brp7
Sapling
I recently pruned my Crepe Myrtle, and there are a lot of shoots from the base. Please suggest whether I should remove some of them and maybe keep two or three shoots to get the base thicker.
Thicken the bonsai trunk
- Thread starter brp7
- Start date
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- trunk thickening
Greetings,
Any bonsai enthusiast will tell you to keep them as they feed the trunk and avoid inverse taper.
-but there is a caveat-
Crepe myrtles form a thin callus layer that SLOWLY rolls over wounds. Their bark is very thin, smooth, and exfoliates.
What this means, is when you are done thickening the trunk and you want to get rid of the low branches, you will have very ugly scars for many years, possibly forever if branch was too thick.
I wouldn’t keep them as I value the bark more than speedy low girth. It still grows faster than average as species.
If you have decided on a front maybe you can let 1 or 2 run where you can’t see them but still..scars.
Trade-Offs = bonsai
In essence, you can go either way it’s all up to you, just understand the consequences of each action and think decades ahead.
Any bonsai enthusiast will tell you to keep them as they feed the trunk and avoid inverse taper.
-but there is a caveat-
Crepe myrtles form a thin callus layer that SLOWLY rolls over wounds. Their bark is very thin, smooth, and exfoliates.
What this means, is when you are done thickening the trunk and you want to get rid of the low branches, you will have very ugly scars for many years, possibly forever if branch was too thick.
I wouldn’t keep them as I value the bark more than speedy low girth. It still grows faster than average as species.
If you have decided on a front maybe you can let 1 or 2 run where you can’t see them but still..scars.
Trade-Offs = bonsai
In essence, you can go either way it’s all up to you, just understand the consequences of each action and think decades ahead.
brp7
Sapling
Hmm. Already, there is an ugly projection from where the new shoot arises. This is unlike other plants that I have.
