Prunus Serrulata - Japanese Flowering Cherry

[Shun]

Hello guys.. Just here to keep a log on this pre bonsai.. I was told this is a white flower cultivar.

I'm planning on making a Shohin out of it.

Here's a picture and a short 360 video of it:

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Feel free to throw in suggestions and critiques! (I'm specially open for pot suggestions!)

Thanks!

 

[cbroad]

I like it! Nice movement and carve job! What happened to all the leaves? Don't know about in Brazil, but in the States (especially in the South) they can be fungal/disease/insect prone. Is something like that going on because of the lack of foliage or did you defoliate?

Nice tree though!

 

[Shun]

We are at the end of autumn..They shed their leafs down here!

South hemisphere

 

[cbroad]

Haha gotcha, I'm an idiot...

 

[JudyB]

My suggestion would be to wire the tree now that the leaves are off. If you are not worried about flowering next spring then I'd do cutbacks as well. Nice start.

 

[Shun]

Thanks for the suggestion, @JudyB ..!!

Here's what I'm thinking... I will repot this tree this season.. isn't it better for the tree health to keep the branches to help the development of new roots? the tree is rootbound and has not been repotted in about 4-5 years.. so its just a pack of roots.. My plan on the repot is to saw off half of the rootball and rake the remaining, pruning away long roots and then putting in a slight shallower pot.. How do you feel about that?

 

[JudyB]

Your route sounds pretty safe to me, but I do think you could do some pruning of the long thick branches (trunks) with no problem. You can wait till the tree starts to move buds to do this, at the time you repot, but not after leaves open. Cherry trees are hardy and fast growing as you may know, so if the tree is in good health, I would not worry about doing the rootwork you are planning. I use a coarse drainage layer at the bottom of the pot for cherry and also put in a deeper pot than I would use for other trees.

 

[Shun]

Thank you again, @JudyB !

Some friend suggested me to keep the long whips and thread graft some branches on the outside of the curves of the tree.. So I'm still in doubt on pruning back or thread grafting...!

What is the reason to pot japanese cherrys on deeper pots? Do you have any suggestion on a pot shape.. Glazed or unglazed? I've read that flowering trees are better on glazed pots but the pronounced deadwood, I believe, would go well on a unglazed pot.. Maybe an unglazed flower shaped pot?

What do you think?

 

[JudyB]

I like a glazed pot for these, to complement the blooms. Cherry like to be kept moist but well drained, so a deeper pot is better. Pot shape is a very personal choice.

 

[A. Gorilla]

>>... moist but well drained, so a deeper pot is better

That's a big negatory on the rodgometer, good buddy.

 

[JudyB]

Not really @A. Gorilla ....

 

[A. Gorilla]

Deep does not enhance moist.

 

[M. Frary]

Deep does not enhance moist.

That's not what she said!