

[chicago1980]

And BTW, it could be for sale if you're local. PM me if anyone's interested.

Where is local?

 

[rockm]

Where is local?

Northern Va. District of Columbia and Maryland

 

[leatherback]

Burn it and be done with it.



Cool backbreaker.

 

[vp999]

Beautiful wisteria.

 

[Dav4]

That would have been a bonsai I lusted over a little earlier in my bonsai journey.... by like 20 years. The big ones always catch my eye and quicken my heart beat... but there's no room for new hernia makers in my yard anymore as my aging body can't handle them easily anymore.

 

[mcpesq817]

Here are some other pictures. Was a very large tree (probably 10' tall and 15' wide) growing over a trellis at my parents' house in NYC. Collected in 2010, pretty stable now and flowering reliably. I think I have a thread going on it somewhere here.

 

[_#1_]

Is this Chinese, Japanese or American Wisteria? I got two neglected ones from HD three years now and they haven't flower for me

What would the price be for something like this? These things are tough as nail but the dead wood is kinda scary.

 

[mcpesq817]

I think it might be Japanese. I think the Japanese types flower at the same time that they are in leaf, while the Chinese flower pre-leaf.

I'm willing to entertain fair offers. Not looking to get rich on this or anything. Obviously can't ship this thing, it's a tad too big.

 

[CWTurner]

Perfect pot for it!
CW