Kingsville boxwood mame/shohin

[KennedyMarx]

My club held our annual tree of the year workshop a couple of days ago. Had a lot of people participating and having fun. None of the kingsvilles were very big and I doubts they ever will be considering their growth rate. I ended up taking mine home and putting it in a smaller pot than the grow pots the club had for the workshop. Didn't do any top pruning, but some heavy root pruning so I'm crossing my fingers that this little guy survives.

 

[bonsai barry]

I love the leaves on these little Kingsvilles. It may not get a lot bigger, but the trunk can certainly thicken, depending on how large a pot you grow it in.

I hope to get a kingsville someday.

 

[JudyB]

Nice little tree. You may want to do a bit of pinching just to keep light into the interior, and to keep the tree from getting too large a leaf ( I think sometimes they can revert to a larger leaf, someone told me that once...) They take to root pruning very well, you will probably be fine.

 

[lordy]

Nice little tree. You may want to do a bit of pinching just to keep light into the interior, and to keep the tree from getting too large a leaf ( I think sometimes they can revert to a larger leaf, someone told me that once...) They take to root pruning very well, you will probably be fine.

this is all true. Kingsvilles do throw sports (I know they ARE a sport) so keep an eye on the foliage and remove anything that grows large. Also, keep them out of afternoon sun--they love dappled sun or afternoon shade. And unless this will end up mame or small shohin, you could easily put it in the ground over a tile or similar for 5 years and it will eventually add some girth to the trunk. The root systems are crazy robust, at least in a pot with open soil. Keep the canopy surgically thinned or you will end up with a green shell on a leggy framework.

 

[KennedyMarx]

Thanks guys. I figured that I would do a little thinning once it's a little better established in the pot. It's wired in but it was hard to wire it in super solidly and I don't want to disturb the roots by jostling it around while trimming. I plan on cutting alternating sets of leaves in the interior and maybe adding a tiny bit of wire to move the branches into the directions I need.

 

[GrimLore]

Thanks guys. I figured that I would do a little thinning once it's a little better established in the pot. It's wired in but it was hard to wire it in super solidly and I don't want to disturb the roots by jostling it around while trimming. I plan on cutting alternating sets of leaves in the interior and maybe adding a tiny bit of wire to move the branches into the directions I need.

Nice little one, Myself I will be adding a lot of smaller specimens over the next two seasons so I appreciate seeing and learning from what others do. My experience has always been with larger and sometimes huge stock and this is a whole different world.

Grimmy

 

[JudyB]

I plan on cutting alternating sets of leaves in the interior and maybe adding a tiny bit of wire to move the branches into the directions I need.

Keep your interior shoots, trim your exterior. You'll want all those interior buds and shoots.
These are difficult at best to wire, so when you do trim, keep that in mind, and leave some open spaces in the exterior canopy. And trim with shape firmly in your thoughts.

 

[Neli]

Thanks guys. I figured that I would do a little thinning once it's a little better established in the pot. It's wired in but it was hard to wire it in super solidly and I don't want to disturb the roots by jostling it around while trimming. I plan on cutting alternating sets of leaves in the interior and maybe adding a tiny bit of wire to move the branches into the directions I need.

Every time I disturb the roots of a tree or reduce them, I reduce the foliage too and remove any unwanted branches.
My theory is that roots get in water and leaves evaporate it...if you unbalance this equation, you migh have more evaporation than water intake and the tree can dry.

 

[Adair M]

Kennedy,

You really don't train these with wire. The branches are very brittle.

Trim the canopy to create pads of foliage. Let light into the interior.

Now for a question: What is the wire on the outside of the pot?

 

[KennedyMarx]

Kennedy,

You really don't train these with wire. The branches are very brittle.

Trim the canopy to create pads of foliage. Let light into the interior.

Now for a question: What is the wire on the outside of the pot?

I wasn't planning on using any wire, but a couple of the little branches are so supple that I think I could get away with wiring the main branches into place then just clip and grow. I really overstated it I think, it would be one piece of small wire.

And the wire around the pot is there to help stabilize the tree so it doesn't shift around in the pot. I wired it in but didn't feel like it was as stable as I would like. I'll probably clip the wire off in a few weeks.

Thanks for the pruning advice.

 

[Neli]

My little boxwood is wired from top to bottom and I dont see any problems.