...and I thought it was dead. Flowering almond.

[Bonsai Nut]

I picked up this flowering almond last spring at San Gabriel Nursery from their standard landscape area (versus their pre-bonsai area) because I liked the blooms. I was curious to see how it would respond to bonsai development work.

Suffice it to say the roots were BAD - some of the worst I have ever seen. Instead of going down, the tap root shot sideways and then wrapped around the inside of the container a number of times. By the time I got the roots somewhat sorted out I questioned whether the tree was going to survive the work. I potted it up in a deciduous pumice mix and placed it in a sheltered location for the balance of the summer, where it remained looking very weak and sickly. In the Fall it slowly dropped its leaves, and the remaining branches looked so thin and spindly, I thought for sure it wouldn't survive the winter. I almost threw it out in January

Well I guess I was too pessimistic. It is pushing blooms everywhere - even on the trunk - and it looks like it will have suffered very little die-back. As soon as the blooms fade I will do the first heavy pruning.

 

[Paulpash]

I guess it just wanted to be a bonsai... Now you'll have to come up with a long-term plan for it. Care to share.

 

[Random User]

I have some in the front yard around and under the front step. I have to change out the front step this year and I will be removing a few of these to see of the root system will be good enough for bonsai... perhaps do a lot of root grafting. Good to see that you managed to get yours to survive... I think mine are Russian Almonds... tough little buggers to live in zone 3 anyway.

 

[Giga]

I have one of these and have been applying bonsai technique to it for the last few years. The one Thing I've found out the hard way is that they need very good winter protecting in a bonsai pot. Through a little bit of testing I've lost a branch 5 years in the making and lot of twig die back. They grow like weeds but you'll get die back if they are not protected from harsh weather.

 

[Vance Wood]

I am of the belief that many of these marginal trees would be better off if removed from their bonsai pots and placed in a container with Pine Bark mulch for the winter where the roots are not exposed to the sides of a stone ware type pot that will inevitably cause the death of those roots so exposed. I have seen this in Trident Maples,where if you try to keep them over winter in bonsai pots up here in Michigan the roots will turn to snot. That of course does not address this almond overwintered in California.

 

[sorce]

Sell it!



Sorce

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Sell it!

Is "nearly natural" the same thing as "totally fake"?

 

[sorce]

Is "nearly natural" the same thing as "totally fake"?

I think that was describing the silk alone!

Fake on fake!

Sorce

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Now you'll have to come up with a long-term plan for it. Care to share.

Since this is a fun experiment, I am going to wait for the blossoms to fade, then I am going to remove about 80% of the branching. The tree is too small to be much of anything at this point, so I want to see how strongly it pushes spring growth and throws new buds.

Though I don't usually do this, I am going to also repot because the roots were so bad last year I had to save more bad roots than I wanted. I am going to check out what is going on beneath the soil and work on the roots a tiny bit more (nothing as dramatic as last year).

 

[Vance Wood]

Since this is a fun experiment, I am going to wait for the blossoms to fade, then I am going to remove about 80% of the branching. The tree is too small to be much of anything at this point, so I want to see how strongly it pushes spring growth and throws new buds.

Though I don't usually do this, I am going to also repot because the roots were so bad last year I had to save more bad roots than I wanted. I am going to check out what is going on beneath the soil and work on the roots a tiny bit more (nothing as dramatic as last year).

This may be why it bloomed so vigorously, threaten a tree and it will try to reproduce.

 

[defra]

I bought one for 3€ two weeks ago to give it a shot too
It was about to bloom .....

Got home from work today and the tree is all pruned no branches left the top broken off and only some trunk left

Walked into the house finding the dog with the missing parts

Ill just sort out the roots and plant it in the ground for this year to see how fast the trunk will thicken up

 

[Smoke]

threaten a tree and it will try to reproduce.

I wonder if that's the problem with snotty 16 year old brat kids?

 

[milehigh_7]

I wonder if that's the problem with snotty 16 year old brat kids?

Totally explains a good deal of the behavior I see at school...

 

[Vance Wood]

Horney bastards lacking any kind of moral compas.

 

[kite-eating bonsai tree]

hehe, i have the same san gabriel nursery stock, BN .. also from their landscape section. picked up mine back in 2012 with the intention of just letting it grow out. better that i should have planted it in the garden rather than a pot ... it's growth has been s-l-o-w. going to take a while to thicken that trunk.

this past fall and winter, i thought mine went into serious decline and was finally dead ("s%#t!"). little bugger bloomed really strongly in just the last several weeks ... all the way up to the tips.

to boot, i have that *same* silk cherry blossom bonsai also (in the office). my coworker liked it so much ... that she kidnapped it. at least I'm allowed visiting rights. (>_<)'