Suggestions shaping azalea

[chilipepper]

I bought a young satsuki azalea which seems like decent material for a small bonsai but was wondering how i should shape it. My plan was to drastically prune back most branches to create a small umbrella shape and to expose some of its roots. Any suggestions?

 

[quietobserver]

Maybe leave it alone until spring so you have plenty of energy to work with when you start chopping...gives you some more time to eye it and decide what to keep too. Plus some young nursery material doesn't have as much energy to play with as we'd hope or expect. It should push some from the bare wood on its own, watch how it wants to grow out, might create some nice shape on its own and you'll keep branches you were gonna chop.

 

[MaverickLancer]

ILike quietobserver said, it may be too late in the growing season for it to recover from a big chop now. Its already pretty open anyways. As long as the wood near the base gets sun, you'll see backbudding, especially since satsukis are basally dominant.

 

[Cypress187]

It looks tiny, maybe grow it fat(ter) first.

 

[Eric Group]

http://bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/developing-azalea-material-through-drastic-pruning.18929/

This is the thread you should read if considering a drastic chop on this guy. John has a lot of experience pruning them back the way you are talking.

Where are you chili pepper? Tell us your location, that will impact when you should do the cut back.

If you are in the south, you are probably fine to proceed. I just whacked one back a couple weeks ago and it is budding back like crazy. If you are far North, you might be too late in the year to get good hardened off growth before winter...

Azaleas take a long time to "trunk up", so even letting it grow out another season won't make a big difference. Unless you plan to stick it somewhere and let it grow 5-10 years+, you won't probably see a huge difference. If you want a small tree and want to use what you have now- make your determination based around when you usually get your first hard freeze.

For a little tree like this, you can basically chop it down to a couple inches high mostly/ completely remove pretty much all the branches and build your tree from what grows off the trunk.

 

[chilipepper]

http://bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/developing-azalea-material-through-drastic-pruning.18929/

This is the thread you should read if considering a drastic chop on this guy. John has a lot of experience pruning them back the way you are talking.

Where are you chili pepper? Tell us your location, that will impact when you should do the cut back.

If you are in the south, you are probably fine to proceed. I just whacked one back a couple weeks ago and it is budding back like crazy. If you are far North, you might be too late in the year to get good hardened off growth before winter...

Azaleas take a long time to "trunk up", so even letting it grow out another season won't make a big difference. Unless you plan to stick it somewhere and let it grow 5-10 years+, you won't probably see a huge difference. If you want a small tree and want to use what you have now- make your determination based around when you usually get your first hard freeze.

For a little tree like this, you can basically chop it down to a couple inches high mostly/ completely remove pretty much all the branches and build your tree from what grows off the trunk.

Im actually in Hong kong, and the weather here is pretty warm all year round, so there wont be a hard freeze unless theres an impending apocalypse... but never the less I think i will let it grow out a bit before i start chopping.

 

[Eric Group]

I was wondering why the tag had character on it! LOL

 

[Random Usr]

I bought a young satsuki azalea which seems like decent material for a small bonsai but was wondering how i should shape it. My plan was to drastically prune back most branches to create a small umbrella shape and to expose some of its roots. Any suggestions?

I think that I've only seen two fundamental azalea styles in bonsai: A spreading canopy, and the semi-cascade. I have a rhododendron myself and I didn't know the best way to train it until I saw photos of those two styles. I'm sold! The semi-cascade shows off the blossoms in a tight and vibrant display. That's for me!

 

[Random Usr]

Mine so far: