Rose of Sharon bonsai

[armetisius]

Darn it thinking about the one I used to be around all the time
made me nostalgic. Finally found one and got it on order. Can't
help it. Thinking about the little frills of white petals just stated
tugging away at my heart and I had to have it. AGAIN

 

[HoneyHornet]

You can cut them way back. What I was talking about was cutting in to LARGE wood.
Mother had a peony flowered one at her left door yard. Carefully cutting back for years
it stayed fabulous. And the best time to cut IS immediately after flowering. Gives them
time to recover before rainy Winter gets to it. But my sister's orangutan of a husband
cut thru the main trunk about eighteen inches above the ground one Thanksgiving.
Leaving a naked seven inch trunk stump open to the elements. It never recovered. But
it did sprout back with like five trunks from the roots. Within two years the "old trunk"
had rotted off into the ground. Do what you want to, just be careful of LARGE open
wounds. The is NO "real wood" in the trunk and disease will run thru it like wild fire.

Ahh I see

 

[HoneyHornet]

Thanks for the reply I will wait till late fall to do so. Or will spring be better and just plant the cuttings then or will the cuttings root if I keep them inside

It was noted that the best tine is after flowering so sounds like you could do it now
many trees can be done winter dormancy /earlyspring but perhaps because it isnt truely hard wood,you wanna avoid having exposed cuts in wet winter as stated above..

 

[leatherback]

You can cut them way back. What I was talking about was cutting in to LARGE wood.
Mother had a peony flowered one at her left door yard. Carefully cutting back for years
it stayed fabulous. And the best time to cut IS immediately after flowering. Gives them
time to recover before rainy Winter gets to it. But my sister's orangutan of a husband
cut thru the main trunk about eighteen inches above the ground one Thanksgiving.
Leaving a naked seven inch trunk stump open to the elements. It never recovered. But
it did sprout back with like five trunks from the roots. Within two years the "old trunk"
had rotted off into the ground. Do what you want to, just be careful of LARGE open
wounds. The is NO "real wood" in the trunk and disease will run thru it like wild fire.

Oh well.. Guess mine will rot away then..

 

[HoneyHornet]

Oh well.. Guess mine will rot away then..

View attachment 332501

Lol thing is fine

Me likey

 

[armetisius]

Oh well.. Guess mine will rot away then..

And you have yours in the greenhouse for it to be sprouting right now.
However, you will see what I was talking about when it comes to the
difference between the way these heal and the way actual woody trees
do it.
And if that one is exposed to too much water on those cuts? Yes
it will show you what I was saying.

 

[leatherback]

And you have yours in the greenhouse for it to be sprouting right now.

Nope.
Granted the picture is a month old. But the tree looks exactly the same right now. Still happily growing. Outside.

actual woody trees

ehm.. The branches are not made of soft tissue but wood?

 

[armetisius]

Nope.
Granted the picture is a month old. But the tree looks exactly the same right now. Still happily growing. Outside.
ehm.. The branches are not made of soft tissue but wood?

Have no intentions of arguing; however, you will see what I am saying soon enough.
I am not known for running my mouth about stuff I don't know to be fact.
I consider this to be the end of this. Give it time. I'll check back with you about
it in a few months when there should be ample evidence that I know what I am
talking about.

 

[Forsoothe!]

This is another tree I found as a very small landscape plant in 2015, as here in June...

...And here now...

I was surprised how soft and flexible the branches are. How long does it take to set with wire? I was assuming that I would remove the wire in spring.

 

[PherPhace]

This is another tree I found as a very small landscape plant in 2015, as here in June...
View attachment 332647
...And here now...
View attachment 332646
I was surprised how soft and flexible the branches are. How long does it take to set with wire? I was assuming that I would remove the wire in spring.

Mine only took one season to set and I did some pretty hard bending

 

[PherPhace]

I wish I came across this thread when I started mine. I did not know about the soft wood and how easily it can mildew. I carved a face in mine. With the white bark it was a perfect Game of Thrones tree. The first carving was shallow and I coated it with lanolin oil to protect it. It was fine and survived through the winter. The next season I refined the face and added some red tears for a phoyo op right before the GoT finale. I forgot to protect it with oil before I put it in the greenhouse. I checked on it later to find the face black and rotting. it survived but the face died.
The next season I removed the rotted area and added a wood hardener to anything exposed. I wired it as a windswept, but like someone mentioned, it's growth habit is straight up. So I'm thinking I will repot it as a cliffhanger sideways tree with the ends pointing up. It is a cool material to work with and I've gained some experience through failure. It's definitely not a complete fail and is a pretty interesting tree.
The wire is currently off now but it's dark outside so I can't get a good pic.

 

[leatherback]

I wish I came across this thread when I started mine. I did not know about the soft wood and how easily it can mildew. I carved a face in mine. With the white bark it was a perfect Game of Thrones tree. The first carving was shallow and I coated it with lanolin oil to protect it. It was fine and survived through the winter. The next season I refined the face and added some red tears for a phoyo op right before the GoT finale. I forgot to protect it with oil before I put it in the greenhouse. I checked on it later to find the face black and rotting. it survived but the face died.
The next season I removed the rotted area and added a wood hardener to anything exposed. I wired it as a windswept, but like someone mentioned, it's growth habit is straight up. So I'm thinking I will repot it as a cliffhanger sideways tree with the ends pointing up. It is a cool material to work with and I've gained some experience through failure. It's definitely not a complete fail and is a pretty interesting tree.
The wire is currently off now but it's dark outside so I can't get a good pic.

Not sure what a game of thrones tree is. Then again, I never finished watching the series. I have read the books and I do not recall trees with faces?

In any case.. You did not even reach the food from what I can tell. The bark is thick on these. The wood is not particularly differen than other species I work with. All deciduous will start to rot when exposed to the weather for a few years. And most of them have good capacity to lock in the dead/dying part. And all that is not sealed of will start to decay.

 

[PherPhace]

Not sure what a game of thrones tree is. Then again, I never finished watching the series. I have read the books and I do not recall trees with faces?

In any case.. You did not even reach the food from what I can tell. The bark is thick on these. The wood is not particularly differen than other species I work with. All deciduous will start to rot when exposed to the weather for a few years. And most of them have good capacity to lock in the dead/dying part. And all that is not sealed of will start to decay.

It decayed within a month. The wood is very soft. The bark is softer and rots very quickly. I lost all the bark and 2 large branches on one side. Had I not treated the mildew when I did, I could have lost the whole tree.

Also, a quick Google search would show you the Game of Thrones tree I referenced.

 

[leatherback]

The wood is very soft. The bark is softer and rots very quickly.

As said, I think you hardly even reached the wood. Most of your carving is in the bark, which died. You can see in this picture that you only have mere dimples in the wood. The bark is a lot thicker than many people think.

Had I not treated the mildew when I did, I could have lost the whole tree.

I hope you are not saying you had mildew on the bark.

Why II am responding to this: I feel people really misinterpret things they see on their trees, and as such, needlessly assume certain things are a problem. Your cutting into the bark could be an issue. I however see other things on the tree which would make this also consistent with sun damage. Did you ny chance put the "face" facing the mid-afternooon sun?

Also, a quick Google search would show you the Game of Thrones tree I referenced.

Sure, Could have. Should have. Would have. I did not, I asked what it was. Not that you were very informative. But thanks for the tip/

 

[leatherback]

This is how thick the bark is, bark might make up 1/10th of the total branch diameter.:

 

[PherPhace]

This is how thick the bark is, bark might make up 1/10th of the total branch diameter.:

View attachment 347209

I think I see what you're getting at, but I didn't say the bark wasn't thick. I did say it rots easy. It was not sun baked. It was in the greenhouse. Greenish black spots were growing on the carved area and was not just on the surface of the bark.

The only part of the face that was carved through to the cambrium was the mouth. I did this on purpose to see just how thick the bark was. I had no intention of carving anything but the bark.

I don't know why you're working so hard to discredit anything I said when everything said was true based on my personal experience with this tree. Maybe some people think the paper thin white layer is the bark, but I am aware it is not, and I didn't say it was. I was only trying to inform the op of the potential to rot if unprotected in a humid environment. And to show the bending potential.

I'm still not sure why you started your first statement telling me you're too cool to watch that Game of Thrones show, as if to say whatever I was trying to do was likely stupid. You kinda set the tone there. I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding since I can't read your tone in text.

 

[PherPhace]

Here it is today with the wires off

 

[BonsaiNaga13]

I tried like 5 big ones my first year attempting bonsai. As you mentioned basically weeds so I dug up the ones with the thickest trunks. They all flowers and even attracted some humming birds but I was using potting soil mixed with clay dirt so none survived the winter. First timer mistakes . Might try some again this spring.

 

[BonsaiNaga13]

Nice! That first one has sweet taper at that hard bend! And that one is a fatty i wish I had stock that thick to pull,there is a bunch of tall skinny ones at my dad's i was thinking on bending them up but i havent been over there

Short anecdote : I was doing tree service in the woods and saw an old rose of sharon that a tree fell on and bent the tip to the ground...and from years of being pinned to the ground and leaf fall and natural compost etc etc it fully rooted that top into the ground and it was a big arch it was beautiful..would have taken pics but we are working with chainsaws and soaked with sweat so i dont carry my phone out there lol gabe me ideas tho...i wanna try one of these arches lol

Yeah they root so easy I had a few branches about 2 thumbs with at least root in just water but I let em die. May try again

 

[BonsaiNaga13]

The ones around my yard are pink\purple flowers and very soft wood. They can potentially die back hard and some in my yard have frequent die back and old branches root easy. Idk how well the wounds heal